Removing Parts to get to your boat floor

[Havin' Fun]

I have looked and I really don't know how I'm going to get after all my floor to replace it. I really only have a few soft spots in the back and don't know what I should do. I don't really need to replace the whole floor, but just the back, but replacing the carpet might be good idea. Any ideas on how all this could be done. I read the previous posts on relpacing the floors of boats, but most sounded like they were replacing all the floor. How did you get all of the compartments, ect. out?

Help?
Or should I just put a floor over this floor and forget it?

[Ole1855]

My brother replaced the floor in his Crestliner a couple of years ago, he swore up and down he'd never do that again. It took him several weekends and alot of evenings to get it done so it looked professional. Have fun, it might be worth getting a quote from someone that does that for a living.

[fishinphyl]

Dear Hammerem: We had new seats for our boat, but we knew we were going to replace the floor so we had not installed them. We have no "compartments" in our boat. We put a piece of treated plywood over the existing floor from under the dash to the back which goes around the I/O. Then we did the 3 pieces that went from the walk through and in the front of the boat. Two of these were still in good shape so we only had to cut one new one using the old one for a pattern. We put carpet over everything and ran it up the sides next to the dash and it looks great. Just had to bolt the seats in. Ours was mainly bad in the back, but I felt that if we just put a piece of wood part way it would be sticking up and we would be tripping over it. Maybe you could just cut out the back piece, and piece in a new one and then carpet the whole thing so it would match. Just a suggestion. Good Luck!

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Phyl

[Guest]

I have an older crestliner that i removed all the seats, floor everything stripped it down, redid the whole thing with naugahide vinyl and marine carpet, if you take your time and do it right it takes about 25 to 35 hours of actual labor, but now that i have customized my rig, I actually like it better than many of the other boats out there. It wont be cheap but do it right. dont leave the old flooring under there, its rotting and will create a rotted subfloor that will get only worse over time. please remove the bad wood and check underneath, clean out the drain channels the manufacturers sometimes get sloppy when they spray that foam stuff. I weighed my boat before and after and there was more than 100 pounds shaved of its weight, i notice its quicker to plane and handles much better. if you stack the floor and leave the old one in it gets doubled and only adds weight. Ill get of my soapbox now

Shawn

[Guest]

Hammer

I did this two years ago and all I can say is, while I enjoyed it and it turned out, I will never do it again. This is just my personal opinion of course, but if there is ever a next time, off to the dealer she goes.

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Paul
[email protected]

[Valv]

Hammer'em, the problem is floor might be rotted in other areas where it didn't get soft yet. Only removing all floor (or big part of it) will show it. Under plywood you'll find Stringers (longitudinal beams to support floor) they might be in bad shape too. What I did before was getting a chainsaw (yes, I'm a monster )and cut up floor pieces to size of plywood (4'x8'), got new marine (or treated, but it's heavier) covered it with fiberglass, installed it in position then a layer of fiberglass to seam all together. This means replacing carpet also. Under floor you'll find foam, which is probably full of water and a pain in the #$@#% to remove. At this point the question is...how much boat is worth it ? If all this work will justify expense and time, go ahead, if boat is old, you can try cheating just laying plywood on top of soft area, then carpet. It's a tough decision, but since you know the boat you will have to decide. If it's an older tri-hull...just forget it, dealers will be GLAD to give you a hull for less than what it cost a sheet of plywood.

Val

[Guest]

I just finished replaceing the floor rod lockers and front compartments on a 19 foot crestliner it wasnt too bad of job. You have to just start removeing all the side panels rear compartments save the old floor to use one-just-like-silly-me patterns ttrace and cut i refoamed and removed the fuel tank for a good cleaning. If the boat is worth it go for it I thought i only had a few soft spots till i removed it then i found alot of rot my floor wasnt fiberglassed but i have heard that some boats are glassed in this would be alot more work

[This message has been edited by grousehunter (edited 04-30-2002).]