Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

[KewlBird]

Hi, I am in a process of redoing the interior of my new boat (1985 16' Starcraft). I will be replacing the floor since it feels a bit soft. I'm trying to figure out what kind of wood to use to replace it with. I've read a post that treated plywood may affect aluminum. So, can I just use standard plywood from Home Depot (there are two types: BC and CDX, BC being sanded and more expensive), then cover it with deckseal or polyurethane? Thanks.

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Use whatever has the most ply's from HD or lowes. As long as you glass it its ok!

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Im going to use stuff that is 1/2 inches and is 5 ply. Its up to you though a lot of others would go with 3/4 but i want to save weight.

 

[KewlBird]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Im going to use stuff that is 1/2 inches and is 5 ply. Its up to you though a lot of others would go with 3/4 but i want to save weight.

My original is 1/2 inch so I'll stick with it, so resin by itself is the way to go?

 

[flounderman]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Gluvit is good. I have used polyester resin also. What will your final surface be, carpet , vinyl or maybe TUFFCOAT ?

 

[oops!]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

stay away from water seal or water proffing products...resin and glass will do just fine....seal it all even the sides of the ply

 

[KewlBird]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Gluvit is good. I have used polyester resin also. What will your final surface be, carpet , vinyl or maybe TUFFCOAT ?

Final surface will be carpet.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

i use 5ply 1/2 inch exterior, home depot and lowes may not carry it. standard 1/2 is 3 ply.

 

[KewlBird]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

i use 5ply 1/2 inch exterior, home depot and lowes may not carry it. standard 1/2 is 3 ply.

The BC ply from Home Depot is 4-ply, however I'm not sure it's exterior grade. The CDX ply I don't know how many ply's it has but it is used for roofs and etc., however it looks very rough with many more voids. You think I'm safe going with the BC? And do I need to use fiberglass mat, if so what weight should I go with? By Friday night the old floor will be out, and hopefully the new one goes in on Saturday. I'm almost done with the teardown only about 15 screws away from having everything out of the boat except the floor. Thanks.


edit: Found the answer on the plywood. The BC plywood is made with exterior glue, so I'll go with it. This website has some good answers about differences in plywood - http://www.capitolcitylumber.com/plywood.cfm

 

[TonyD20]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

I did the same thing to my 16' Starcraft - 1/2" Plywood and use Resin to seal it.. sides and all.... make sure you do it outside .. let dry real good..

 

[GregE]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Gluvit is good. I have used polyester resin also. What will your final surface be, carpet , vinyl or maybe TUFFCOAT ?

Any idea if TUFFCOAT adheres to epoxy-sealed wood? I know it's adheres to wood, but that may be uncoated, bare wood. Any idea?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

tuff coat--
KEY FEATURES:

* Water Based
* No VOC's
* Single Component (no mixing)
* 19 Standard Colors
* Chemical Resistant
* Salt Resistant
* Highly Durable
* Rubberized (made of recycled rubber)


ADHERES TO:
* Metal
* Concrete
* Painted Surfaces
* Aluminum
* Fiberglass
* Wood
* Primers

 

[GregE]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Yea I saw that. I'm gonna email them but from that list one can possibly assume epoxy fits into the primer category. I guess the main thing with any coating is scuffing the surface pretty decent first. I know you've done tons of boat restoration. What's a good grit of sandpaper for pre-paint scuffing of epoxied wood?

 

[KewlBird]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Progress has been made...pictures to follow. The floor is all cut and covered in resin, just about every other piece is cut and painted/resined. The yellow foam in the boat is kind of wet, previous owner didn't have the boat covered. You can see wetness in the closeup of the picture of the foam. The foam is drying (the whole thing was wet), the only spots that are still wet are under the splashwell. I plan on leaving it without a floor for couple of days so foam gets a chance to dry out. There were also a few rivets that popped (see closeup), I put in new ones.

One piece is kind of worrying me, the piece that goes under the floor in the bilge. I wasn't sure how it would bend into place when covered in resin, so I attached the side holders and covered the bottom with resin (I know I missed a spot). I plan on putting it in place then covering the top in resin. I just hope it doesn't crack now that resin is hardened....

 

[KewlBird]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

 

[gunner1]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Can you post a pic of the type of resin you used?

 

[KewlBird]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

I used "Boat Yard" brand from Ace Hardware. Cheapest I found... http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1394249&cp=2614208.1260993&parentPage=family

 

[gunner1]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

I used "Boat Yard" brand from Ace Hardware. Cheapest I found... http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1394249&cp=2614208.1260993&parentPage=family

Did they have that "in store" or did you just order it? Did you just apply straight from the can and let dry? Why type of coverage did you get per gallon?

 

[KewlBird]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

Did they have that "in store" or did you just order it? Did you just apply straight from the can and let dry? Why type of coverage did you get per gallon?

I bought it instore, it's $34 instore where I'm at. It comes with a hardener, so you'll mix a batch at a time. If you follow the directions you'll only have about 10-15 minutes to use up whatever you mixed up, so mix a little at a time. It covered both sides of what you see in the pictures, and I still have some left over.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Replacing floor on Aluminum boat, suggestions on wood...

nice work, should be great.