Re: 1974 Grady White Value
I suggested resin & glass would at cost at least 30% of your $900 budget (avg of the $800-1000 you estimated) or $300, if not more. 5 Gals of resin seems low, even w/out using any 1708 on the transom & deck, which many will agree should be used, and wetting out the plywood prior to wetting out for the CSM (to increase the bonding between the plywood/resin/glass laminations), it doesn't sound like enough resin. But as you've done it before, the way you've done it before, you would certainly know better then I what your costs will be
The GW name does carry some weight in some circles.... but a lot of the resale value will depend on the quality of workmanship that goes into the resto. The $30 a sheet ply (CDX?) and no 1708 cloth doesn't suggest a quality restoration to me, and I wouldn't try to sell something like that... but that's probably just me. GWs are a quality vessel and I wouldn't bother to restore one if I couldn't put it back together as good or better than it came from the factory. Candy coating a turd with the Grady White name just doesn't seem right to me.
Did you core sample the Transom? If you do the deck in resin and CSM My rough calculations is you will need 30 yds of CSM, to do one layer on the bottom and 2 on the top. A gallon of Resin will wet out about 4 yds of CSM. Based on that, you will need a minimum of 7 gals of resin. The glass and resin at a minimum will be approx. $400 bucks. GW boats are well built but...It's 39 years old and regardless of NADA I seriously doubt you could get that much for her unless she looks new. IMHO there is no way you can get her to that NEW look for $600 more than the cost of the resin. Time is money too, and you will have a mnimum of 40 hours of work on her. Unless you want to work for minimum wage I think you will have a lot more time and money in her than you realize. Making money off a 39 yr old boat, is, at best, a toss up. That's what a Dumb Old Okie thinks!!!!
I Hear you about no profit.... My last boat I put in a total of $800 and sold it for $1800 was a labor of love, a project i did with my kids and used the boat all summer... so the extra $1000 was just icing on the already eaten cake.
I have a good friend who does fiberglass for a living.... He told me to JUST resin the bottom and sides of the ply.... glass the top with chop strand, 2 layers if I wanted to get crazy but said 3/4 would be far more than I would need for strength and to double the layers on any seams. Thats how I went and the floor came out great and very strong. Floors dont last forever, I dont see the reasoning to do 3-5 layers on 3/4 and definitely dont see the reason to put cloth on the underside of the wood. Enlighten me?
Look thru the resto threads. More of them are done like we've suggested. Yes, some are not.
Resin w/out glass, in the case of the downside of the deck & edges, CSM (mat) not cloth, isn't worth much in terms of 'value' VS cost as it is brittle & fractures easily w/out the glass. Again 1 layer of CSM on the downside and all plywood edges, not fiberglass cloth.
As a structural element of the hull's integrity, the hull to deck joint probably should be important enough to be well tabbed into place & well fiberglassed w/ CSM & 1708.
The surface of the deck and it's seams would probably have improved resistance to moisture w/ more then 1 layer of CSM, and tie the hull sides together better and be more structurally sound w/ a layer of 1708 overlaying it all & tying the 2 tabbed areas together.
The same holds true for the transom plywood assembly & it's attachment to the deck, hull bottom & sides.
No decks don't last forever
No you aren't building the last boat you or the guy (girl, family, whatever..) you sell it to will ever own
No you aren't building a piano or a Stradivarius
No you aren't building a $2M offshore race boat (is $2M low? anyway....)
But many find that boat builders from the 50's thru current makers, could have done better with the attention to workmanship & completeness of the fiberglass & resin application on the stringers, deck & transom. The manner you've suggested sounds negligibly better then nothing below decks (how it was done originally) and less substantial then original above deck. As a carpenter, framer, builder etc, it starts at the base & you build up & out. Each layer needs to perform it's function, support the next layer & perform as a system. 1 part is as important as the next. The final layer of resin & glass is where the water meets the deck, and is no less important then any part below deck. And a single layer of CSM on the deck sounds insufficient for structure or water resistance.
In your budget estimates there isn't enogh resin allowance for making the PB putty to attach the deck to the stringers, the transom to the hull, the deck to the hull along the sides, nor to create fillets for the glass to transition from hull/deck to transom.
Since you're on a budget build, I doubt that Durabak, Nautalex or gelcoat is the final finish on the deck. Likely it will be carpet. Which will likely hold moisture against the deck...
Yes, you'd be selling a $1800-2500 budget 'friendly' boat, plus buyer beware and all that. I can't help but wonder where this hull will end up in a couple years, owned by someone who has no idea how it was assembled, and what condition it is in currently. Boats are not like cars, and everyone will agree, cars are sometimes fixed less then substantially and sold. I am not suggesting that you are diliberately making a less then safe boat. I am suggesting that there may be a better way to complete the work you've proposed, and that if intended as a for sale at a profit, that the result may not meet your expectations. You did it last year, so I suspect you will be able to do the same or similar w/ this GW.
I agree w/ Jig, not something I'd be interested in doing & selling. But again, that's 100%
just IMHO.
As it is currently your boat, you certainly proceed as you see fit: cut it up, resto it & sell it, re-enact a Viking funeral pyre, etc
BTW: I'm not actually suggesting for you to set a boat adrift & on fire anywhere, in any waterway...
Again, if you want to resto it and ask for options & input, I'll tag along....
