Need Info to Make Whole Deck Removable
 

The core of the deck of my small center console is totally wet and
rotten. I am thinking of taking this opportunity to make the whole
deck removable. I mentioned the other reasons of doing this at the
bottom of this message.

I come across an article in continuouswaves.com where it describes a
boat owner replaced the rotten wood in a removable deck with new marine
plywood. I think replacing the deck with marine plywood probably is
easier for me because the plywood is flat to begin with and I can glass
it on a flat table. And make the deck removable will help me to do any
work under the deck. And as long as the deck is open up, I can add
structural bracing under the deck to support a large unsupported deck
area.

I am planning to cut the console from the deck and remove it. I will
cut out the old deck to remove the rotten core and my "mistakes", and
only leave 4" wide band of the deck near the gunwale. I will add
structure to support the edge of the deck and also I will screw the
deck into the added structure. I will use 3 layers of 1/4" marine
plywood to form the new deck, glass it, and place it over where the old
deck was, and allow its edge to butt against the gunwale, and then
screw the new deck to the frame.

I have some questions though:

o Currently, the old deck is integrated with both the left and right
gunwale in one piece. I am wondering whether the old deck may be
holding the boat together to prevent the sides of the boat from
spreading outward. If this is the case, I will have to leave some of
the old deck in place to hold the boat together. I hope not, and I
have a feeling that it doesn't. But I don't have enough experience in
how a boat generally comes together. Therefore, I would like to hear
what other people may say.

o How many layer of fiberglass that we should put on top and on the
bottom of the new deck? As mentioned above, the new deck is going to
be composed of three layers of 1/4" marine plywood. If I am going to
use core material, I will use 4-to-5 layers of fiberglass on top, and
1-to-2 layers on the bottom. Is this number of fiberglass also
applicable in using marine plywood as core?

o How do we deal with the edge of the plywood when we are laying
fiberglass? Should we wrap the fiberglass around the edge from the top
to the bottom? Or should we not wrap the edge and simply treat the
edge with thickened epoxy?

o Did anyone try this before? How did it go? Any tip?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Reasons of making the whole deck removable (you can skip this section
if you don't want to know):

o I was trying to remove the rotten core, and replace it with new core
material. But I made some mistakes in mixing the epoxy, and now I need
to undo the repair. Seem like cutting away the deck (the mistake) is
easier than trying to scrape the epoxy from the inner skin of the deck.

o The repair that I have made is kind of sagging. The reason is that
I need to replace the core of a large area of the deck, and that area
doesn't have anything to support it from below, and there is no access
to the underside of the deck to add support to it. That's why the area
became sagged when I put new core material and epoxy on it. When I
look at it, I just don't like it.

o The sagged area is going to be tough to fair it flat, and is going
to cost me money to fill the sagged area.

o This will be nice to make the deck removable; then if I need to
replace the fuel tank or fuel hose, I don't need to cut the deck open
again.

o I need to remove two boxy structures near the stern, and cover the
areas with deck. That is for adding a kicker motor later on. This
means I am getting further and further away from the original deck
layout anyway. I may take this opportunity to do a major makeover.

o I need to move the console slightly backward to enlarge the area
for the bench in front of the console in order to make room for a
portable toilet (I will put it right under the bench seat). Again, I
am getting further and further away from the original deck layout
anyway. I may as well do a makeover of the deck.

Jay Chan