Replacing Boat Floor

[jwmiller33]

I will throw my 2 cents into the conversation as I re-did the floor in my old aluminum Lund. As far as type of wood, some guys will say using treated plywood with aluminum is a huge no-no due to the corrosive reaction when in contact with aluminum. Others will say that it really depends on the exact type of treated plywood you get and where you get it from, as they are now starting to use different chemicals in the wood that do not cause the corrosive reaction when in contact with aluminum anymore. My advice; go to a lumber yard (not Menards lumber yard) but a place that's sole business is selling wood. They are the most knowledgable guys to talk to and you are going to get a better deal on your wood than you would at Menards. As far as treated vs marine plywood, well that one was simple for me; being that I was putting it in a boat and no matter how careful I was, it was going to get wet numerous times throughout the year (fishing in rain, towing in rain, leaving it outside/uncovered in rain, splashes from big waves while back trolling, minnow bucket tipping over, etc) Whatever the case, the stuff was going to get wet one way or another over the years and I wanted it to last and not have to be re-done a few years down the road due to warping.

As for my project, I stripped the boat down and took out all of the old, rotted wood. I then went and got two 4 x 8 sheets of 1/2" marine plywood (I was also adding a casting deck upfront). I then cut all of the wood into the proper shapes for the benchs, deck and floor. I then sealed the wood with 2 coats of varnish (probably over kill with the marine plywood but I had some spare time on my hands and it couldn't hurt) and then wrapped the wood in outdoor carpet. This was over 3 years ago now and everything has held up amazingly. I believe my marine plywood sheets were $45 each at a local lumber yard in the Duluth area. Here are some before/after pics of my overhaul.

Before

After