Re: Working on removing soft floor in 84 Imperial 17'
Um, not sure which you plan to use, but the 1st, Sintra, lists in it's properties that it's NOT recommended for structural applications, the deck (IMHO) is structural.
The 2nd, Celtec is $212.47 for a 3/4" thick 4X8 sheet, or $136.60 for a 3/8" thick 4X8 sheet. That's SIGNIFICANTLY more per sheet before shipping or tax then marine plywood, which MOST rebuilds don't use.
The 3rd didn't pull up any retail listings w/ pricing after a quick search...
IMHO, you may be overthinking both the problem & the solution. The problem isn't water, leaks or the damage it can cause, it's a boat, it's going to get wet. It's how the wet boat was dealt with by prior owners.
Kept bow high, well covered, and maintained, a fiberglassed deck, stringers & transom should last many many decades.
Look thru some of the resto's as suggested earlier. Lots of good info in most of them. Occasionally, you will find someone suggests a non-traditional repair material. There have been quite a few.
The vast majority of those non-traditional materials & methods are NOT used in the ultimate rehab of the boat. Often the material isn't well suited to DIY backyard boat builder's use. Some prove significantly harder to work with, cost much more or are much harder to source then expected.
Very rarely someone does follow thru & use non-traditional stuff, and possibly have great results.
The only 1 I can think of off hand is an Australian or New Zealand rebuild that used honeycomb composite sheet goods for their transom, stringers & deck. They had great access to it & it's required bonding agent (epoxy), thru work, I think, and lots of 1st hand knowledge of the product & it's usage.
Once the transom, stringers & deck were completed though, I've not seen anything further posted. I suspect the project was finished, but don't have any long term use data on its ultimate success or not.
Esp if someone suggests a method/repair plan that you don't understand.
