Soft Floor
 

Hello

I have an older 18 Ft. runabout that has developed a soft spot in the
floor. The boat is in very good condition other wise. Is their anyway to
repair this other than cutting out the bad spot and replacing it? The floor
has a plywood core with fiberglass over it.
I was thinking about drilling holes thru the decking and filling it up with
epoxy. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks
Larry

I'm willing to bet that the plywood isn't a core, per se. It's most likely
just plywood with a layer of fiberglass over the top. I don't think you'll
be able to drill and saturate it with epoxy. Aside from replacing the
carpet, replacing a soft spot isn't really that terrible of a job.

Good luck,
Jason




"L.D.Cosby" wrote in message
...
Hello

I have an older 18 Ft. runabout that has developed a soft spot in the
floor. The boat is in very good condition other wise. Is their anyway to
repair this other than cutting out the bad spot and replacing it? The
floor has a plywood core with fiberglass over it.
I was thinking about drilling holes thru the decking and filling it up
with epoxy. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks
Larry

Larry,

I did a repair like you have many years ago. What I did was drill some
holes around the affected area, to allow it to dry out by letting the
air at it. I also put a small heat lamp above it, close enough to keep
the area warm, but not so close that it could burn. After it had dryed
out I injected some of that spray foam you can buy directly into the
holes to fill the voids. Now you have to be careful about how much you
inject, too much leaves a lump in the floor. I put a weighted board,
larger than the repaired area with holes in the board where the
injection points were (to let out the excess), over the repair site,
and let it harden. Then I repaired the holes I made in the fiberglass,
as well as the hole the water got into originally. When I was done it
looked good, and lasted several years. It might be worth a try.

John

It would make more sense to locate the stringers and cut out a section of
plywood. Replace the plywood and epoxy the new section. It really isn't a
big deal and it will be a long term solution instead of a Band-Aid.


"Capt John" wrote in message
oups.com...
Larry,

I did a repair like you have many years ago. What I did was drill some
holes around the affected area, to allow it to dry out by letting the
air at it. I also put a small heat lamp above it, close enough to keep
the area warm, but not so close that it could burn. After it had dryed
out I injected some of that spray foam you can buy directly into the
holes to fill the voids. Now you have to be careful about how much you
inject, too much leaves a lump in the floor. I put a weighted board,
larger than the repaired area with holes in the board where the
injection points were (to let out the excess), over the repair site,
and let it harden. Then I repaired the holes I made in the fiberglass,
as well as the hole the water got into originally. When I was done it
looked good, and lasted several years. It might be worth a try.

John