Need advice on replacing boat floor.

[phb]

Hello everyone. This is my first visit and post to the forum. I hope someone can help me. I'm replacing the wood floor on my 18' procraft fish hunter. I've torn everything out of the boat and want to do the job correctly. I have a couple questions:

1) marine board is very expensive and i'm wondering if I can use regular plywood. I will be covering the floor with vinyl. do I still need to epoxy or seal the plywood if i'm applying vinyl. The whole project is turning into more of a money commitment then first anticipated. I store my boat in my garage so its out of the weather. I will spend the money to do the job correctly but if its not necessary to seal the wood because the vinyl is being put down, i'd rather use that money somewhere else.

2) If sealing is necessary, what can I use that is cost effective and easily applied.


Thanks for your time. It is appreciated and any advise would be welcomed.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Need advice on replacing boat floor.

Welcome to iBoats!
Most use regular ext. grade plywood. You will need to seal it with something. Most use either epoxy or polyester resin with CSM (Chopped strand mat) An old time method is to mix 1 part boiled linseed oil 2 parts mineral spirits and 1 part marine varnish and apply 3-4 coats of it to the wood to seal it. Since you will be putting vinyl on it and always keeping it inside this would probably give you many years of servicable life.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Need advice on replacing boat floor.

Sealing the decking is a pay me now or pay me later kind of thing. You can cheap out and do nothing, or skimp and use spar or something similar... but if you want to really protect the time and money you'll have invested in your boat you'll use marine grade 2 part epoxy resin.

You can go cheaper on the plywood without sacrificing too much, ACX is a good alternative to marine grade and it's what a lot of people on this forum use. MDO plywood is a better choice than the ACX and is still cheaper than the marine plywood.