Restoration man
Seaman
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2012
- Messages
- 73
Hi my 1976 motor boat 31foot ,has a couple of issues on one of the bulkheads
1)soft area spot where one of the windows had been leaking into unsealed end grain and deck cleat has also been leaking over it I’ve stabbed with sharp tool and damage area seems to about 9”X 9”
2) another patch lower down where the toilet has been leaking and wood is little soft 12” x 4”
Is there an acceptable repair to these areas without full removal of the bulkhead ? I don’t want to remove it as the one side is highly visible, it’s finished with mahogany and it won’t Match if I change it ,and it will be a total pain in the arse to rip the whole thing out, the actual places that are rotten are out of sight , so could I scarf some more plywood in ?, both these areas are close to the tabbing that is stupidly thick @ 1/4 inch thick , when the boat was made all the bulkheads are tabbed in from the factory and have additional stainless nuts and bolts through the tabbing and the plywood bulkheads ( this is factory as I’ve seen it on other boats of the same brand ) it’s a Swedish storebro boat ,
my thoughts are as follows
1)cut out the bad area with oscillating tool leave the tabbing in but clean it back to good glass
2)scarf around the 2 sides of the plywood with say 8-1 ratio
3) bond the plywood with epoxy to the 8-1 bevel and bond the 3rd side directly to the tabbing and put some extra nuts and bolts to help tie to the tabbing
4) add either some fiberglass cloth over one side of the joint (on the hidden side ) or glue and screw an extra piece plywood over the repair to reinforce ?
Before anyone says that won’t be the only rot so just cut it out, genuinely it is ,this boat has hollow stingers throughout and everything else is fine down there
Any input greatly received please see drawing not to scale repair areas lots smaller in relation to bulkhead size
1)soft area spot where one of the windows had been leaking into unsealed end grain and deck cleat has also been leaking over it I’ve stabbed with sharp tool and damage area seems to about 9”X 9”
2) another patch lower down where the toilet has been leaking and wood is little soft 12” x 4”
Is there an acceptable repair to these areas without full removal of the bulkhead ? I don’t want to remove it as the one side is highly visible, it’s finished with mahogany and it won’t Match if I change it ,and it will be a total pain in the arse to rip the whole thing out, the actual places that are rotten are out of sight , so could I scarf some more plywood in ?, both these areas are close to the tabbing that is stupidly thick @ 1/4 inch thick , when the boat was made all the bulkheads are tabbed in from the factory and have additional stainless nuts and bolts through the tabbing and the plywood bulkheads ( this is factory as I’ve seen it on other boats of the same brand ) it’s a Swedish storebro boat ,
my thoughts are as follows
1)cut out the bad area with oscillating tool leave the tabbing in but clean it back to good glass
2)scarf around the 2 sides of the plywood with say 8-1 ratio
3) bond the plywood with epoxy to the 8-1 bevel and bond the 3rd side directly to the tabbing and put some extra nuts and bolts to help tie to the tabbing
4) add either some fiberglass cloth over one side of the joint (on the hidden side ) or glue and screw an extra piece plywood over the repair to reinforce ?
Before anyone says that won’t be the only rot so just cut it out, genuinely it is ,this boat has hollow stingers throughout and everything else is fine down there
Any input greatly received please see drawing not to scale repair areas lots smaller in relation to bulkhead size
