rotten floor

[BehindtheHead]

i have a 1988 lund mr pike. the floor is rotten in the back corner.

im thinking about replacing it with aluminum diamond tread plate.

ive never taken a floor out of a boat before. what holds the wood floor? i assume aluminum stringers of some sort?

any thoughts on this idea?

[BehindtheHead]

also what would it cost to re do a boat with plywood and carpet?

[Esox_Magnum]

Marine grade plywoods about $90 a sheet, carpet can be had for around $150, I'm redoing mine come spring with 2 sheets plywood and carpet/glue I'm estimating $400-$500 for a 17' boat

[AaronM]

I like the diamond plate. Folks out West often have that in their boats. However, marine plywood and vinyl is a cheap, easy way to do it. If you are considering diamond plate, I would recommend the vinyl over carpet for ease of maintenance.

Well kept marine plywood in a boat can easily last 15+ years.

[JosMN]

When I did mine, I ordered the carpet online. I believe I got 27x8 (I wanted extra) for a little over $200 with free shipping. It was the good marine stuff with the rubber backing. It looks fantastic. As far as the wood, marine would be best. I used Marine, but if you want to save a little money you can go with a nice AC plywood ($30-40 a sheet) and seal the snot out of it with marine grade spar varnish.

Floor on your Lund should either be riveted or screwed down on the stingers in panels. They may be hard to find with the old carpet. I would stay away from the diamond plate idea. Here's a picture of mine when I got done with it last year.

If I had a heated shop or garage at my house I would be glad to help you with it. It was a fun, but time consuming project.

[BoxMN]

I'd do vinyl over marine, and it will be the last floor the boat will ever have. The carpet just soaks up water, vinyl lets it all slide the edge, and drain. But I know some folks don't like vinyl.

It is time consuming and and often you need to be contortionist but not really that hard. You figure how to take everything apart and it goes together okay. I would just say this - don't worry about being tooooo accurate about stuff, that will make you go nuts. After all it is an old boat Our 82 Alumcraft turned out nice, and we learned stuff we would do different if doing it again, but hopefully we will never have to do it again, haha!

Big thing, brace the seat pedestal areas even more than you think you should. We thought we did, but nope... Good luck.

[BehindtheHead]

i have to take some measurements in the boat still but i can buy the aluminum for about 500. then decide if i want to screw it down or plug weld it.

i havent decided yet. if it was a boat i wanted to keep long term i would be more willing to do the aluminum. but for aobut the same price it might be worth it for resale?

alum would be lighter if i had to guess. a 5x16 sheet (i know its not wide enough) is just 152 lbs. and with my slightly underpowered motor that would help.

not sure on the weight of plywood and carpet.

ive never seen a boat with vinyl floor. isnt it slippery?

[BoxMN]

i

ive never seen a boat with vinyl floor. isnt it slippery?

Nope, we used dot deco on our 82 alumacraft, and an old pontoon rehab, and when I got my new pontoon last year I special ordered it with vinyl floor (and fairly $$ option) and I will never ever get a boat with carpet again. Vinyl floor and snap-in carpet maybe, but never just carpet. Maybe just me but you can do search on here for lots of discussion on it.

We did it originally mainly for duck hunting purposes, and we use it with muddy boots in freezing condition at end of fall, no probs at all. Also on pontoon in summer, not slippery EXCEPT that dogs can't grip it with toes, so a bit more slippery for them It can get hot, ours is tan, but no hotter than dark green carpet in our other boat (that we wish had vinyl, ha!)

The alum doesn't sound to bad for strictly utilitarian rig, and if you have way to fasten, looks like you do, might be cool to see. The glare in sunny day might be something but you can always throw down some type of flooring cover, but that is kind of defeating the purpose?.?.

[Hooktup]

I think the diamond would look sweet but that stuff is HARD to clean. I'm planning on this project next winter, but after seeing josmn's pic i want to do it now. Nice job!

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Rivets or screws hold the floor in place. I had a much older Mr Pike that I ripped the floor up from. Without risking damaging the beams I did like hand raps to figure out where, approximately the beams were going across, more hollow sounds vs not hollow. Once sure I was not over a beam I used a drill to open a hole then a jig saw to start making cuts and then ripping out pieces. A pry bar once I came to spots where it was attached to the beams. My boat had L type bench, so in parts I could see the rivet lines in the long bench and get an idea where the beams were going across and line them up with the rivet lines on the opposite side

My boat was much older, an 81 pike and I admit I hit the beams a couple times with the saw, but is what it is/was.

[fishnowworknever]

No to carpet! My opinion, no to vinyl as well...although it's much better than carpet.

One thing, do NOT use pressure treated wood that will come in contact with aluminum.

Best thing to do: epoxy or polyster resin + fiberglass on both sides of the wood.

Then apply 2 coats of some type of paint with additives. Kiwi Grip or Tuff Coat are really good products.

Even though this is a glass boat, checkout my rebuild. I will never put carpet down in a fishing boat again.

I've had a couple people ask how that tuff coat turned out, once I get it out of storage I'll get some better pictures.

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2903354/1

[cylinder]

Wow, that was a big job. I have an old Tuffy I'm going to re-floor this spring and I hope it doesn't get into that much work. One question about the epoxy all around the plywood - epoxy doesn't expand or contract - won't it crack? Or doesn't it matter after coating it with the Tuff Coat (or similar material) - doesn't that stuff do some flexing?

[cylinder]

Also, has anybody done a floor in composite/plastic decking materials?

[fishnowworknever]

Cylinder -

Yeah you're right, epoxy on it's own is no good. But as long as you apply epoxy to the wood (I used aruco ACX with 2 coats of epoxy on each side) and let it soak in for an hour or so, then lay down fiberglass cloth (while the previous 2 coats are still wet) on the top side and on the bottom (bottom is optional with the fiberglass) and go over again with epoxy - you'll have a 100% waterproof seal and that epoxy will not crack at all with the fiberglass re-enforcement.

Just make sure if you do go the epoxy route, you cannot used chopped strand, or at least you shouldn't. That stuff is for poly resin. For structural strength you'll want to use 17oz biax (No mat) but for the deck (floor)all you need is 6-8oz of fiberglass cloth.

When you're going to do the tuff coat, they'll want to sell you some primer, if you used epoxy resin you do not need their primer. Just go over the finished deck with a 100 grit sand paper just to rough it up a bit. Put the tuff coat down right over the top and you're good to go.

I looked into the composite stuff and did a lot of research before starting that project. The majority say that composite is too expensive and too heavy compared to the benefits of a good ACX or marine grade ply with poly or epoxy resin + fiberglass.

[fishnowworknever]

When you rip that deck out, cross your fingers, say you're prayers or whatever you need to do before you check the stringers and transom. If those are wet, you're looking at a big project

[cylinder]

Thanks for the great info. When putting on the first coat of epoxy (to soak in) do you thin it a little so it soaks in better or is it OK to use as-is?

[delcecchi]

And how about Polyester resin?

[fishnowworknever]

Thanks for the great info. When putting on the first coat of epoxy (to soak in) do you thin it a little so it soaks in better or is it OK to use as-is?

No thinning is required with epoxy resin. I've read that if you mix in solvents (acetone etc) it can degrade the epoxy. When you mix the hardener in with the epoxy it will start the chemical reaction and start to "heat" up or kick off, once that starts to happen (you'll feel it on the bottom of the container you're mixing it in) you want to apply your first coat(s). It thins out when this happens and saturates very well. I used the slow hardener 2:1 ratio (depending on the manufacturer) and mixed it in a 1/2 gal container. It takes around 20-30 minutes for it to kick off, and you have plenty of time to apply it before it actually starts to harden. Now this was during the summer when it was warm, you really need the air temp to stay above 65 when you use the slow hardener.

Epoxy cost about 2-3x's more than polyester resin but you will not use nearly as much when you use epoxy. That project used almost 5 gallons of epoxy for everything.

Do a google search for us composites to see all the different types to choose from.

[fishnowworknever]

And how about Polyester resin?

I'm not all that familiar with polyester or vinyl ester resins. I do know that you'll use alot of it though.

You also need to use chopped strand mat or a biaxial type fiberglass.

I believe you do/can thin out polyster with a thinning agent, but I'm not 100% sure.

Almost all glass boats are made with polyester resin, epoxy is said to be overkill...but overkill is sometimes the name of the game

[cylinder]

Again, thanks for all the useful info, fnwn. I think I'm ready to tear into it as soon as the weather warms up a little.

[delmuts]

One other thing, would be to have a can or two of spray foam to fill in where the old has rotted away. Although it's not as good as the stuff factories use,it will still add to the flotation.

[cylinder]

Yeah, I might need even more than a couple of cans of foam. I'll have to see what it looks like when the old floor is out.