Soft floor in my ProLine...

[ufm82]

I recently discovered much to my chagrin that the front deck of my boat is less than rock solid. I could feel it flexing under my weight in the past but never gave it much thought- the fish box is under the front deck and it's hollow under there and I weigh around 250, so some flex was ok, right? Well, after feeling more than I normally did, I stuck my head up into the fishbox and checked things out. It appears that the floor was, (working from the top down) built up using a fiberglass layer, a wood layer scabbed on the fiberglass and then a glass mat layer over the wood. I've seen that style in a lot of boats and it works, but the edges of the mat where it comes off the wood on mine has broken and is allowing the flex. Access is tough but I may be able to sand upside down from within the fishbox. I've never attempted glass repairs in the past and was wondering what would be the best way to reinforce the floor? Can I just run some new mat around the edges of the wood and rebond it to the floor or should I completely cover the wood layer completely? That seems like it will give more strength but will be lots more work. <br /><br /> I don't plan to remove the cap although that would give me excellent access. That's just too extreme for me to attempt. <br /><br /> What do you think?<br /><br />UFM82

 

[prockvoan]

Re: Soft floor in my ProLine...

You will have to cut back that matting 3" or 4" and then reglass.Use a layer of biaxil 12oz cloth,come back with a layer of matting overlaping it.Sand in between coats.Put plastic bags under were tyou are fiberglassing,don't what to make a mess in your fishbox.<br />Forgot,when they built that boat,fiberglass resin was wet,plywood was added at that time,then they added the matting.The bonding had broke,and must be repaired first.What you can do is mix up some resin,inject it inbetween deck and plywood,brace it up with scrap wood.After it cures,then do your glassing.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Soft floor in my ProLine...

Because this area is difficult to reach and you may not be able to get to all of it very easy, epoxy will work better than polyester. Epoxy is stronger and will bond better if you can't prep the surface well. Sand off any loose or bad glass and sand all areas you want to repair. Use a 4" grinder with 36 grit paper.<br /><br />Don't use cloth as the first layer, the bond will be better with mat, then use cloth, roving or biax, whatever you can get. if the wood has broken loose from the deck, then inject some epoxy in between them and and put some heavy weights on it to force it back down.<br /> <br />You don't need to cover the entire area (plywood) if only the edges are loose.