Replacing floor, transom, and stringers.

C

CampionToba

Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2006
RO Number
24431
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My 18' runabout has a rotted floor, transom, and stringers. The guy rebuilding it for me has had the boat for almost three months and is just now finishing the grinding/demo. I'm $2,500 in and he is asking for more cash. I think I might be getting$crewed on this deal... How long should it realistically take to remove the floor, transom, stringers, fuel tank and drivetrain? Assuming everything is soft...

How long should it take to put back together?

Any thoughts very much appreciated!
 
I have a boat like that. I'm doing it myself. Nobody in his right mind would pay me for what I've done so far.

It looks like you made a Bad decision going in. No cheap way out now.
 
Hard to tell so basically you gave the guy a blank check? No estimate, any details on how he will rebuild the hull, what material he will use, thickness, lamination schedule, etc...

If it took $2500 just to remove the floor, stringers transom and mechanicals, at this rate it will cost you at least 4 times more to rebuild. Cut yr losses now. I can't imagine spending that much on an old rotted 18' runabout
 
After removing the console, I gutted a 20' Mako's floor, foam, gas tank, and bulkheads. The stringers were ok and the transom was strong enough to wait for a couple of years. With that I put in hundreds of hours to get it back to adding the console to the floor. The fact that everything is soft is worse then if it just had some soft spots, you need to get to something strong to start replacing things. As others have said cut your losses unless the boat has some sentimental meaning to you, but you are maybe 20% done.

Good luck,

Billy K.
 
BTDT. You are looking at $10-$12K. 80% of that is labor. It is a DIY job. BTDT2. However it is very very time consuming.
 
An 18 footer isn't worth it. My 20 footer wasn't worth it either. They're just too small. My 24 footer was just large enuff to do what you started, mainly because it's large enuff to change the 'floor plan'. I raised the cockpit deck above the engine so there's about an 8'X8' open area. Makes it much better for fishing. Also made 2 large fish boxes.
 
Walk away now. Went through it 25 years ago and it still turns my stomach when I think about it.
 
pulling the interior and topcap should take no more than a day for a shop. the foam another day. if they know what they're doing as far as rebuilding the stringers then they should be able to get the old stringers out in a day. the grinding part seems to last forever but realistically, again if this is a real shop, no more than a few days. the only way it should run $2500 is if they never stopped the clock like a taxi waiting at the curb with the meter running.

i'd ask for a detailed breakdown of where that $2500 went. that job should be almost complete in 3 months although this being busy season i can see it taking longer. sounds like they've had the meter running the entire time even when not working on your boat.
 
I agree, My deck took 1/2 hr actual cutting time with a circular saw. Bulkheads and stringers a little longer but my stringers lifted out after a couple kicks they were so rotten and water logged. Finding the fuel lines and wiring took a little longer. Use a spade shovel to get the bulk of the foam out. Prepping (grinding and sanding) the inner hull took quite a while. Transom plywood was a PITA.
 
He gave me an estimate of $4,500 all in. He claims that he has already done $2,500 worth of work... Says he now needs $500 for resin.

Thanks for your input everyone!
 
$2500 to take it apart; $4500 total for the job. Sounds fishey to me. Putting it back together will take longer plus the cost of the materials. How much of the boat was taken apart? The entire floor from stern to bow, foam, stringers, engine/drive train, fuel tank, wiring harness, all seats and upholstry, cutting the transom? If so, I don't think $2500 is out of line to do that and have the boat fully prepped to begin putting it back together. By the time it's done that $4500 will be closer to $10,000.
 
Yes it can be done but the time involved will really add up. To pay someone else 4500 (if thats really the end of it) to do that job is not that bad when you think about how nasty that kind of work is. I did some of it when I did the deck on my 88 FW and contracted out the more difficult parts. All I can say is I'd never buy another old boat, period. Mine came out great and I've been running it another 6 years since the work was done, still looks great, more solid than many new boats. But the hrs of grinding, the dust, exposure to stuff that is really not good for you, is just not worth it to me.
 
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