Drian holes in new floor?

[Chadsci]

Hey all,

I searched but found mostly arguments about whether soda bottle were better than pour in foam.

With my new floor in place and before I lay the carpet. Should I drill some type if drain hole in the floor to drain off water? and if so what size should it be.

My thought would be at least one or two in the lower section(floor steps down to access the forward compartment and on each side towards the back of the boat. After drilling a maybe 1/2 inch hole I would brush in several layers of epoxy to seal it again.

Thanks
Chad

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Drian holes in new floor?

Yes do not design things so it collects and holds water. Drain holes are a good idea.

Is that plywood sealed? How is it attached?

 

[Chadsci]

Re: Drian holes in new floor?

Is that plywood sealed? How is it attached?

Not in the pic shown but it is now. I used resin to seal the wood(2 coats) and then used pl and screws to fasten it.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Drian holes in new floor?

A layer of fiberglass cloth would add allot to the strength of the deck. Resin alone tends to crack and allows water to penetrate. Looks like nice clean work you have done so far

 

[Excesswater]

Re: Drian holes in new floor?

Hi Chadsci, et al.

One of the fallacies of a great forum is you can search the past threads and get all your questions answered without having to make any posts. I?ve been restoring an older Blue Water 18? bow rider ? replaced the transom, stringers and floor. I learned a ton from reading Oops? postings (thanks Oops!). I?ll have to add my story sooner or later.

On your question about foam vs pop bottles and drain holes, here?s my experience. I laid out my stringers and cut drain holes in strategic locations so the water would flow to the bilge. I laid down my deck and glassed it to the hull. Then I cut 1.5? diameter holes in the deck above each chamber (formed between the hull, deck, stringers and cross braces) and poured in foam. Well, you don?t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what happened. The foam expanded very nicely and filled all the chambers, including the drain holes.

When gutting the boat I noticed that this was a problem with the original manufacture of the boat. While there were drain holes in the stern stringers that form the sides of the bilge, there were no channels cut in the other stringers so no way that water under the deck could make it to the drain holes.

I?ve unwittingly created the same situation. :-( To compensate I will drill holes to drain under the deck into the ski locker as well.

So, poured foam will impede water drainage, which might be a case for pop bottles. However, I suspect foam may be more buoyant and less likely to fail (besides, playing with foam is fun!).

If you do go with the foam, experiment with the expansion factor as it varies with temperature (weather). The foam I use advertised an expansion ratio of 25:1 but on the day I poured it I did some test pours and found I was getting a ratio of 15:1 so I adjusted my volumes accordingly.

Good luck.