Boat floor replacement... where to begin?

[jc55]

Ahhhh...fiberglass stringers. Isn't it wonderful? It's like free money.

 

[MrCableTek]

Yes it is jc, yes it is.

 

[Derekxj]

Hey man question. are you ripping out the front portion of the floor also to get to the rest of the stringers?

 

[MrCableTek]

I will be taking out every bit of floor I can get to. I haven't gotten to the front section yet but it's on my list. I need to get to all that foam as water has penetrated about 1" in on all 3 sides that contact the hull and stringers. I sincerely doubt that I can get it dry so it's gotta go. It also isn't adhered to the inside at all and I don't want the new deck to pop off if I start to sink. It's not really the stringers that concern me at this point as they're fiberglass. What I really want is to remove every scrap of wood from this boat that isn't teak and replace it with composite material.

 

[jigngrub]

What I really want is to remove every scrap of wood from this boat that isn't teak and replace it with composite material.

Are you talking about marine composite material or composite decking material for residential decks and patios?

You'll find marine composite decking material very expensive, a more economical choice is kiln dried CCA pressure treated plywood. It won't rot even if it gets wet and has a lifetime warranty:
http://www.pontoonstuff.com/collect...et-flooring/products/3-4-marine-grade-plywood

It's 1/3 the cost of composite marine decking material.

 

[MrCableTek]

No, I'm not going to replace the floor of my boat with deck planks from the Po. :facepalm: I'm actually looking at two different materials right now. The first is CoreLite board and it's actually about the same price as a sheet of marine fir ply but much lighter and less prone to rot. The other product I'm considering is Nida-Core honeycomb material. If I get the stuff that isn't glassed yet, it's actually cheaper than wood but completely rot-proof and significantly lighter. Using either material saves me about 200 pounds over the entire boat. I'm just not sure how to work with the honeycomb stuff and I'm worried about screwing it up.

 

[MrCableTek]

Does anyone out there have some experience they would like to share on working with Nida-core? How do I finish edges around hatches and against the hull? Any pearls of wisdom will help.