222xf Floor has cracks all over.Whats the fix?

[johne]

Hi, I have a 22' Express fisherman I picked up this fall. The hull and cabin area are in great shape. The floors have cracks all over the place. The sides look OK but even the storage areas are cracked. Is there an easy way to fill and paint them? The boat looks to nice to be so beat up! I have the winter to redo it but I need lots of help on how to do it right. Thanks!

[johne]

Here is a link to some pictures of the damaged area's.http://www.use.com/Aquasport_Floor_Crac ... 6ec465aefb
 I would love to have this looking new for the spring!

[wingtime]

Those cracks are weird.  I don't think they are stress cracks (a of them couple are).  Some look like cracks from something being dropped on the deck.  Are the floors solid with no flexing?  I'd almost venture to say something is going wrong with the gel coat itself.  The only solid fix is getting a die grinder and V-notching all the cracks then fill them with a filler and paint or gel coat the decks.  Maybe someone else on here has seen this before.

[johne]

Thanks for the reply! The floors are very sound. No soft spots at all. I do think the marks up front are from an impact. But the cracks on the rear floor are just everywhere. It almost looks as if it's a defect in the flooring material.

[RickK]

Wonder if the PO used to jump from the dock into the boat - some people think that all they have is a boat - the nerve of these people  

[GoneFission]

Looks like a mix of stress cracks and impact hits.  Some obvious abuse there...  I think the cracks will come back through if you just try to gelcoat it...   :cry:   My advice would be to sand the deck and put a new layer of glass cloth over the deck to add strength and reduce the possibility for future cracking.  A bit of a PITA,  :x   but not that bad...

See ya on the water!

[johne]

I looked at another 222XF and sure enough the deck was cracked like mine. It has big hit/chips out of the gell coat and pretty much in poor condition. I feel better knowing mine was in better condtion!

[slippery73]

Looks like some are from some poor glass laminations, hollow areas between the gelcoat and the first layer of glass. You'll find that a lot in the corners where its harder to roll the glass down well. Some are obvious impact marks, other areas just look like gelcoat crazing from it shrinking over time, might have been applied really thick in those areas.  As noted above, only real fix is to grind down to glass and reapply new gel, if they are from fatigue however they will simply come back through without laying down more glass.

[cdoyal]

Hi, I have a 22' Express fisherman I picked up this fall. The hull and cabin area are in great shape. The floors have cracks all over the place. The sides look OK but even the storage areas are cracked. Is there an easy way to fill and paint them? The boat looks to nice to be so beat up! I have the winter to redo it but I need lots of help on how to do it right. Thanks!

My deck looks like that sometimes but only after a day of having my black lab on board. Scared the hell out of me the first time I really looked in every nook and cranny. The cracks were just black hair.

[johne]

Hey cdoyal. Did you know folks with no class don't know it? They think they are just fine.

[seabob4]

Hey cdoyal. Did you know folks with no class don't know it? They think they are just fine.

That was a real informative comment...

[Capt. Bob]

Hey cdoyal. Did you know folks with no class don't know it? They think they are just fine.

That was a real informative comment...

I know I sure got a hell of a lot out of it.

[cdoyal]

Hey cdoyal. Did you know folks with no class don't know it? They think they are just fine.

Must be the same people who don't have a sense of humor and don't know it.  

I swept out the boat today and collected enough hair to make a small puppy.

[johne]

Your post is like history repeating it's self. I am moving on hope you can do the same.

[seabob4]

Your post is like history repeating it's self. I am moving on hope you can do the same.

Bud,
Relax.  This is a great site, it's not THT.  We all just want to help.  And if a little brevity is thrown in the mix, have a good laugh, drink a beer, and await some other responses...