Replacing the Deck, questions

[Spectre5922]

Hey Fletch,

I used the same method that Thermal discussed. The only difference is that I made 3 seperate templates. I cut a lot of 4' pieces so I automatically had the width of a sheet of ply. The biggest thing to remember is that you can't obviously bend a flat piece of door skin, so for the less-than-straight runs on the floor (curve of the liner), you cut pieces maybe 6" long and hot glue them end on end for the correct curve of the liner/floor. I made the first template at the transom, transferred it to the ply, then cut it out and test fit it. I used an electric hand planer for small adjustments to the shape/bevel of the ply.  Once I got it where I wanted it, I screwed the first piece in place and made the second template, then did the same for the last piece. I ended up with some very tight joints and the floor came out beautiful. As far as overlap lines, I'm not real worried about it. I'll mix the last batch of resin with some Cabosil to thickened it up just a little. That will help will in some of the ridges. I am also planning on possible using Durabak as the final non-skid coating which will also help fill in small gaps/ridges.

[Capt Matt]

I did one layer of 1708 and then 2 layers of 1.5oz Mat to cover up the biaxle
Came out very smooth and I needed very little sanding. If you ever drop the anchor on the deck you want it to be thick, I have already dropped it twice and I have a power pole  lol
Capt Matt

[Fletch170]

Decided to do 1208 biaxal for the deck, this way I wont need to tab, just use the 1208 across the deck and up the liner. Should one layer be OK? I have 1708 with no knit backing, should I still use this to tab?

Please walk me through the filet process....do I need to do this for my application?

Thanks guys!

[gman 82 aquasport]

Hey fletch170, I just finished my new floor(just painted the non skid yesterday), the way I did mine is I cut my plywood to fit, trial fit the pieces then removed them, I left a 1/4 inch or so gap all around the edge, like your boat mine has a liner and I cut my floor out and left a 2 inch lip to set the new floor on. Then took all 3 pieces of ply and put 1 layer of 17 oz on what would be the bottom side, attatched some 3/8 ply block sections on the ends which will butt joint (making sure they would not interfear with the floor setting down right). Let them dry for 2 days, I mixed some "peanutbutter" and put it on the lip I left on the liner, then set the panel in place 1 at a time. I worked front to back was just easier for me..after all 3 pieces where in the boat,I screwed the floor in place with stainless steel screws. I mixed some "peanut butter" basically epoxy with wood flour in it, made my first batch a little runny and put it in a gallon sized ziplock bag, cut out 1 corner and I had a squeeze bag,(don't mix to much at one time it can flash quickly) squeezed it into the gap , filled it to the level of the floor...did that all the way around the floor. After it dried I made some PB but thicker this time,about the thickness of actual peanut butter. I spread this with a 3/4 inch wide putty knife held at an angle to floor and liner, did about 2 feet at a time, spread the Pb then take an old spoon and use it to round the filet to the floor and liner, it took about 5 hrs to do the whole edge this way, but I was also doing it by myself. The better you smooth the PB the less sanding you will do, found out the hard way.Then I put 1 layer of 8in biaxial fglass tape all the way around the floor setting it half on the floor and the other half up the liner wall, then added a layer of 4 inch tape the same way half on the floor and half up the wall, basically double tabbing it. After all this was dry I put a layer of 17 oz biaxial on the floor running bow to stern and cut a fill piece to finish off the remaining side. After that dried, I sanded it some for adhesion and put the top layer (6 oz) running it side to side, I let it overlap about 2 inches and when dry sanded it. Total time to do the floor for me was about 20 hours ( cutting ply included) over about 5 days.. Hope this helps, also I had been looking at all the post i could find on rebuilding floors about every night, and just used the techniques I felt I could do..

[Fletch170]

2 problems, What do I use to make the putty? I am using poly resin.

I didn't leave a lip when removing the floor, I will need the structual strength to come from the "L" shape bond og glass between the deck and liner.

Did I seriously f*ck myself by not leaving that lip?

[dburr]

Laying 1708 across the deck would be overkill, right? Also, without laying another later of 1.5 oz over that, the finish product would look terrible, right? you would see "Print through" of the woven material, right?

The print through problem is easily solved with a number of coats of resin (normally three, sometimes more depending on the weave and the tickness of the resin) applied over the top of the glass once the original layup has gone green.  If you apply to much resin before the green stage you run the risk of the glass starting to float off the deck and that will weaken the system.   If you are using epoxy you can roll on the coats with foam rollers and it goes very quickly.  I was in a hurry on a skiff and just dumped the epoxy right on the bottom, then used a 1/16” grooved knife normally used for spreading adhesive to spread it out then tipped it out with a brush.  Not sure how much (if any) time I saved over just rolling but the end result was no print through..

[dburr]

I am not familiar with the cap and liner on the 17, what supports the deck at the hull sides?  Was the deck hung from the liner or is the deck joined to the hull side then the liner placed in on top of the deck?  I have a picture in my head that the liner will now support the deck edge instead of the other way around..  

[gman 82 aquasport]

You will be Ok , just may be a little more time consuming to do the floor without the lip. Are you going to refoam the areas between the stringers and the hull, If so if you refoam them first and let the foam go up behind the liner wall a little,(make sure it doesn't bulge the liner wall out) it will help support the floor until the new tabbing dries, I foamed mine before installing the floor and the foam supports it alot, but after all the glassing was complete it was solid..I would consider using 12 inch tabbing first as it will go up the wall farther and add more support. When I refoamed mine, after the foam finished its rise and hardened, I just shaved the excess down to the level of the bottom of the floor..
Or as another option you can glass a 1in x 1in piece to the bottom of your liner wall and let the floor rest on this, if it doesn't move the floor up to high, I had to add a section like this where my old wiring throuph was and let my new floor lay on that, did the same across my transom..
Not real familiar with poly resin, I'm sure someone on here can advise if it can be mixed into putties and such like epoxy can..
Wil check back on here later tonight after returning home... :pirat:

[dirtwheelsfl]

good advice guys..  yes you can mix poly into putties using cabosil. however it is much more brittle than epoxy based. mix the cabosil in before you add the hardener otherwise youll be mixing it in while its kicking yaknow. you can add some chopped glass in too before the cabosil to make it less brittle, but it doesnt really matter since youre tabbing over it anyway.

if you can do all the fillets and tabs wet on wet youll be better off. all one bond that way. i like to let the fillet set up a little bit so when you hard roll the glass over it the putty doesnt get squished around and it keeps your radius nice and even. i tihnk someone mentioned it but you want to leave a small gap between the floor edge and the wall as well.

[gman 82 aquasport]

I agree with dirtwheels, if you can do the tabbing over the filets while its still tacky you will get better adhesion, and it will be stronger....It doesn't take long to tab it as long as you do all your prep work ahead of time, have all the tabbing pieces cut before hand, both layers... have all your mixing stuff close so as not to spend time going back and forth..You can do this, just make up a plan of how you want to do it and get everything ready ahead of time and just start going. If you can get someone to help you, it will be easier on you to have someone mixing your resins and stuff for you, then you can concentrate on laying everything down...after the filets are down, you can stay in the boat and lay the tabbing down and not spend time getting in and out... if you didn't refoam the hull beforehand, you can still tab it from the sides from a short step ladder and not put the extra weight on the floor while you tab it to the liner, it should sit on top of the stringer or if just above it, you can mix some thick filet material and put it on top of the stringer then lay floor down,  if your not standing on it it should stay at the height you put it at, then tab from reaching over the hull sides, sounds hard but not to bad.. after tabbing is dry you can climb on the floor to check how strong it is..If you want more reinforcement of the bond, after the floor is covered with your glass and resin for the first layer, put another tabbing layer which would tie the floor layer to the liner as well... Just ideas to kick around

[Fletch170]

Thanks guys, all good advice. My boat didn't have any foam, besides inside of the stringers and I plan on keeping this thing as light as possible. I'm hoping that the 1208 with 3/4 oz chop will be good, and not show any print through. My deck is supported by the liner, I wish it wasnt, but it is. It makes this whole process a real pain.

[Fletch170]

So, the one layer of 1208 should be fine? Keep in mind there is only about a foot between the stringer and the liner.

[dirtwheelsfl]

Personally id just go with the 1708. Little more glass just to give ya peace of mind. Unless te 12 is way cheaper of course... Or if you slready have it.

[gran398]

Terrific read, you boys have got it going on.

Great reference for those coming behind you.

[Fletch170]

That sounded real bad dude. Hahahahaha