Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

[74SkeeterHawk]

Here goes. Im a new boat owner just recently purchasing a 1974, 16' Skeeter Hawk Tri Hual bass boat. When I bought it the owner let me know about a soft spot in the floor with a 6 inch hole. I looked at it and decided I would be able to take care of what ever maintainence it needed. Well after digging into it a bit and removing the old delapitated carpet it seems it requires a total floor replacement. Now this is where I get confused. From what I have read and what I am looking at it seems like all there is to this is a piece of 3/4" ply that was either layed free or glued to the stringers, or what I think are the stringers(more on this in a minute). Then fiberglassed over. Im thinking Im going to have to cut out the old floor and probubly replace the stringers but what Im not sure of, the stringers look like fiberglass and from what I can see the resin has broken down and left the glass mushy and plyable. Is there wood there or was skeeter wierd and made solid glass stringers? Another question I have is the main deck sits about 9" lower than the casting deck on the bow. This is pretty much layed down on the hual of the boat with the live well and the rod box sitting up on the floor rather than being recessed like mondern bass boats. Heres my question, does the deck plywood sit beneath the live well and rod box or is it cut to fit around them? Secondly does the deck ply go under my csating deck or is that seperated from the main deck? Im curious to know becuase this will tell me how much work I have ahead of me and how much my wife is going to hate me all winter long. I knwo I have a lot of work ahead of me but any help will be great thanks.

Boater Rookie

 

[Bondo]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Heres my question, does the deck plywood sit beneath the live well and rod box or is it cut to fit around them? Secondly does the deck ply go under my csating deck or is that seperated from the main deck? Im curious to know becuase this will tell me how much work I have ahead of me and how much my wife is going to hate me all winter long.

Ayuh,....

I would imagine there's wood in the stringers,+ that the transom is also Rotten....
As for the other Questions,....
Break out the Sawzall,+ Dig in,....
The answers should be quite obvious once you dig into it...

 

[Lou C]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Well it might look like mine did..........get a Tyvec suit, good particle respirator, gloves and googles and tear into it..........

 

[74SkeeterHawk]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Thanks guys... I dont think my transom is bad. I had to replace my motor and when I did I checked for soft spots or weaknees...seemed pretty solid to me. The only flaw with the transom was some external gelcoat cracks on the inside of the boat. I fixed that when I bolted the new motor mounts to the transom. I took a piece of 3/4" ply slather it with a fiberglass epoxy and drilled holes through it for the motor mount bolts and tightened it down to the insides sureface of the transom. it seems to be solid and the epoxy makes it water proof I was playing with the idead of putting resin on the out side to futher water proof it. I know its just a patch but it didnt warant tearing apart the whole transom. as far as the floor Ill get me a sawzall...yay another excuse to buy a tool... and get some pictures for your guys. Thanks

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

something like this

 

[jonesg]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Thanks guys... I dont think my transom is bad. I had to replace my motor and when I did I checked for soft spots or weaknees...seemed pretty solid to me. The only flaw with the transom was some external gelcoat cracks on the inside of the boat. I fixed that when I bolted the new motor mounts to the transom. I took a piece of 3/4" ply slather it with a fiberglass epoxy and drilled holes through it for the motor mount bolts and tightened it down to the insides sureface of the transom. it seems to be solid and the epoxy makes it water proof I was playing with the idead of putting resin on the out side to futher water proof it. I know its just a patch but it didnt warant tearing apart the whole transom. as far as the floor Ill get me a sawzall...yay another excuse to buy a tool... and get some pictures for your guys. Thanks

That sounds like the transom is gone,
cracks = wet ply which crack the glass due to expansion.
drill a hole in the transom and check the wood coming out on the drill, mine was like potting soil.
might as well get stuck in

you have lots of company here.

 

[74SkeeterHawk]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Well guys Ive got me a swzall and started cutting and well looks ike ive got a complete rebuild on ym hands. Ive been trying to upload some photos but my files are to large for Iboats. So when i get this ficured out I will get them up as soon as possible. I got a lot to learn now cuase i have to replace the stringers all the fiberglass that holds them in place as well as the floor and casting deck. I dont think the casting dec will be that dificult its mainly about framing...but still looking for good advice and techniqe tips. Thanks

 

[74SkeeterHawk]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

i just got all the old foam and stringers ripped out but I am not sure if it will be with rebuilding the deck and fiberglass my self or if it would be more economical to have it done by profesionals. I know at least with the profesionals i will have the garuntee and the work should be done right. But then again i dont know how difficult it would be to do it my self
so much to consider.....any one with good advice as far as glassing goes? Any literature anyone can sudgest that will dumb down the process for me? Thanks.....

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

HAy 74SkeeterHawk sounds like your having fun !! hahah sorry !!

Man it really not that hard and when you get the grinding done you will be over half way there , if you are going this far i would just do it , then you will know more that 90 % of the boaters out there !!! and it really isnt that hard !! the grinding is the hardest !!

On how to do it i recomend that you read OOPS thread or mine[ pics of work so far ] or redfurys !!! all are great and there are some others that are great also !! we all got stuff we have posted that will help!! john

 

[Nova II 260]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Skeeter if you haven't done so you should read this grinding, etc
Great post

 

[74SkeeterHawk]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

HAy 74SkeeterHawk sounds like your having fun !! hahah sorry !!

Man it really not that hard and when you get the grinding done you will be over half way there , if you are going this far i would just do it , then you will know more that 90 % of the boaters out there !!! and it really isnt that hard !! the grinding is the hardest !!

On how to do it i recomend that you read OOPS thread or mine[ pics of work so far ] or redfurys !!! all are great and there are some others that are great also !! we all got stuff we have posted that will help!! john

Ok that is something I didnt know about....I.E. Grinding. I got most of the old flooring out as well as the stringers and foam but grinding is part of the prep work?! Oh boy...LOL. What is the purpous of grinding...not to sound dumb? Should I invest in a good (Ridgid) grinder or would a drill attachement do fine. What kind of pads would I need? Sanding pads or abrasion pads? One more question. The way my boat is set up , my live well is on the floor rather than being recessed in the floor. I need to cut it out to clear the entire hull of the old foam and wood. How do I do this with out distroying it and would it be easier to just engineer a new raised floor design with a premaned live well in the floor similar to modern bass boats? You know lowered driving area and raised casting decks both at the bow and stern. i dont know maybe Im making a mountain out of a mole hill but this are all things I've got to consider. By the ay anyone know how to shrink the size of picture files so I can show you guys what the heck im talking about. Thanks LT and friends.

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Ok that is something I didnt know about....I.E. Grinding. I got most of the old flooring out as well as the stringers and foam but grinding is part of the prep work?! Oh boy...LOL. What is the purpous of grinding...not to sound dumb? Should I invest in a good (Ridgid) grinder or would a drill attachement do fine. What kind of pads would I need? Sanding pads or abrasion pads? One more question. The way my boat is set up , my live well is on the floor rather than being recessed in the floor. I need to cut it out to clear the entire hull of the old foam and wood. How do I do this with out distroying it and would it be easier to just engineer a new raised floor design with a premaned live well in the floor similar to modern bass boats? You know lowered driving area and raised casting decks both at the bow and stern. i dont know maybe Im making a mountain out of a mole hill but this are all things I've got to consider. By the ay anyone know how to shrink the size of picture files so I can show you guys what the heck im talking about. Thanks LT and friends.

OOOHH man 74SkeeterHawk sorry I didnt mean to brake the bad news so hard to yea !!! haha

Well frist you need a good mask !! a dual filter one !! home depot has then for 25 bucks or so !! some throw away cover alls would be great also, if not dont wash your cloths in your washing machine, it will get fiberglass on all your cloths !!

yep a good grinder is a must , a 7 inch one , I used a cut off wheel on mine , ooops used a flapper they have them both at home cheapos !!lol

Use your shop vac when grinding , its kind of a pain but it cuts down on the dust by over half !!

other then that get ready to itch!!!

On the live well , cut around it to get it out and go from there !!

can you get some pics up on here , all the guys like pics , we can help a lot more when we see it !!

Ok well have fun !! I am going fishing !! hhahah John

Ps the reason for the grinding is to get all the weight out from the old glass and to scuff up the hull so the new poly or eopxy to stick really well !! and poly doesnt mechanically bond to the hull, epoxy does !! now both will work really well , its up to you to decide on what your going to use , epoxy is more money !! i used it and ooops used poly !!!!

 

[74SkeeterHawk]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

OOOHH man 74SkeeterHawk sorry I didnt mean to brake the bad news so hard to yea !!! haha

Well frist you need a good mask !! a dual filter one !! home depot has then for 25 bucks or so !! some throw away cover alls would be great also, if not dont wash your cloths in your washing machine, it will get fiberglass on all your cloths !!

yep a good grinder is a must , a 7 inch one , I used a cut off wheel on mine , ooops used a flapper they have them both at home cheapos !!lol

Use your shop vac when grinding , its kind of a pain but it cuts down on the dust by over half !!

other then that get ready to itch!!!

On the live well , cut around it to get it out and go from there !!

can you get some pics up on here , all the guys like pics , we can help a lot more when we see it !!

Ok well have fun !! I am going fishing !! hhahah John

Ps the reason for the grinding is to get all the weight out from the old glass and to scuff up the hull so the new poly or eopxy to stick really well !! and poly doesnt mechanically bond to the hull, epoxy does !! now both will work really well , its up to you to decide on what your going to use , epoxy is more money !! i used it and ooops used poly !!!!

Whoo Hoo a new tool. I love having an excuse to buy tools. What can I say I am a self perclaimed tool junky. As far as the mask and suit is concerned, I guess I am ahead of the curve cause I bought both a tyvek cover all suit and twin filter mask. I think I might need to get a pair of spare filter canisters but other than that I am good to go. I think I finally got the picture thing worked out. The live well is hard to make out in these picture but its towards the stern on the left side of the picture. It accually is located under the splash well witch is the difficulty. I cant get my sawzall in there. Im considering just ripping the hell out of it and reconstructing the whole rear area to include and hidden battery and fuel tank boxs along with a new live well......but again the experience to know if that is a good choice for a rook or not is absent. Sooooo....here are the pictures, tell me what you think.

 

[Nova II 260]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Oh, you'll be grinding alright. Skeeter, If you're can grind with air tools and carborundum blades you can wet the area down and keep the dust down to practically nothing. Else a fan blowing with the wind will keep you fairly dust (and itch) free while grinding.
But of utmost importance is to ALWAYS protect yourself! Mask and goggles.
I ruined my health over the years by breathing all sorts of stupid stuff and a lot of guys my age (63) are in the same condition ... save yourself. No boat is worth your (future) health.

 

[74SkeeterHawk]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

I was wandering about something. I took a look at oops photos on his rebuild but I wandered why do I have to grind the entire hull. I only really need to replace the stringers and floor. Wouldn't I need to only grind were I would be reglassing the stringers, or is there something more to griding as far as the whole deck replacement goes?As far as the transom, mine doesn't look sectionalized like his did where he just glassed in a new piece of wood. If I would need to replace the transom how would I go about it? I also was wondering if I could get away with using a wood/composite decking material in place of actual plywood. Its more resistant to corrosion and rotting. I want to make this job as weather proof as possible. Thanks again for the help. Oh unfortunetly I won't be able to work on the boat for a few weeks considering I'm out of town on work....so there wont be much updates as far as progress goes but I will probubly be asking a lot of questions as I think of them. Thanks again.

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

I was wandering about something. I took a look at oops photos on his rebuild but I wandered why do I have to grind the entire hull. I only really need to replace the stringers and floor. Wouldn't I need to only grind were I would be reglassing the stringers, or is there something more to griding as far as the whole deck replacement goes?As far as the transom, mine doesn't look sectionalized like his did where he just glassed in a new piece of wood. If I would need to replace the transom how would I go about it? I also was wondering if I could get away with using a wood/composite decking material in place of actual plywood. Its more resistant to corrosion and rotting. I want to make this job as weather proof as possible. Thanks again for the help. Oh unfortunetly I won't be able to work on the boat for a few weeks considering I'm out of town on work....so there wont be much updates as far as progress goes but I will probubly be asking a lot of questions as I think of them. Thanks again.

OOOPs ground the hile hull cause he glassed the hole thing !!! You just got to do it where you are laying the new glass !!!

I used the pvc deck boards on my outer stringers , couldnt get one big enough for the center stringer !! John

 

[oops!]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

penski board for the transom.....$10 bucks a squair foot......really good alternative to plywood...a bit on the expencive....about twice as much as a good marine ply.....

there is also another material i ve just heard of....some manufacturers are using it for the deck....ill find out more about it.....but its slightly lower cost than marine ply.....just as strong....and you glue it....not screw it.....

supposed 30 year or longer life.......as i was glassing the deck in.....my rep said.....you should have used this.!!!!...

penski board can aslo be used for the stringers.....

you should also know......when a boat fails....it is allmost allways the wood....every time....it takes a few years.....that is why we carefully wrap each part in fiberglass and seal each screw hole....if we could loose the wood....the restoration would take much less time and possibly cost less money.......people here like coors...are slowly replacing all the wood in their boats with a composite product
but up till now....the price of composits were just too expencive......now...the price is slowly coming down........the problem is to find out what products work properly under what applications.....the manufacturers can make any claim they want....but untill someone here uses the stuff under our conditions....we wont know the truth !

and john is correct.....the reason i ground the entire hull was because i did several full hull layups......you just need to grind where you glass

 

[74SkeeterHawk]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

Im looking forward to finding out what this cheaper alternative is. I looked up penske board and it looked great but at 170.00 a sheet (4x8) its a little out of m budget. I may have to rely on resined ply for now.

I was relieved to find out that I only have to grind where I glass. Thats a lot of time and sweat, and itching saved. As far as glassing new stringers to the hull, are stringers layed down in groves in the hull or do I have to measure and place them my self. I'm worried about making sure that I cut them at the perfect height so that my floor well lay even and flat. Is there a measurement formula or techniqes that will garuntee that when a cut is made it will fit perfectly in the spot that the old one is being replaced. Also I would like to make a new live well box and a concealed battery and fuel box at the rear transom area. How would I frame and glass these mods? Should I use 1/4" ply as a base for the glass mat or is there a way to create glass walls with for my boxs' just based on the frame? I know I'm full of questions....but you guys know more about this than any book Ive found so far. Teach Me!
Thanks again guys and soon Ill be back working with more pictures and progress reports.

 

[oops!]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

the stringers will actually sit off the glass hull a 1/4 inch or so......you actually bed them in....the stringers cannot sit on top of the glass because it will form a hard joint.

as far as cutting to height.....if you can...when you rip out the strings....try to make a template of them....if not....the hull ext has detailed pics of procedures to make stringers from scratch....and after they are bedded and tabbed into place.....it shows how to cut to height.

 

[74SkeeterHawk]

Re: Soft Deck....Unsure waht to expect

the stringers will actually sit off the glass hull a 1/4 inch or so......you actually bed them in....the stringers cannot sit on top of the glass because it will form a hard joint.

as far as cutting to height.....if you can...when you rip out the strings....try to make a template of them....if not....the hull ext has detailed pics of procedures to make stringers from scratch....and after they are bedded and tabbed into place.....it shows how to cut to height.

Well ill definetly be cutting from scratch, my stringers are mush. All thats left is the glass that lined the sides of the stringers. I tried looking for the hull ext but couldnt find the thread you were referencing. If you could point me in the right direction that would be great. Thanks oops for all the help. Im sure ill be bugging you for months to come.

Skeeter (Rob)