Replaceing floor wood on Lund Boat

[Pickelfarmer]

I have a rotten or broken section of floor in my boat. It is the large center piece that covers the gas tank. My boat is a 93 lund 16.5 ft. I'm just wondering how big of a job this is to change out? It looks like that section of flooring has screws in it rather than rivits. I think the prev owner did some work on the gas tank so that might be why it has screws. Also any recomendations as to what kind of wood to use to replace it?

[glenn57]

i have a 1600 lund stinger and redid ALL the wood on mine last year. it was quite the job but turned out pretty good. some aote body shops do it bot spendy, they order it from lund. i replaced mine with 1/2 inch treated plywood and marine carpeting. total cost about $1000. it helps when son-in-law works with wood and helped a bunch.

[boatfixer]

Use marine plywood.

[Pickelfarmer]

so you where not able to reuse the carpet? I guess its glued onto the wood so I should be prepared to replace that section of carpet as well. Where did you get your carpet from? Can I order it from Lund? Thanks for the replys.

[Pickelfarmer]

Use marine plywood.

I talked to the building supply place in town and they couldn't order Marine grade plywood. The guy I talked with said he thaught it is really exspencive??? I'll check online to see where I can order it from and how much it costs. Thanks for the info.

[marine_man]

I believe I've heard Menards can order marine grade plywood... maybe do a search for plywood in this forum... it has been discussed before who can get it.

With respect to the screws and carpet - yes, you'll likely need to get new carpet, the old stuff is glued on there pretty good.

And, that panel always has screws in it so you can access the fuel tank.

marine_man

[glenn57]

i did use marine carpeting, ordered online. google boat repairs or marine carpeting should work. if your area is wider that 4 ft you may have to improvise as if its factory done it wont be the same. i used contact cement and staple gun to adhere carpet to wood then aluminum self tapping screws to put wood back in boat.

[crothmeier]

Marine grade plywood would be the thing to use. It is pricy however, should run about $100 for a 4x8 sheet. Mathew Hall in St Cloud stocks it in 1/2" and 3/4"

[Pickelfarmer]

ok, I talked with a guy and he can get marine grade. Heres the thing. No way in you know what am I going to pay $115.00 for a sheet of 4'X8'X1/2" plywood. I know, I know, I'm sure its worth it but holy cow!!!!! I could replace a reg piece of plywood like 10 times for the same price. I'm only going to need a 22" X 7'6" piece.Is it really nessesary to have marine grade? I'm thinking that since it is such an accessable part of the floor I might just go with reg ply wood.I mean even if it only lasts half as long as the marine grade I'll still be money ahead right?

[crothmeier]

If you are going to go regular plywood at least do Green Treated. It has exterior rated glue and the wood is treated. A sheet of this doesnt cost much more than the regular, wont swell up when wet like regualr, and will last alot longer than regulr

[Ralph Wiggum]

I've heard of folks using regular plywood and coating it with the resin that fiberglassers use to keep it waterproof. Sorry I can't be any more specific, but maybe it'll jog someone else's memory.

[boatfixer]

I'm pretty sure treated plywood has a reaction with aluminum. That would be the reason to use marine vs treated

[marine_man]

Here's a thread on wood in boats that would be worth reading:

60 Crestliner Wooden Bench

Marine Plywood

marine_man

[minneman]

DO NOT use green! It will possibly eat away at your aluminum!

Ive done 5 different floors in different boats from 16' to 21' and have used an exterior grade 1/2" ACX in a 5 ply =/- $35, cut it to shape then coated the underside and edges with fiberglass resin, and the top was completely covered in exterior grade carpet glue, totaly sealed!

[Pickelfarmer]

So from reading what you all say I think I have made up my mind here. I really don't have the money for the marine grade but on the other hand I sure don't want any other damage to the boat by useing anything that might eat away at the aluminum. My father has some fiber glass resin that I can coat reg plywood with. I think I'm going to go with that. I will give a reg sheet of ply wood a couple of coats of the resin then put the carpet over that. I'll get my self some self tapping screws and put it in. Sound good?

Thanks to all for your replys and I'll let you know how it comes out. I won't be doing the job until about March. I just wanted to see what everyone thought about it. Glad I asked since there were so many good responses. Thanks again and when I finally do the job maybe I'll take some pics and post them here.

[BoxMN]

One last "suggestion" - instead of marine carpet, think about vinyl (I used Dot Deco brand in a pontoon rehab and a 82 alumacraft fishing boat rehab). Vinyl will keep the water away from soaking and staying in the carpet, right against the untreated plywood. It looks, wears, and cleans GREAT!

I used treated, non-treated and marine plywood in three different rehabs. I will only use marine in the future on anything I do, and definitely not treated ever again (treated warps and is not smooth).

Good luck on your project, and definitely take pics, it will help someone else in the future. (do a search if you want to see my projects, I think pics are still posted somewhere).

[Rebel9921]

Info I have found regarding Marine Plywood on another forum:

The real deal on marine plywood is simple.

Marine plywood is not treated with anything to prevent rot.

What makes marine plywood so special?

It is glued using a glue that is impervious to boiling, freezing, and water. It has little to NO voids which trap and hold water vapor causing it to rot from the inside out.

It has more plies then your run of the mill plywood making it stronger in both shear and lateral. That translates into being able to use less thickness in many cases which saves weight. Alot of weight if you are building a whole boat.

Marine plywood comes from overseas minus the Douglas Fir that is heavy and substandard. Its alot lighter then what we have available in the US for plywood.

If you build a boat from American plywood then build one from marine plywood you'll never use American again. It is a dream to work with from bending to machining to finishing.

Even in my canoe builds there is a HUGE difference to be seen in luan vs. Okoume. Even though the luan is 10 bucks a sheet I've cussed enough, drank enough, and used more then enough material to whoop it into shape to pay for the 60 dollar a sheet Okoume. And to think, this is 3/16th thick plywood we are talking about here. There is a HUGE difference in workability. Same if you were building a much larger boat. With marine plywood you get a graceful curve or arc where you need one. With American plywood you get a haphazard arc and curves where you least want them. To get them where you want them you have to beat up on it, spend time and money to make it happen.

To sum it up.

Marine plywood is stronger, lighter, and easier to work with.

It's not always cost effective to use it particularly if you just need a sheet or two and it has to be ordered.

The better plywood is marine plywood.

The downside to treated plywood is weight. It's saturated with water. If you are patient and rack it up to dry before using it it will lose alot of weight BUT once installed if you dont seal it with epoxy it's going to resaturate and gain that weight back.

SO if you have to use epoxy, whats the point in using treated plywood to begin with whether it eats aluminum or not?

[Rebel9921]

I've also googled and made some calls... and found that there are two places that sells 1/2 and 3/4 thick 8x4 Marine Plywood around the Metro area for cheaper than $115...

[Pickelfarmer]

I've also googled and made some calls... and found that there are two places that sells 1/2 and 3/4 thick 8x4 Marine Plywood around the Metro area for cheaper than $115...

Yeah I'm sure I could find a place a little cheaper but I live in Detroit Lakes. Like I said I got some time so I am still going to look around. I know Marine plywood would be the best..

[sparcebag]

Our area Menards carries 1/2 inch Marine on hand.Look in last sundays flier,If the support spans are greater that around 14 inch you may want to go thicker.5/8s

[King Canada]

Siwek Lumber in NE Mpls and Jordan have 3/4 " Marine Plywood for $70 a sheet and 1/2" for about half of that.