Floor Rot

[danjr]

Okay Guys,

My Dad (dan sr) and I are going to tackle a rotted floor in our 22 ft thompson. We also have a little rot at the transom end by the bilge. Any advice on how to tackle this project.

I know that this has been talked about before but I wanted some opinions on what to do if the stringers are rotted as well and also if it is a good time to look into gas lines and wiring. I do not want it to get too big because we would like to have the boat on the water before salmon season.

Please suggest on flooring types wood (plywood), coverings (ie vinyl), treatments, fasteners, adhesives etc. Thanks!

For background the boat is an 83 and currently has a wood floor that looks like it has been replaced once already. I am worried that when we lift that floor we are going to have our hands full. :roll:

Thanks,

Dan

[LongLine]

Dan - Did you check out?:

http://fishing.lakeontariounited.com/vi ... .php?t=381

Myself, I'd only use marine plywood on the floors, after I sealed it up real well, then cover it - carpet etc.

As to stringers, I'd venture a guess you'd have to splice a solid sealed & shaped piece to it. There are some epoxies out there that are supposed to be good at filling rotted areas of wood but I don't know if they'd be any good in a marine environment.

It's definitely a good time to check lines & wiring. The very last thing you want is to have a leaky line under the floorboards.

Rot is generally caused by prolonged exposure to moisture. I'd check to make sure any water between the stringers has a way to get out. i.e a vent or drain back to the main drain or bilge.

Hopefully, you won't run into much in the troubled area. Good luck

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[MANIAC]

Dan, I am going thru the same project as we speak. Aluminum boat, so no rotten stringers. Replaced fuel,vent, and fill lines and below deck wiring. New gaskets on the fuel senders. Pulled the tanks and cleaned them. Had a few cracked welds repaired. Went with starboard anti skid for the flooring. It has been no small project and I have found lots of other little things to fix up along the way. My advice is to be thorough and do it right the first time and not rush through anything. Better to pay once than twice.

Eric

[HitorMissIV]

Hey Guys....

I recently restored a bass boat that had to be completely redecked.

I had a friend that worked on trailer bodies and I was able to buy fiberglass covered 3/4" plywood which was water proof. this is the same material that the state uses for ROAD signs The truck shop was happy to sell the damadged take off panels .

[jimski2]

Engine stringers rot? When you lose a couple universl bearings in your I/O, check your engine mount stringers. If they're bad you need to replace them. Alignment is very important so get a guy who has done them.

[dcso]

Dan,

I haven't tried this stuff but it looks like its just the ticket bad transoms and stringers. www.seawolfindustries.com/seacast.html. I am in the process of going through an 85 sea ray 230 and I may end up using this stuff before i'm all done.

Ted

[danjr]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the advice!

Longline thanks for the link. Funny thing was I actually replied to that post. :roll: I wonder if loss of hair leads to loss of memory. :shock:

Jimski,

Question we have already replaced the "gimbal bearing??? " this is the bearing with the rubber doughnut in it that attaches to the lower unit. So would this be a sign of bad engine stringers? Never thought of this so thank you for the heads up.

I will keep you posted as this project comes along. Thanks

[Tim Bromund]

Dan,

I went through this in 2003 on my 86 Thompson 252 HT (24 foot), we ended up replacing the floor, stringers all the way up to the cabin, motor bunks and a complete transom replacement. At that time, instead of carpeting the floor again we had a fiberglass washdown deck put in (basically layers of fiberglass cloth saturated with west system epoxy applied over the 3/4" plywood and then painted with an anti slip paint).

My motor bunks were completely rotted and the motor had settled almost 2 inches from where it should have been. A lot of work and plywood went into the rebuild (7 full sheets of 3/4" plywood) along with lots of West System Epoxy, but the transom is now 2 1/2" thick instead of the single sheet of 3/4 that was there originally and the boat is better built than when it left the factory in St. Charles Michigan. Weighs a couple of hundred pounds more also

I had it done at a shop here in Buffalo. I can't really recommend them so I won't say who it was. The work done was fine ( I was there once every week checking on it and saw the whole process) but there were a number of other issues with the place that would keep me from sending anyone else there.

If you're turns into as big a job as mine was, you may want to consider having a boat repair shop do it. I would not have wanted to do this one myself. It wasn't cheap though (something around $6,200.00), probably put more into it than the boat is worth, but I figured, now it is good for another 20 years.

Tim

[danjr]

Tim,

Great information Thanks! I just have a feeling that we are into something very big when we pull the floor out.

Take Care,

Dan