Question for Steve Bakken.

[Johnsonator]

I am in the process of putting a floor in a 16' crestliner that I have. I have a pretty good idea of how it all works by reading tons of old post, the info here is great! I think I am going to lay 2 wood stringers down the length of the floor and then the floor will be screwed to the stringers. My question is how do I attach the stringers to the bottom of the boat? They will be laying on the ribs, I thought of just screwing them to the ribs but I would think over time the wood would start to give out. I also thought of screwing some aluminum angles against the ribs and the stringers. How is this normaly done? Thanks for any info.

[Steve Bakken]

You could go the angle iron route, but you probable don't neet to. The main thing is to attach the floor to the stringers and then attach the floor to the ribs around the edge. Before you attach the floor in, mark where the ribs are, and then when you set the floor in, pre-drill the holes in the plywoodbig enough for the screw to slide through, and then pre-drill the hole in the rib just enough for the screw to bite in and attach the floor around the edges. Then screw it down to the stringers.

[Fishin4Life]

When putting a floor like this in a standard fishing boat. Aren't those boats designed to use the center seat as stability and rigitity to keep it from twisting and such? I replaced the seats on my boat this summer and with the seats out it seemed as though the boat flexed a lot. How do you make supports to keep it all supported well?

[Steve Bakken]

If we can, we try to just remove the center of the seat and leave the stub of the seat still attached to the sidewall and attach it to the floor. If this isn't an option, we will usually build a rod locker or storage cabinet and attach it to both the sidewall and the floor.

[Johnsonator]

Thanks for the info Steve. The last two days I got a lot of time to work on it and I am pretty much complete. I started with a 16' crestliner that had suspended benches with some foam underneath the seats. I removed the back 2 benches and installed a 8' floor, I replaced the wood on the front bench and the little seat in the front. Everything went smooth and your tip to use resin on the wood worked great(but a pain to apply). The wood is like glass and I am sure it will last a long time. the last thing I need to do is get 2 pedestal seats and make a rod locker or extend the seat supports down to the floor to help with side support. I will post some pics tommorrow. Thanks for the help. Johnsonator

[Fishin4Life]

When you add a floor to a boat like this, where should you put the flotation foam? Or do you put any in at all? Or can you just put it in under the floor itself...

[Steve Bakken]

We usually put it under the floor itself. But be carefull, there has to be a way for water to run along the bottom of the boat to reach the bilge. You can either put it in between the stringers and the side of the floor or run a length of livewell hose split in half.