Needs new floors?

[Carbuff]

Hi, Im new to the forum and fairly new to boats, at least power boats. Ive been looking at ads on ebay and craigslist. Ive been looking at cheap boats that need work. Like, an 80's bowrider 16-19' would be great. A lot of the time I see in the description, needs new floors and such. Does this mean that the boat needs major fiberglass work or are the floors made of wood and can be replaced with new wood. Would this indicate that the boat is not structurally sound and should be avoided, or is this a common thing with older boats. Thanks in advance.

George

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Needs new floors?

Most of the time if the floor is rotted then so are the stringers and transom.
Also the flotation foam is probably soggy and needs replaced.
It is a big project.
Too many solid used boats out there unless you just want a big restore project..

Welcome to Iboats!

 

[licketdsplit756]

Re: Needs new floors?

ive found out on most boats ive redone the stringers are eighther aluminun channel or fiberglass,,the floor is riveted down to these joist..the wood can be bad but that dont take from the strucure of the boat.a piece of 3/4 marine plywood. a rivot gun..a drill. can be done in a day..ive replaced 4 decks now. when ya learn whats under that wood the rest comes easy.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Needs new floors?

Under those fiberglass stringers are wood.Unless you drilled into them and checked you may have put a new floor over it and not known about the wet wood..

 

[Carbuff]

Re: Needs new floors?

So, then floors are removable and not a sealed part of the fiberglass structure? And the stringers are the support beams for the floor and keep the structure of the hull too? They are metal or fiberglass with wood inside of them? Do you happen to know of any website that might have pictures of this? I often see in the ads that there is a soft spot or that the floor needs to be rescrewed down. Is it not worth it to have to deal with that kind of stuff. Im generally talking about a sub $1000 boat, a project.

 

[Robj]

Re: Needs new floors?

To replace a floor, transom, and stringers, along with the bow and stern structure, it cost me at least $1,500, probably $2,000. This includes glass, resin, wood, floor vinyl $250 worth of pour foam and all the other stuff. It cost me way more and was more work than I initially thought. So if you decide to get into a project, you have been warned.

I agree with the others, if you will be doing floors, you will most likely be doing the transom and stringers as well.

Have a great day,

Rob.

 

[Carbuff]

Re: Needs new floors?

Great, I will try to stear clear of that then. Thanks.