Cabin Floor replacement help
 

Hey folks,

I just picked up a 90 31ft Scarab Excel. Runs great etc etc... just a few odds and ends to fix.

My big question is. The deck in the cabin needs to be replaced. I was in it today and noticed that it was getting pretty soft the more i walked on it. So I yanked the carpet and started checking things out.
Looks to be one piece 6-7 ft long I guess. I noticed half of it was pretty soggy length wise and the other was solid. I've heard people mention that sometimes the drain holes get plugged. So i need to check that out also.

In any case I decided to make the plunge and cut some holes. And yes the plywood needs to be replaced for sure. The stingers are solid as a rock. best I can tell, the glass on them must be 1/4 inch think at least. So unless their is something else to worry about I'm thinking just replacing the decking and calling it good.

The questions I have are.

Do I need to worry about bracing since I'm not touching the stringers?? and only swapping out the deck in the cabin?

Can I get away with using exterior plywood and soaking it with epoxy?

Should I coat both sides with fiberglass?

I'm new to working with fiberglass, but I've built a few houses. So I have some experience with tools etc....

From what I understand, you must not glue the deck down at all. it basically rests on the stringers and then a thin layer goes around the outside?

Thanks in advance for any info, or if anyone has some awesome links that explain the process that would be great.

-Sceptre155

I woud check the stringers again...

Whats the best way to test them?? Drill some test holes?

NO,,,,cut the floor and clean the mess up . Then take a small hammer and tap along the stringer's to sound proof them ,,u can tell if it sounds bad !!!

Also ,for the floor i would get a plastic core and put it in ,,80 bucks for the sheet and glass on both sides ,will never rot again and safes weight. Then putty on the stringer's and lay it down ,,but some concrete blocks on it to level it out and press into the putty, then a day later just apply a strip of 6 inch glass tape along the edges and u be done .
Paint ,carpet ,,,whatever u want.:ernaehrung004:

Daredevil,

Out of curoisity, what type of plastic?

Thanks

I would guess he is talking about divinicell or the likes. I would like to know where you can get a sheet of it for $80 bucks...

Thanks for the info guys. I haven't heard of the plstic coreplywood before. I'll have to do some checking. I'm itching to get on the water after the awesome weekend we had up north.

The bottom of the deck I'm pulling up doesn't have anything on it. Was it built like this in the factory? or has someone already been there done that on the boat? Seems like a bad idea to leave raw wood exposed.

How much of a gap should I leave around the edge of the deck? I was thinking 1/4 inch with a beveled edge.

What kind of putty should I put between the deck and stringers?

Any info on the Deck spacing?

Thanks in advance

I call it plasticore,,,, www.fiberglassservices.com


And u need to leave about 2/8 of an inch around it .

The stuff u put on the stringer is called fiberglass putty !!!!

The way i do it ,,is cut out the new sheet for the floor ,,,glass the bottom side of it , make shoer it fits perfect ,then take it out and place putty on the stringers, put floor in ,screw down on to the stringers with drywall screws, let sit over night.
Place weight on top to even it out nice.
Like i said let sit over night, then take screws back out and glass in with a 6 inch tape along the side ,,,before again putty the 2/8 inch in on the sides ( around it ),,,glass right over ( wet on wet ),,let sit until hardened,,then cut out 1 complete piece of glass to cover floor all the way to the edges and glass in ,,,,let sit over night.
Grind everything smooth and WUALLA ,,,DONE !!!!

No either paint with Gel or place carpet on top of floor !!!

Thanks for the info !!!

You make it sound easy :)

Honestly ,there is nothing really to it.

To make a pattern for your floor ,,,take a sheet of doorskin and cut 1 inch strips ,,home depot will do it for you.
Then take a hot glue gun and u can glue a nice pattern for anything and break the doorskin by hand .
If u have a big area and u cant get the whole thing in and out,,now u can break the doorskin pattern in pieces and number them then outside of the boat u can place them on the sheet (whatever ) and cut your floor ,bulkheads ,transom ,,anything.
Then u cut that in pieces to put in place after u laminated 1 side of it ( or both ) and then place in the spot needed and glass over and in place and be done !!!

That's a really good idea. That should help make the template for sure !!

Now I just need to get my hands on some putty.

www.fiberglassservices.com

Look it up in there catalog,,its called ARJAY core putty !!!
And plascore sheet, ( 5/8 ) thick.
That should do it .
they ship nationwide !!!

Where are u located ?

Just call me ,941 592 5815 .

Scott:ernaehrung004:

Upstate NY.

Let me yank the rest of the floor and check the rest of the stringers first. Hopefully I don't need to touch them... but you never know.

Well... I ripped the floor out the rest of the way today. And the stringers are toast. So much for being lucky. The boat is sitting on the trailer which has 2 sets of bunk rails. The two rails together span close to 20 ft.

Where do I head from here? I was thinking I probably should yank the gas tank and check the rest since at this point I'm commited to the project already.

It doesnt look like any of the flooring was glued to the stringers. So I'm assuming when I put it back together I shouldn't change anything?

What steps should I take before removing any of the stringers?

it was put together by wellcraft...forget about how it was put together originally. brfore you start chopping out stringers and bulkheads.... cradle the boat up good to hold its shape. then find out just how much you need to do. if you need to doo all the stringers and bulkheads...its easier to pull the deck. it's a lot of manual labor, but nothing is too difficult.

I'm going to try and get the tank pulled today. That should give me a better Idea. I've never split the deck off a boat before. Is it basically just a million screws behind the rub rail holding it together? Other then wiring?

How much would you guess the deck weighs on a 31ft? 2k lbs?

I assuming that I need to use epoxy resin on all bulk heads and stringers. What type of materiel should I use? I need to keep the price down or the boss lady is going to crack the whip !!

Come on now ,,,U LIKE THE WHIP ?!:grinser010:

She's been practicing... It's starting to hurt !!

Well,,if u have 3 weeks u can give me the boat and ~ 10 K i will get -r -done for ya and i take the whipping .LOL

So getting the gas tank out is going to be a major pain !!!

Even after I get all that foam out I'm wondering if the tank will even come out. Do they put that tank in before or after putting the deck on? I did notice that the flange around the opening has screws all around the outside that didn't hit a darn thing. It's like the flange is about 3/4 of a inch to small or the framing for the tank is to big.

I could use some input from people with experience on realistically what am I looking at here?

If I get the gas tank out will i be able to fix any rotten stringers or bulk heads. As far as the bulk heads go is it possible to cut out the rotted area and piece in a new section? Or is this really a no no.

The more I think about it the more I think it would be easier to take the deck off to fix all this, as a previous poster mentioned. I'm just trying to figure out how the heck I would get the deck off If I decided to go that route.

Thanks in advance for any info

Go to the fiberglass section and look at my brother inlaws boat. I helped him remove his deck off.
Its the post that says, How to remove the deck the easy way.
Look at all the pics.
Good luck>:ernaehrung004:

That's a cool setup. The weather here hasn't been great. I still haven't gotten my gas tank out.

I've been shopping around for material. Who can give me the best pricing for the materials? I'm going to try and find some plywood locally.

Worst case scenario I have to redo all the stringers and bulkheads. Transom area has already been redone.

31ft Scarab Excel

1 layer 3/4 inch bulk heads. Double layer stringers. I don't have any idea how far 1 gallon of resin goes. I was thinking about using poly resin and smaller cloth to waterproof the material. And then Epoxy resin and thicker cloth for the stingers / joints.


I probably should try and get this thread moved to the fiberglass section. Any admins out there that can move the thread please?