Replaced rotten floor and soggy flotation foam 1994 Starcraft first post-lots of pics

[flyinguitars]

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[jigngrub]

You should have studied the forum before you started your project.

 

[Fastatv]

Also, I coated all of the wood surfaces with 2 coats of resin on the bottom and 3 coats on the top side. The first coat was cut with acetone to get it to penetrate. I used 2.5 gallons of resin. The sum of parts/materials was approx

You definitely extended the life of the old girl! I did something very similar to my old boat but I used furniture oak when I sistered the stringers. I noticed that you screwed the deck down....I did as well, and I also glued it. And you coated the deck with resin. I did this as well. Your deck is probably way better now than the factory if it were like mine. Mine deck was stapled in, and no glass or resin, top or bottom. Anyway, enjoy your boat!

 

[jigngrub]

Polyester resin is pretty much worthless (weak and brittle) without fiberglass cloth or matt to reinforce it, no matter how many coats you use. It'll crack, flake, and peel in a couple of years and anything applied to it like carpet or paint will lift and separate from the plywood the resin was applied to.... but y'all will find this out later.

 

[Fastatv]

Polyester resin is pretty much worthless (weak and brittle) without fiberglass cloth or matt to reinforce it, no matter how many coats you use. It'll crack, flake, and peel in a couple of years and anything applied to it like carpet or paint will lift and separate from the plywood the resin was applied to.... but y'all will find this out later.

Well, flaking, cracking...maybe so if overly flexed. Odd thing though. My boat is 25 years old, and I replaced about 70 % of the deck, but probably only 30 % of the plywood was delaminating. The 70 % I removed had zero resin, zero paint, top or bottom, zero mat, zero cloth, but some how most of it lasted 25 years......Hmmmmm? The few resin coats are far better than what the factory installed. Anyway, as I have mentioned before, its up to the owner what he wants to do with his boat. Some boats aren't worth enough, large enough, or cool enough to justify the labor and costs of a total gut, or cloth or matting the entire deck. It's really just that simple.

 

[flyinguitars]

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[flyinguitars]

Btw my load limit is 1275, so with 500lbs of water I was starting out 40% loaded!

 

[jigngrub]

Actually, I was just trying to help. When it looks like somebody doesn't know what they're doing, I try to help.

If your background with polyester resin was extensive as you suggest, you'd know to never use it without glass cloth or mat. If I may direct your attention to post #2238 of this thread you'll see what I'm talking about:
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...epair/534583-love-necessity-and-pride/page150

You and fatv aren't the first to make this mistake and won't be the last.

Had I not said anything, you'd have probably blamed the resin failure in your future on a bad batch of resin instead of the real reason which is improper use and application. Now when your carpet comes loose from the deck in a couple of seasons you may think to yourself "That ol' butt-hole jigngrub was right".

We all learn from our mistakes, and once you've taken a boat apart and put it back together a couple of times you start paying attention to the correct way of restoring a boat instead of trying to cut corners which costs more time and money in the future.


... btw FATV, I always get a chuckle out of when someone says that the rotten plywood in their boat lasted 25 yrs.:laugh: But that's not the case, the plywood lasted for about the first 10 yrs and had been rotting for the 15 yrs. after that.

Any boat worth restoring, is worth restoring right.

 

[flyinguitars]

Ok thanks for your help.

 

[thedinz]

nice

 

[jbcurt00]

There is plenty in these pix to be concerned about:

And regardless of tone or tact, Jig is wholly accurate, whether he expressed his opinion politely or not.

Now that the interior looks like this:

It will be even more difficult to determine when further problems start to begin again.

The pix show work that should have been done differently, whether you have fiberglass & resin experience, or not.

BTW: The styro 'foam' you substituted for whatever was in the boat originally, is actually a worse choice then what you removed. And that isn't 'just' my opinion, it's discussed extensively on this and many other boating forums.

Boat & boat resto safely....

 

[dude11]

Wow!! I was so in hope you got away with it---but no,,they gotya.It sucks to have your a$$ handed to you.BUT---their so right.Just enjoy your ride til it needs redoing.Then my now informed friend,please ask for help.These guys are tough on detail,but their knowledge on the subject is vast. They saved my rear on my project.Good luck to you.

 

[Woodonglass]

As I always say, "It's your boat and you're free to do with it as you see fit!" However as has been noted, there is a right way and a wrong way and in several areas you have done things the wrong way. If you take meticulous care of your boat and keep her out of the elements she could last several years before she requires additional restoration work.

 

[bigdirty]

There is a saying that goes something like this... "someone who doesnt have time to do it 'right' the first time, will have to make/find time to do it over again later.."


The urge to 'get it done' and get in the water is normal, and is generally a good thing IMO... but the pics posted to show some incorrect methods of reconstruction and i'm not trying to be rude here, but... I doubt it will last for more than a season or two before problems arise.. I also hope you don't sell it to some unsuspecting person down the road..