Boat Repair..floor replacement

[storms72]

Hi guys,
After 3 months and very spasmodic days of work with my cousin and good friend on his boat this weekend she will hit the water (has been finished for over a week). There has been quite a lot of work go into it and I would like to post the step-by-step pic's on the job we undertook and a written explanation of the processes / tools used. A lot of you have probably done something similar to a boat you may own currently or have owned in the past. I know Haji is doing some work to his transom at the moment.

If anyone wants any hints/tips if they're undertaking this project we are more than happy to help out....we are not expert's but feel after I have fibreglassed my thongs to the boat floor :redface: (also had them stick to my feet and almost stuck my hands to my car's steering wheel) am more than qualified in sharing the 'what not to do's on the subject', my cousin and the boat owner failed to make a fool of themselves as I did!


Haji.....do you have any shots of the work you're currently doing to your boat.....would be great to have a little how-to bible as I know we could've used it when replacing the floor, there is a lot of info around on it but getting the help first hand from typical aussie bloke's like us would've been a huge help!

Any other pic's or helpful hints may help to save others some time and money.

Will post more after this Sunday.

[Haji]

Hi Jason
I am keeping a record of the mods to the Seafarer and will post the photos once I have completed the lot.

Its looking good at present although I am not to fond of glassing, as you say it is easy to get out of sync and end up with resin all over the shop. I have got the colour matching down pat now, very happy with the match.

[storms72]

You are a little more fussy than us Haji.......Once the glassing was complete the carpet went down.....-Maybe a little lazy but won't last any longer than gel coat (may discolour-go whiter but with carpet over the floor who will see it!

A Special thanks must go out to Haji for helping me through todays engine problem prior to this weekends initial test run.....the motor wasn't firing and after following Haji's fault finding assistance (and a little of my own know how) we sorted the electrical fault (a dodgy wire) ....can't thank you enough...without your help I would've been marooned this weekend! Was soooo happy to call you and let you know the engine fired-up and was running fine!

[Haji]

Oh shucks, twasnt any trouble.

[storms72]

Finally got around to playing with all the photos so here we go!

Initial photos show the damage to the floor, seat box removal and floor removal.

1st step was to get everything out of the boat, seat boxes were broken loose using a medium (2-4cm) chisel. Floor was removed by carefully grinding through glass/wood as close to edge as possible.

[storms72]

Second step was aking the old floor out, removing the rotten stringers (rubber mallet would be ideal, also used hammer and chisel) using grinder/wire attachment to remove resin from channels.

[storms72]

Step 3, preparing the floor and sanding/re-glassing transom at spot we didn't like the look of!

Once the floor has been removed you must prepare the hull by giving at a total clean-out, vacuume then hose out, then prepare the surfaces to be re-glassed by washing down with acetone prior to glass/resin application.

Transom was ok but where the old stringers were removed from there the guys decided to strengthen it and remove old glass from inside the transom only as a safety/peace of mind measure.

[storms72]

Cut-out of stringers/cross braces....Lot of fiddling around here grinding/sanding to get the angles/heights/curves right so it all bolts and slots into place, expect to take q few hours (we took bout 3-4) to get it right.

Once everything fitted fine we painted ply with resin-2 coats...1st coat with bout 30% acetone in it to allow the resin to penetrate the ply and seal the wood, second coat to seal the first. Applied this with a 4 inch roller, be sure to pre-drill screw holes and get resin into the holes as well.

Prepare channels for stringers by filling them with resin/q-cel mix/shaved fibreglass then place stringer assembly into channels and use strips of glass bout 20cm wide to secure stringers to hull, we put bout 4 layers of glass strips each one wider than the one before to be sure of good strength and also strengthened hull round channel area.

[storms72]

Floor must be cut in sections to fit to exactly same level as old floor, again will take time to measure and cut/grind/sand to get it to fit right, many times we had to test-fit/remove, re-shape, test fit etc before we were happy. Also arranged to fit fuel tank into sunken well at stern of boat, had to make provisions for this in stringer assembly too. Same prep with floor ply as stringers 2 coats of resin one with acetone mix to penetrate, once floor in place pre-drill holes to secure it. we painted top of stringers and edge of hull to ensure better adhesion overall. Top of floor was coated with 1 layer of resin/glass matting prior to installing it.

Once installed we screwed it into place and 2 layers of glass matting/resin was applied to strengthen new floor. Strips of glass were used to ensure no water got through to lower hull along edges of floor and to remove all gaps between floor and boat sides, may need to fill larger gaps with glass shavings/q-cel/resin mix.

[storms72]

Replace seat boxes, ours were ok after sanding and re-coating with glass/resin. Secure boxes into place using glass strips outer edges bout 20cm wide, used 4 layers each a little wider than the one before. Inner edges glassed together with one strip wide enough to secure both boxes together and to floor.....Finally once done sand floor to be sure there are no bits to cut or make holes in your feet the hit the water and enjoy your brilliant job.

Will have to post final photos later of completed floor.

[storms72]

Last of the photos for now.....if anyone is undertaking this job and wants a hand let me know, or if you're looking for this to be done on your boat and don't want to get your hands dirty lets have a chat and may be able to arrange something.

Faces have been disguised at the request of my cousin and the boat owner......

[mulloway mayhem]

looks like you guys have been busy...great stuff hey...:headbang:

[beats]

Nice work fella's, nothing like doing something properly & 1 day when you decide to sell her, at least you can rest soundly & know that they have bought themselves a good second hand boat.:ohhh yeah:

[storms72]

Beats as we have agreed the new floor and stringers will outlast the rest of the hull. She is as unsinkable as the titanic. The captain and owner is stoked with it and more than enjoyed himself this weekend even if he was a little tired late monday and tried his best to impersonate James and scare the fish away with his snoring.:rolling laughter: :rolling laughter:

[fishinf]

storms i finaly got around to reading this thread
and its impresive you must be very handy
well done
p.s thats not good to say , as unsinkerble as the titanic,
IT SANK ON ITS MADIAN VOYGE cheers

[storms72]

Like everything Fishinf you never know what may happen, we like the titanic have no radar and should we run into and iceberg in botany bay would expect to also sink but the floor and stringers will be as good as the day they went in.