fiberglassing a wooden floor

[DETaylor]

This is my first time at doing this. I have taken out my old spongy floor, replaced some bad stringers and a fiberglassed. Now the question is can i paint the bottom of the 1/2" plywood with polyurathane paint to ave time and money or fiberlass to seal the wood ? Now the top needs to be fiberglassed but with how many layers and with what weight of fiberglass? i will seal the seams with 5200 marine caulk.

am i over my head?

 

[81 beachcomber]

Re: fiberglassing a wooden floor

fairly easy job when you get into it. you should resin the underside to seal it and then glass the topside, one layer of 1.5 oz csm.

Also i would re post this in the "building and resto" section, lots of knowlege and help there, a moderater may move this thread there. Good luck with the project

 

[Chris1956]

Re: fiberglassing a wooden floor

Skip the caulk. Use marine poly putty for any voids. You want to have a complete seal of the floor to the hull. A good way to install the floor is to lay some strips of saturated cloth over the stringers, lay the new plywood floor over the cloth and stringers and screw the floor into the stringers with SS screws. Now a layer of glass cloth and resin to seal the floor to the hull and you are done.

 

[DETaylor]

How to attach plywood floor to side

How to attach plywood floor to side

This is my first time at doing this. I have taken out my old spongy floor, replaced some bad stringers and a fiberglassed. Now the question is can i paint the bottom of the 1/2" plywood with polyurathane paint to ave time and money or fiberlass to seal the wood ? Now the top needs to be fiberglassed but with how many layers and with what weight of fiberglass? i will seal the seams with 5200 marine caulk.

thanks for 81 beachcomber reply.

Now i was told to match the floor to the side at a 90 degree and then start the glassing with chopped glass mat and biaxial mat times 2. what I did was cut the old floor using a circular saw leaving about an 1 1/2 " lip curving inoard. i was placing my plywood under this lip going in about 2". Then glass over this up the wall and floor. Yes this may may leave a bump on the side. Would this hinder the flexibility and support from the floor and sidewall? I can cut the curve part off but do I have to?

 

[jonesg]

Re: How to attach plywood floor to side

Re: How to attach plywood floor to side

If the old deck lip isn't rotted I would consider plonking the new deck on top of it.
Or just remove and glass the new deck to the hull.
I like glass tape for seaming jobs, it gives the neatest look but often times its just whatever I've got is made to work.

 

[DETaylor]

hull repair

hull repair

Well after i cut my old spongy floor out using a skill saw I discovered that I cut thru the hull about 8 " long and a blade width. What would be the best solution to fill this cut?

 

[stackz]

Re: hull repair

Re: hull repair

in for responses as well. I've got a 3/4" long by blade width cut that I didnt notice until adjusting the trailer. only noticed it because some of the resin when I put the new floor in, dripped out of it and made a droplet shape.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: hull repair

Re: hull repair

Okay, welcome to iboats. I merged your repair threads since I think they are all on the same boat. It will make tracking your progress easier.

Cut through the hull Do not sweat it. We see that happen ALLOT here.

Read through the fiberglass repairs. It will have to be tapered a bit on the inside and repaired from both sides. After the repair you will have to do a gel coat repair on the exterior.

 

[DETaylor]

Re: hull repair

Re: hull repair

Thanks for the info, I will give it shot

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: hull repair

Re: hull repair

This comes straight from the Yacht Doctor from a previous post about this same issue
1. prep the cut area about 6" around the cut. ( inside )
2. Die grind the cut inside to bevel the hard edge off.
3. fill the cut with "mohair" ( poly resin,cabosil and shaved up chopped mat ).
4. without delay lam with 1 layer of 1.5 oz mat and 2-3 layers of 1708.
5. after cured goto the outside and bevel-grind approx. 3-4 " around cut ( you should have a smoth surface now because the crack is allready filled with mohair from the inside ).
6. lam the outside with 3-4 layers of 1.5 oz mat.
7. sand/fair.
8. fill pinholes with poly glazing putty ( do not use the putty to fill lows ).
9. final sand/fair with 80 grit on repair.
10. prep area around repair with 180-220 grit.
11. spray gel-coat with preval sprayer.
12. wetsand and buff.

 

[DETaylor]

Re: fiberglassing a wooden floor

What is Polly Putty by name brand? Will the putty set up faster than 5200. That stuff cures 5-7 days.

 

[jonesg]

Re: fiberglassing a wooden floor

What is Polly Putty by name brand? Will the putty set up faster than 5200. That stuff cures 5-7 days.

5200 is way too expensive to go using it all around the deck joint.
polly putty is putty based on polyester resin, cabosil to thicken it and if you want a STRONG putty add chopped glass fiber but the glass will make it harder to sand without a grinder so you are better off getting it as smooth as possible before it trips.

Poly putty goes off in under 10 minutes and gets HOT.
5200 is ideal for sealing thru hull fittings and bedding bolt holes thru the deck to keep water out.

Get some unwaxed poly resin , cabosil and milled fiber, mix up some small test batches , add the cabosil first to the resin, it will thicken it up, then add the catalyst and play around with it, you'll find it cures a LOT faster when thickened. Do another batch the same but add milled glass fibers before catalyst and play around, a plastic spoon run over a 90 deg joint will give a neat filet.
You have to get the feel of this stuff, the only way is to play with it a while, just mix up little batches like 2 ounzes or so.
Just remember to add catalyst last or it will go off in the cup before you can apply it.

 

[DETaylor]

Re: fiberglassing a wooden floor

Thanks for all the advice for the wooden floor repair. I have the floor down and glassed. I have a question about applying the gel coat. I will be brushing and rolling rhe gel coat. I had read that I can put the first coat without using the surfce agent, let dry and aply the second coat with the surface agent to harden. I am assuming I will be putting 2 coats on.

 

[produceguy]

Re: fiberglassing a wooden floor

Did you fix the cut in the hull?

 

[DETaylor]

Re: fiberglassing a wooden floor

Yes I did. I will be painting it when i am ready to paint the floor.