glassing deck boards together

[83mulligan]

Below is a shot of two deck boards I want to glass together. I want to do this so that my vinyl is a seamless sheet covering entire floor. There will be a 2" wide rib under the seam, so I just want to glass the bottom side and pb the top so it is smooth. The only strength it needs strength for is so that I can vinyl cover the deck out of the boat and carry it into the boat and rivet it down. Once it sits in the boat the seam is fully supported underneath by the rib. So, how much glass do I need on the underneath side to hold it together.

 

[Woodonglass]

6" wide strip of 17oz biax oughta do it. I believe you're using epoxy. But... I'd screw a18" wide 1/2" thick "Temporary cleat" to span the seam on the top for the transport to the boat and once installed remove the cleat and fill the holes with either epoxy or 5200 sealant. The cleat will ensure it doesn't flex during transport and installation.

 

[83mulligan]

Thanks wood, but i won't be wanting to screw thru the new vinyl covering with a temporary cleat. I could probably wrap the biax to the top side for a few inches in on each side. Those areas will be under the gunnels

 

[Woodonglass]

Ahh, DUHHH wasn't thinkin!!!! I don't think glass is your answer. You're gunna need to cut a recess in the ply wood on the bottom and glue the cleat in the recess. that seam WILL flex with out some structurual support

 

[Isaacm1986]

Maybe you could clamp a temporary clear on to prevent to much flex? Just a thought.

 

[jbcurt00]

Biscuit joint the 2 pieces of plywood together w/ epoxy, then fiberglass tape & epoxy both the top & bottom sides of the seam. Sand & fair the topsides smooth so it's virtually invisible & it shouldn't telegraph thru the vinyl. Between top & bottom glass w/ epoxy & the biscuits, I doubt the seam would open, crack or telegraph thru the vinyl.

Why seamless? I understand the wanting it to look that way, but if you are wrapping the vinyl prior to installation, and riveting it down after it's wrapped, it sounds like you plan for the deck to be sort of easy to pull in case you need to pull it. But as a single huge sheet of ply do you think you'd really need to pull most of the deck all at once rather then one section at at time?

 

[83mulligan]

Maybe you could clamp a temporary clear on to prevent to much flex? Just a thought.

Isaacm, I thought about that too, and it may be possible, but there isn't much room for clamps because of the sides of the boat. Still thinking about it though.

 

[83mulligan]

Biscuit joint the 2 pieces of plywood together w/ epoxy, then fiberglass tape & epoxy both the top & bottom sides of the seam. Sand & fair the topsides smooth so it's virtually invisible & it shouldn't telegraph thru the vinyl. Between top & bottom glass w/ epoxy & the biscuits, I doubt the seam would open, crack or telegraph thru the vinyl.

Why seamless? I understand the wanting it to look that way, but if you are wrapping the vinyl prior to installation, and riveting it down after it's wrapped, it sounds like you plan for the deck to be sort of easy to pull in case you need to pull it. But as a single huge sheet of ply do you think you'd really need to pull most of the deck all at once rather then one section at at time?

jbcurt00, I like the biscuit jointing idea. I could then glass the back side and see how its holding up. It will only have to go up and over the stern and into the boat. Once in the boat the seam will be fully supported. I can glass the top if it needs it for transport. Thanks for the idea!.

As for why to have it seamless? I don't know, just for looks i guess. Its a valid point that one sheet would be more difficult to remove than two. However, I don't plan on ever removing the deck and if i do, the gunwale cabinets, console sides and trim and all that jazz would have to come off making it a monster project no matter how you look at it. Also, there is nothing to access under the deck.. It's got an 8" plus layer of foam covering it and there is nothing to see or get at. I suppose the livelwell line could get cut and leak, but even then, it can be pulled out in its entirety from the bow or stern.

 

[Woodonglass]

Well if you use a 6-8" strip of 17 oz cloth on both top and bottom sides with biscuits then heck yeah it'll be pretty solid but...It will still want to flex a bit at that joint so care will need to be taken during the lift and install. I like the Clamping idea for the cleat.

 

[greenbush future]

I did the seamed, wrapped floor and it came out looking outstanding, and if, I ever did need to pull a section, it was easy to do, I wouldn't need to take the entire floor out to do so. Let's be honest, you may need to get under there one day, and doing a one piece will actually work against you as far as ease of removing. The vinyl seam is small and when it's wrapped, it actually looks great and professional. Maybe reconsider how easy it will be going down in wrapped pieces?
Is this a tin boat or glass? Mine was tin, but I put my glass boat floor down, one piece at a time, then glassed over the entire thing to seal it up. Good luck either way.

 

[83mulligan]

Thanks for the info Greenbush. I'm still kicking it around both ways! The one thing I don't like about a seam is that my kids are 6 and 11 and I envision lots of sinkers, hooks and other small stuff wedging in there. Cosmetically, I know it will look fine, the boards are cut square and the vinyl has a nice tight profile to it. Question, does it wrap easily without a roundover edge? Also, is there a website or link to something that shows how to wrap inside and outside corners and radius parts and stuff?

 

[jigngrub]

I trimmed the butt joint in my decking out with aluminum angle:


A closer look:


The mechanics:

 

[83mulligan]

Looks good Jig!

 

[83mulligan]

i'm having a heck of a time with my epoxy. It is hardening with tons of bubbles and there are dimples all over my boards. When I sand it it looks like leopard spots because of all the dimples. Any ideas on what I did wrong? I applied the first coat with a chip brush and the second with a little roller. It wasn't a foam roller and I'm wondering if this is the problem. That or I put the first coat on way to thick with the chip brush.

 

[jigngrub]

What brand and kind of epoxy are you using?

 

[83mulligan]

What brand and kind of epoxy are you using?

Jig, US Composites 635 medium. It kicks fine, the stuff left over in the cup is hardened off from the last coat 2 hours ago

 

[jigngrub]

The 635 is good stuff, thin and self leveling.

I found that brush application was too slow, and rolling wasted too much material.

After some experimenting I found that a squeegee/screed application worked best for me. I used this $3 10" wallpaper tool to spread the resin around:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Workforce-5-Way-Tool-07531/202573860

Just dump the resin out on the plywood and squeegee it around with the tool, this allows you to cover a large area quickly, after the resin is spread out use a 3 or 4" chip brush and back-brush the resin one time and let it set. the resin will level itself out for a nice smooth finish.

 

[83mulligan]

Thanks Jig, I'll try that on the last coat. Last night's looks better. Something went wrong on the first coat I guess. Anyway, did you use the squeegee for the contact cement as well? Also, what method of cutting and wrapping the vinyl did you use on your inside and outside corners? I'd like to see a picture or sketch of that.

 

[83mulligan]

Jig, do you have any pictures of how you cut/folded your corners with the nautalex vinyl?

 

[jigngrub]

Dang, though I'd already answered this question... must've got lost in one of those posting error messages, I'll make sure this one posts. Sorry Mull.

Nautolex cuts are basic and simple:

For outside corners the cut is just a square notch and inside corner cuts are a 45 degree angle cut:


If you have to wrap around a radius you'll cut a bunch of tabs so you can glue the vinyl without wrinkles:



... and after a bit of practice, you can wrap one of these suckers with one piece of vinyl: