Soft deck epoxy injection

[slvrlng]

I finally got tired of stepping into the boat and feeling the soft spot from the console back. The final straw was Bridget climbed in barefoot the other day and said the fateful words "why does the deck feel soft". OK so now is the time before we trailer to the panhandle for the summer. the boat had this soft area when I bought it and I have just been waiting to do something about it. Well today was the day to start the project. I still have lots of resin and cabosil left over so my first step was to figure out exactly where it extended. I laid masking tape around the general area to get an idea of where to start. I talked to Flounderpounder yesterday about some hints since he and his neighbor had just done the same thing on Marc- time.

Tape around area. Most of the soft spot came from the fact that the console was not sealed and the original captains chairs weren't either.

 

Its about 3 feet front to back and about 18 inches wide at the aft end. It narrows up around the console.

Already repaired area where the chairs were and where the cooler seat attaches.


Drilling the first hole. The ply looked good under the glass but once through the glass and top layer of ply there was a void with darker wood.
The farther from the gunwale the darker and more rotted the ply became. Exactly what I expected.



After figuring out how deep to drill I went on and drilled 14 holes. This was enough to cover about 1 square foot. That was enough for today.



Vacuumed and then taped off with packing tape and masking tape.







3 to 1 medium epoxy. I mixed the epoxy then poured 2/3 into a plastic bowl and added cabosil until it was like peanut butter.







After mixing I got in the boat and pushed the plain epoxy into each hole just to coat everything really well, then filled the syringe with the thickened epoxy and squeezed it into the holes starting at the front and working downhill. (The boat is on the trailer). I kept pushing the thick epoxy into each hole until it started to squeeze out the other ones. I then wiped the excess off and waited for it to cure. So far it seems to have worked . Won't really know until tomorrow.

 

[wingtime]

Can't wait to hear the results!

[dbiscayne]

Sounds like that'll do it.
I always thought that the thinner the resin the better when doing this type of repair, so it would soak into any wood it encountered, but it sounds like you got the thick stuff to migrate from hole to hole which should do what you need.

[slvrlng]

I put the neat epoxy in first to coat all the wood fibers, then put the thickened on top of that. Just checked it and I think its gonna work. I did not step on it yet but the flex is gone when I mash down on it with my hand. Yesterday I could make it flex with my hand.
So , off to drill more holes! I am not going to use the small syringes today, I will use the empty caulking tubes so I don't have to load the syringe as often. That slowed me down a bunch yesterday and boy was it messy!!!!! I don't really care what it looks like in the end just as long as it is strong and doesn't flex anymore!

[flounderpounder225]

Lew
nice documentation on the repair process... looks familiar except for the celophane and extra tape, probably made clean up a breeze? Thanks for putting this up.

[seabob4]

You're on your way Lewis!  When I was at Wellcraft, the WCs were still using sandwich ply transoms (as opposed to the Aquas, all pour foam).  When we got voids in the transom, which one found when drilling for the engine mounting bolts, we did the exact same thing.  Drilled until we determined the extent of the voids, then pumped her full...

[slvrlng]

Humidity was way up today with the rain coming so no matter how I tried the packing tape just wouldn't stick. It is nice to rep a making tape line. 62 more holes today, after the 14 yesterday. 3 qts of mixed epoxy and an ounce of cabosil. I realized after drilling about 15 of the holes in the middle of the area that we had been walking on just the glass with nothing but shavings and powdered wood under it.

Started at the edge by the coffin with some really thick stuff because I drilled through in one hole. Let that cure for a while then shot neat resin into all the other holes. Today  also used the caulking gun which made it way faster. Went to the area just below where I worked yesterday and then back down the gunwale side. then to the aft end of the soft spot. Once I had all the outside rim full I started at the bow end and worked my way aft. I would shoot the thickened resin in each hole until it either started squeezing out of the next one or even three holes beside it. As I filled the last section of holes I knew I needed to get it really full to make sure of no voids so I just kept pumping. I pumped enough in that the resin actually bowed the deck up. When I pulled the caulking gun away it squeezed resin out for 30 minutes until it gelled. I then just waited an hour and pulled the tape. I like using this tape. I had very little blow by under the tape.

I think this is going to work and it is already pretty dang solid and it hasn't really kicked all the way yet.



Notice the lack of wood shavings around the four holes, and how dark two of the other ones are.





Hey they want me to test the tape.






Done.

[wingtime]

Looking good Lewis!

[Bushleaguer]

I have this exact problem in the exact same spot on my '87 Ospery.  Can't wait to see how it works- I'll definitely be trying the same method.  Do you plan on doing anything to dress up the area where the holes are when you are done?  If so, how do you think you will go about matching the non-skid pattern?

[Coverhill]

Lewis,
GREAT PHOTOS - thanks for documenting your project so beautifully with photos. A word description is helpful but when photos are added then understanding of the proceedure skyrockets.

Congratulations on your picture quality.

[slvrlng]

I have this exact problem in the exact same spot on my '87 Ospery.  Can't wait to see how it works- I'll definitely be trying the same method.  Do you plan on doing anything to dress up the area where the holes are when you are done?  If so, how do you think you will go about matching the non-skid pattern?

To answer your question, I am not really planning on doing anything about the nonskid. I will eventually paint over it with Kiwigrip if they make a tan color.
4 days have passed and the epoxy has fully cured. The area is totally hard as a brick! Just like the rest of the deck. I was contemplating cutting the top off the area and re-coring it, as of now I am glad I went this route. Yes it has the "measles" look but I don't really care! I am glad I went on and fixed this now as if I would have waited there was the possibility of cracking the top layer of glass and then I would have had to recore it.

Lewis,
GREAT PHOTOS - thanks for documenting your project so beautifully with photos. A word description is helpful but when photos are added then understanding of the proceedure skyrockets.

Congratulations on your picture quality.

Thanks! I love documenting stuff. If anyone else tries this I would recommend having someone else mix the epoxy as this slowed me down having to climb in and out to mix and fill the tubes.
Also, the masking tape worked really well. If you try this make sure and mash the edges down around each hole into the non skid pattern. I didn't do this on the first day and I had a little blowout under the tape. On the holes I did mash it down, literally no run out under the tape which made cleanup a breeze!

[Bushleaguer]

To answer your question, I am not really planning on doing anything about the nonskid. I will eventually paint over it with Kiwigrip if they make a tan color.
4 days have passed and the epoxy has fully cured. The area is totally hard as a brick! Just like the rest of the deck. I was contemplating cutting the top off the area and re-coring it, as of now I am glad I went this route. Yes it has the "measles" look but I don't really care! I am glad I went on and fixed this now as if I would have waited there was the possibility of cracking the top layer of glass and then I would have had to recore it.

I would be OK with the measles look as well.  I just thought since you had such a great idea that maybe you had something in mind for the non-skid too.  The soft spot in my deck has been bugging me for a few years now and this just seems like a fantastic solution.  About how deep were the holes?  Did you have any of them blow all the way thru?

[slvrlng]

Start with an exploratory hole. The gel was about 1/16, then there was the glass about 3/16, then the ply about 1/2 to 5/8 then a layer of glass under it all. start the first hole very slowly! You will feel each layer as you go through it. I then took some 3/4 tape and wrapped the bit as a guide for the rest of the holes. You want the bit to go all the way to the top of the bottom layer of glass but not through it. Just let it rest on it. Then mark your depth. The tape on the bit worked well until the bit got hot and on the last two holes it slid up the dang thing and I went through. In these holes I mixed up some really thick epoxy and squeezed it into them first and then let it set up so I would have a solid base for the rest.

[SC170nFL]

Good info Lewis. I might even be able to do this.

[hogdogs]

I wish I had read this before making the hasty decision to cut out my old floor....

Brent