Marine Ply with no Glass?

[bowman1028]

So I just took my boat to the local marina to have them inspect my stringers and transom. I have the deck removed, but did not have a moisture meter to check the stringers and did not want to drill pilot holes. Being this is my first time, I wanted the piece of mind of a professionals opinion. My stringers and transom checked out just fine!

The tech that I spoke with said they could do the deck in about 6-8 hours. He also told me that they use marine grade ply and tab/glass in the edges but dont glass the rest of the deck. Their opinion is it let's everything "breathe". He assured me that the deck would last about 15 years before it began to rot. This contradicts almost everything I've read here in the forum. Thoughts??

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

It may let "everything breathe", but it'll also let everything saturate as well.

Sounds like they just want a quick buck $$$ and don't care about the quality of their work... I'd fart in their general direction and walk away.

 

[chconger]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Yea there the theory that encapsulating traps moisture. It will if the encapsulation is faulty and allows moisture to get in in the first place. Some people wont allow encapsulation in the structure (ribs, stringers) for that reason (i am not one of them but I understand the logic)

But a deck? Man that's going to get wet a lot if its not protected. And Marine Mahogany is all good, its what I am using, but its not bullet proof and needs to be protected.

If he was going to lay down teak or white oak planking, I would say OK.

 

[classiccat]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

It may let "everything breathe", but it'll also let everything saturate as well.

Sounds like they just want a quick buck $$$ and don't care about the quality of their work... I'd fart in their general direction and walk away.

then he'll wish that he wasn't breathing :lol:

 

[TJS]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Many times professionals are not.

 

[saginawbayboater]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

So I just took my boat to the local marina to have them inspect my stringers and transom. I have the deck removed, but did not have a moisture meter to check the stringers and did not want to drill pilot holes. Being this is my first time, I wanted the piece of mind of a professionals opinion. My stringers and transom checked out just fine!

The tech that I spoke with said they could do the deck in about 6-8 hours. He also told me that they use marine grade ply and tab/glass in the edges but dont glass the rest of the deck. Their opinion is it let's everything "breathe". He assured me that the deck would last about 15 years before it began to rot. This contradicts almost everything I've read here in the forum. Thoughts??

Not the way to go for sure!!! :facepalm:

Follow the advice on the forum!!! :joyous:

So with that advice on the deck are you comfortable with the assessment of the stringers and transom?
Maybe need another opinion!!!

 

[bowman1028]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Not the way to go for sure!!! :facepalm:

Follow the advice on the forum!!! :joyous:

So with that advice on the deck are you comfortable with the assessment of the stringers and transom?
Maybe need another opinion!!!

I am confident with the assessment of the stringers and transom. Visually they are the color of natural wood. There is no delamination of the glass. I went through them on my own, but just wanted the piece of mind. And I wanted the transom inspected because I dont have that opened up. I've stressed the outdrive and no flex in the transom. Moisture meter showed very, very low moisture level in the very bottom by the bung but that was it. In the engine compartment, you can get to the edges of the transom and they are all sound. I feel good about the stringers and transom. Justhad not heard about leaving the deck unglassed so I was a little perplexed.

I'll be using this boat primarily for pleasure - tubing, skiiing, swimming. But also some fishing - I have downriggers on it. So the floor is bound to get wet from swimmers and slimey from the occasional flopping salmon.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

so by "letting it breath" were you supposed to leave it unfinished? or just carpet over untreated wood? what finish will you be walking on? I'm confused ..

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Any wood left unprotected, will rot, even marine grade. Be cautious with these so called experts and the information they offer. Good example is the stringer and transom opinion they made. I don't think you can really tell how strong or rotted either is without doing a core sample with a drill from the inside of the boat. Not sure why you don't want to check these yourself, but if you have the floor off, now is the time to check for sure. The other concern is, the leaving the floor unsealed, that just doesn't seem to make sense to me, but I'm not an expert either, just another guy who reads here allot. The pro's will most likely offer their advise for ya, have fun getting her back on the water.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

First I would be drilling some holes to make sure. I think you may be surprised. Now is the time. You had it in the garage to dry out for how long??? IF and IF they strings and transom are ok I would be putting some serious bilge paint everywhere. Not seal the floor? BS. you do have a hatch you can open and let the bilge dry out?

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

You should have seen the deck fix they did on a big sportfish charter boat up the street. To funny didn't encapsulate the ply, didn't even coat the underside and then didn't let the resin soak in before glassing. It sucked almost every bit of the resin out of the glass. I laughed so hard I had to take a picture to share it. Best part it was done by the marina's glass guy. The professional expert that showed up at 4pm right before the rain to slap it together.

They had their mechanic fix my friends boat. Ten times later we actually made it out the inlet before it broke from things that were already fixed.

Moral to the story- Don't trust everything you hear. If it sounds stupid it probably is. And I'd never deal with someone (or trust any of their opinions) if they told me not to seal my deck.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

If you think about it the idea of allowing the deck to air as a pathway to entrapped moisture does sound like a fair idea. Marine ply is meant to be some what water proof so a little water shouldn't hurt it but then that's a kinda oxy moron. If marine ply is water proof then entrapped moisture can not pass through it so anything trapped stays trapped. If you have a boat that's never going to get wet and never going to be left outside then marine ply on its own may last for many years. There probably is some truth that decks have failed as water has got in one corner and instead of draining it has been caught between glass layers and spread but that would happen more on a low quality ply. Most people only want to rebuild a boat once so they are always going to side on overkill. A encapsulated deck could be made out of pressed wood if its done right the same as a good quality wood could be left with only minor treatment (paint). I went with the middle option which is a exterior grade wood about half the price of marine then encapsulated and painted for UV protection which ended up about the same amount of money as marine ply would have cost.

 

[surlyjoe]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

marine ply supposedly uses the same glue as exterior const grade,(tho the stuff I get seems better somehow). it just has no voids in it. leaving the top oiled or varnished would probably be OK, its the underside exposed to the bilge I'd be worried about..

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Sounds like they just want a quick buck $$$ and don't care about the quality of their work... I'd fart in their general direction and walk away.

:thumb: :laugh:

 

[bowman1028]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Thanks for all the advice guys. I had planned to do it all myself and glass everything in. The thought of $700 and done in one day seemed appealing and perhaps got me excited I'd get her in the water soon. I'm leaning more toward doing it all myself following the advice in this forum. I'll drill some holes in the stringers and transom just to be sure. My question is what do I use to plug the holes back up?

And with putting the bilge paint everywhere, are you suggesting I paint the existing stringers with it if the shavings come out dry?

I was also thinking about spraying the stringer with that stuff you see the commercials for that fills holes in your gutter. Kinda like a rubber spray. Anyone ever tried that?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Are the existing stringers already encapsulated in glass? If so, no further coating is required. After drilling into them if they indeed are dry then fill the holes with 3M 5200 sealant. You can paint the stringers with bilge coat if you wish for an added barrier coat but really not needed. The first link in my signature below has drawings and instructions on a good method for installing your deck.

 

[1NewBoatGuy]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

If you don't want to drill holes in your transom, you can... Remove one of the existing screws (transducer from fish finder, screws from ladder or deck, bolt from motor) then take a dental pick and pick around in the hole. If you pull out black wood, further investigation is needed. If all looks solid and you can't make the transom flex you should be OK. Reseal the screw hole when done.

You can also tap on the transom using a empty beer bottle (start with a full one, then empty it before it get's warm). While emptying another beer bottle, Tap around the solid parts of the transom with the previously emptied bottle and listen for differences in tone, it will be obvious when you get to soft or hollow spots. Kind of like tapping on a wall looking for studs, not quite as obvious but the tone will definitely change. There are bound to be some solid spots, more than likely at the top of the transom, most transoms start to rot around the drain hole since they are rarely sealed well enough to keep all moisture out.

OF course this will just give you a rough idea, core samples are the best but it will take more than one hole to get a good idea. If you have a good solid transom a few holes aren't gonna hurt anything if there sealed back up properly. By checking things thoroughly you can rest assure that you and your riders are safe.

 

[glenn property of pam]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

i painted my bilge area to protect it from gas/oil just in case i spill something i do not want it attacking the fiberglass.

 

[matt167]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Just to mention, altho 5200 may be available at a marine store, it's also an off the shelf product at Lowes and other hardware/ lumber yards for about $10/ tube. It is a true marine rated product for below the waterline

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Marine Ply with no Glass?

Marine ply isn't waterproof, it's just a better grade of exterior ply.