composite flooring

[1beanie]

anyone use the composite flooring instead of plywood. any downfalls besides cost on using it with an aluminum starcraft? and if u use the composite of plywood what type of plywood is recomended and what sealer do u use to keep it from the aluminum? And what is best to seal leaky rivets? thanks guys love this site

 

[erikgreen]

Re: composite flooring

What exactly do you mean by composite? Like plastic decking?

Or do you mean carbon fiber/epoxy?

Erik

 

[CoolChangeII]

Re: composite flooring

I was looking into it for my project as well. I spoke with the folks that make Starboard and they would not support using the product for the transom because they have not validated it for that application. As you said it is very expensive also. I ended up using 1/2 in 11 ply marine plywood and coating it with West epoxy. I still have quite a bit if work to do because it pretty mucha afull resto, but it should be floating next spring. If you are interested I can look up the various contacts that I spoke to. What model is that 22 footer?

Good luck with the project.

 

[1beanie]

Re: composite flooring

it is some kind of composite fiberglass i found at a pontoon store i planned on using it for flooring not the transom its a 1993 aluminum 17ft starcraft was my grandfathers.

 

[brownies]

Re: composite flooring

I'm sure there are many different types of material that fall into that catagory "composite".
The stuff I'm familiar with is more or less "foam" that appears to be encased in fiberglass. Lots lighter and widely used by manufacturers now to reduce weight. They play it up on the "no rot" as well.
This stuff is great for flooring up front.
Not so great for the back if mounting batteries, gas tanks, etc. Just not much to hold a screw in place (sheet of glass and foam). Screws "work" loose and allow a hole for water to get into. It can't get out. While it may not "rot", it sure will get soft.
No problems with it up front or middle of boat though.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: composite flooring

Like brownies said, there are many "composites" that can be used for this, not all of them work great in all applications and most are very pricy.

If you have a name or type of the composite in mind we might be able to give a better answer.

 

[1beanie]

Re: composite flooring

it seems the name is bluewater 20 and its poly foam and fiberglass so that might be difficult to screw andything into it and have it hold i quess marine plywood it is then ill epoxy it and seal it up good and hopefully it will last thanks alot guys

 

[JoeCrow]

Re: composite flooring

What's the weight like?
A lot of composites are 20% to 50% heavier than wood

 

[1beanie]

Re: composite flooring

its actually 25 pounds lighter per sheet just not sure of how well it will work though

 

[109jb]

Re: composite flooring

I looked at the manufacturer website and Bluewater 20 is listed as "Typically used as a semi-structural component" Their Bluewater 26 is listed as being structural. In either case it is too rich for my blood with a 1/2"x4'x8' piece of Bluewater 20 at $170 and Bluewater 26 at $250.

http://www.coosacomposites.com/bluewater.html

http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse.cfm/2,762.html