Fiberglass boat : replace rotten wood (seat)

[vildric]

Hi!

I bought a little fiberglass 12ft boat. There is a hole in the fiberglass, looks like the boat felt on something and the fiberglass and plywood under broke. So now, the wood is rotten.

I wonder if there is a way to fix it, can I cut all the upper side of the seat to remove the rotten plywood, install a new plywood ? I'm even thinking about making a storage bin with hinges instead of putting fiberglass on the new plywood (so I can sit on the plywood and store some stuff in the seat).

Is that possible ? How I do that, I have no idea / I never worked on boat.

Thanks!

Here's some picture so you can see how the boat is made / some pictures of the damages to help you figure out the work.

 

[Woodonglass]

Soooo, this damage is on the top of a Seat???

 

[vildric]

Yes, sorry I'm not very good in english. These damages are in the left corner of the rear seat, on the top of the sear.

We see the area on this picture (in the upper left)

http://i.imgur.com/OMDQXys.jpg

 

[Woodonglass]

OK, IF, Big IF, the rotted section is isolated to just this small area I'd use a Circular saw, set to depth, and cross cut across the area using multiple passes and then use a hammer and chisel to remove the waste. Cut a patch piece to fit. Grind all the glass in the area down so it smooth and ready for the new patch. Coat the new wood with resin and a layer of 1.5oz CSM and butter the area with Thickened resin. Place the patch and then cover with a full layer of CSM overlapping onto the outlying area about 3". I'd then apply another layer of 8oz fabric and then a final layer of CSM. If you find the Rot is Larger you may have to cut away the entire top of the seat and replace it using the same glassing methods. It's really not that hard of a repair. Here in the States it would cost about $50 bucks to repair the whole top of the seat.

 

[vildric]

Ok thanks a lot, I'll try to see if the wood is rotten only in this area or eveywhere.

 

[TruckDrivingFool]

I wouldn't be surprised if those seats are full of foam

Meaning,

A. Be ready for the foam in the damaged seat to waterlogged and need replaced
B. Could hamper your storage plans if you want to retain the unsinkableness that is built into the boat.

 

[Woodonglass]

This^^^ is a very distinct possibility!!!! GoodCatch TDF!!!