wrote in
:

On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 21:50:38 +0000, Larry wrote:

"Jim" wrote in
:

I am thinking about buying one or the other for lakes and rivers.
Maybe a rare ICW trip. I know little about either so I'm hoping to
get some sort of discussion going.
Florida Jim



Jim, picking them is easy. Get down on your knees and crawl up UNDER
the deck on them.....

Is the plywood raw and unprotected by even the simplest of paints and
EXPOSED to the water splashing up from the lake underneath?

Yes - You don't want that one....rotten floors MUST result!

Now, we've already eliminated about 90% of them with this ONE test at
any boatshow. soaked up carpet on top....exposed wood on the
bottom....a disaster in the making!

I always thought wood should be PAINTED to make it last...didn't you?


I have a 32 year old Harris pontoon on it's 2d deck. I run in salt
water and I do about 350-400 hrs a year.
You are right about sealing the plywood. The first deck failed in 12
years.
I used MDO for the replacement deck and sealed the edges and all
drilled holes real well with urethane paint. I put 2 coats of
elastomeric roof sealer under the carpet.
The current one is only showing signs of failing near the 2 places I
drilled holes and did not seal them.
The 3d carpet is at end of life so I will be stripping it down and
looking at everything. If I do replace the deck someday I will go with
MDO plywood again. That stuff is bulletproof.


I'd like to see what happens if someone replaces the cheap plywood with
plastic lumber like:
http://plasticlumberyard.com/foreverdock.htm
Lasts forever! Never rots. They're making great docks out of it.
There's one about 4 lots downriver from me. Very strong, much better
than cheap plywood crap boatbuilders use....

It even comes with non-skid surface....no smelly mildewed carpet
necessary.

Larry