Deck Repair Question

Here are a few pics. Just so you begin to get an idea what's under there. Mostly nothing but foam and plywood for stringers and bulkheads.

IM_A0005.jpg


IM_A0007.jpg


IM_A0010.jpg


IM_A0012.jpg
 
Ok, I listened to all of you. I cut the deck section out today with a router. Wow! That was nasty. The foam is COMPLETELY dry. It almost looks like I suspected above. Water wicked through screw holes and just saturated the 1/2" decking. Stringers are solid. Tomorrow I will patch in a piece and then use chop mat and epoxy to seal everthing back up. Quick question for the fiberglass guys - is there any special prep to get the old mat to adhere to the new one? I am planning on overlapping the mat, but maybe that is the wrong way to go, or not? I do not want to feel it under foot. Anything else I need to know for the fiberglass?

Thanks for the advice. This was the right thing to do. I was too concerned about not having something to attach to, but I think it is going to be OK.
 
Good news.

Do you have any bulkheads and stringers to attach a support block to?
 
A picture is worth a thousand words:

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s18/thompsdw/IMG_2143.jpg

I was planning on adding some blocking along the unsupported edges. I might be able to add some biscuits on the front (walkway) edge as well. I am going to use gorilla (polyurethane) glue on the decking and blocking. I am going to try to get the decking done today. This deck had a tick chop mat on top of it. It seems like I should overlap the existing mat, but that would be felt under foot. I guess if I put the chop mat just on the new section that the epoxy would hold it all together. Can I bondo any space around the plywood insert that I install?
 
If that 'cross' of wood is the stringer and bulkhead, that'll do a lot toward supporting the deck, BUT, with 1/2" ply, you will need edge support.

That black looking area of the cross looks like rot/mold. MAKE SURE IT'S SOLID and DRY. You can pour some acetone to kill the fungus and dry out. This is a good application for penetrating epoxy.
 
Things took a turn for the worse, but no surprise. The foam is wet. The top was dry but I started to see water and now I have pulled most all of the foam. This may be a very dumb question, but is there any health risk with stagnant wet foam? I haven't worn a respirator thus far, but believe I will for the rest of the job. Thanks again Charlie.
 
Most of the time you wind up having to pull out the foam. Probably a good idea to wear some protection for the rest of the job. I pulled out most of the foam in my boat during the summer and most of it was dry, with there being water only at the last 1/8 in or so. What I'd do is pull out all you can, and as Charlie said make sure the stringers/cross braces are actually solid. CPES and or epoxy resin from rot doc can help a lot in this repair. I'd also make edge support out of 1/2 ply. Coat everything in 2 coats of CPES, pour new foam, (try not to over do it!) and replace with stainless screws and 3M 4200 adhesive. For the finish, if you want to use mat to match what was there, you can use polyester resin since supposedly epoxy doesn't work with mat that well. I'd probably use a lighter weight cloth so I could use epoxy, it is more waterproof and easy to work with. I'd throw out all the carpet and cover the deck in a bedliner like material such as durabak. Carpet keeps the wood wet and it will never dry out completely. Worst thing to have in the boat as far as wood rot goes.
 
I always remove the carpet in a boat. Like Lou said, it'll only cause trouble. Same with foam. I never replace any foam either.

Let the wood dry out before attempting any rehab of the wood with penetrating epoxy. Water will prevent epoxy from penetrating. Unfortunately, it take a long time to dry out wet ply, especially if only one side is exposed to air.
 
Wow!!! That was a PITA (getting the foam out)!!! I probably had 1" of water in spots. Feel kinda funny this evening (my wife had an asthema attack in the garage) probably mold, I guess. I wore gloves, the fiberglass tore them up. I tried a cartridge respirator, but couldn't drag enough air through it. Went with a sanding respirator. Everthing is D&Red now. The hard part is over. I am going to let it dry a little and then hit it with bleach and then CPES. What a crappy job. No more wood boats for me.....
 
No bleach. Lacquer thinner/acetone. A solvent that will evaporate as fast as possible.
 
Why not Charlie? Believe you, just want to understand why that is. There has been water everywhere. BTW - if I decide to replace the foam - where the heck do I get it. It would take many cans of crack filler.

DWT
 
Acetone would help dry out wet wood. Bleach would wet it. I took out about a yard of foam from my boat. just didn't put any back. I used 3/4" plywood for everything.
 
I hear you on the foam Charlie. The reasons why I put it back in, reluctantly, was that one on boats 20' and under it is required by Coast Guard regs (even though that applies to the manufacturer, not an owner) but I didn't want to worry about any liability if anything ever happened. Then I emailed Four Winns and asked if the foam was used for structural reasons as well as floatation, and they dicated that it was. So I felt if I didn't put it back in the boat might flex too much and then I'd worry about that! So the best I could do was seal up any screw holes well and throw out the carpet and use the durabak. At least water won't sit on top of it and never evaporate like before.
And I coated all wood with 2 coats of CPES. Good luch with the repair.

IF YOU USE CPES YOU MUST, MUST USE FUME RESPIRATOR!!!
I'm not kidding, that stuff is loaded with carrier solvents that stink like you would not believe. Regular epoxy does not smell near as much. I used a fume respirator, goggles, gloves and a couple of tyvec suits. Try to apply it in the open air if you can, if it is an attached garage it will stink your house up.
 
Smells like victory!
I have used rot doc's (Smith & Co) epoxy too and it is very easy to work with, you mix 1:1 and that's it. It sets up nicely, does not have amine blush and remains somewhat flexible which makes it perfect for boat repairs. The fill it epoxy filler is also great but somewhat expensive. I used it to fix a post on my back porch 3 years ago and it still looks great!
 
The idea I read about for keeping new foam from getting water-logged again is to run a perforated PVC tube along the bottom to the bilge, giving the water an escape route. This type foam only soaks up the water if the water has no where else to go. The tube at the bottom lets any water that does get in there find it's way to the back.

I'm re-doing my floor now - YES, I took out a few 100 lbs of wet foam....nasty. I have a 19' BR and it's just the back half, so not too much surface area i guess. I don't have the ability or the patience to run PVC then pour new foam. I am using empty soda bottles for floatation along with some styofoam scraps wedged in. I read about this idea also and others reported it did the job. I just couldn't bring myself to put in more expanding foam after what I tore out!

Good luck. It's a crappy, slow job but you'll know you have a solid floor when done! You'll also have a lighter boat from all the water you got out.
 
Use closed cell foam if you can find it. It won't hold as much water if it gets wet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top