How long to let wet stringers dry?

[Boomyal]

How long should it take wet mahogany stringers to dry out? I will probably put a space heater under the boat cover to help it along. Should I get a moisture meter to know for sure when it is safe to soak with CPES?

 

[crab bait]

Re: How long to let wet stringers dry?

when i built my first boat,, the old sawmill man who sold me the mohog.. told me not to fear if the wood got wet.. which i was very worried about.. <br /><br />said that KILN DRIED wood ,, dries out like a pair of wet shoes.. however long it takes for shoes to dry,, so goes the wood..

 

[Boomyal]

Re: How long to let wet stringers dry?

Originally posted by crab bait:<br />the old sawmill man who sold me the mohog.. told me not to fear if the wood got wet.. which i was very worried about..

Well crab bait, I daresay that my mohog has been wet many a year. The way I see it, if it was some other wood it would be a pile of soggy sawdust by now. As is is there is some deterioration but the core seems good enough that a good soaking in CPES will stabilize the rest. Just need to let it dry out good first.

 

[BillP]

Re: How long to let wet stringers dry?

If the stringers have resin or glass on them you will have a long wait (months)to get them dry in the center. I put a box window fan on a center stringer with the glass pulled back and let it blow for about one month in a well vented shop. I drilled exploratory holes to see how dry it was getting and it was still wet. I ended up removing the stringer and cut it up. The center part of the stringer was wet enough to show dampness on your hand after all this time.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: How long to let wet stringers dry?

Ouch BillP, I would hate to have to do that. My center stringer is an 8 ft x 11 in x 1 1/2 in hunk of mahogany. The side stringers are about 16 ft x 8 in x 1 1/2 in. mahog. I have yet to uncover the motor mount stringers. I'd hate to see what they all would cost today?<br /><br />Maybe, fortunately, they are not fiberglass covered, only taped about an 1 1/2 in up from the hull. Up in the forward 1/3 they are just filleted in place by about 3/4 to 1 in. Even the tape is only lightly glassed. Water was actually weeping, thru the tape, under the stringers, from the foamed bays outboard.<br /><br />I'm putting a space heater in the boat at night with the cover over the boat. Once the exposed stringers appear dry I will drill some exploratory holes, down low to see how it goes.

 

[Winger Ed.]

Re: How long to let wet stringers dry?

If they're all soggy, they probably aren't very strong either.<br /><br />On lots of boats, the wood in the stringer really only acts like a mold for the fiberglass matt that covers it. Its a good, fast way to build boats, but if the fiberglass is thick/strong enough- you don't need the wood at all. And when the boards rot? You ain't got nothing in there but dead weight anyway.<br /><br />Lone Star used to use a common 2 x 4 as a mold, cover it with mat, when it was set, they'd peel the board out to use again, and glass in the 3 sided fiberglass 'tunnel' I guess you'd call it as the stringers. They were light, never rotted, and made for a darn strong hull. <br /><br />You might think about ripping all that wood out, then put a extra few layers of glass on the sides & over the top of the fiberglass channels the wood left. Drill a few holes up & down the bottoms of them--- and there's your drainage tunnels too. <br /><br />Ed.