[Homemadexj]

Picked up my grandpa's old boat yesterday, he said it had a hole in the floor that needed patching.
The boat is right at 15' long and says Cherokee Boats inc. Bradenton FL, on the side, which is cool since that's where I am.

This thing has been in the family around 10 years and sat in the water 90 percent of the time.
Here's the hole which is under,next to the console...

 

[Homemadexj]

I decided to go ahead and remove the center console to see how far the rot went. with the size of hole and considering it's probably been that way since he got it, i knew it wasn't gonna be pretty. Two of the five screws holding the console to the piece of plywood floor were stripped so I just lifted the console up and and part of the floor came with it.

 

[Homemadexj]

So at this point I've decided to replace the whole floor and the three stringers.

Turns out the last expert that "fixed" the floor cut out the middle of the original floor and just laid down an old sign and laid some glass over it without any prep. I could pretty much just lift the floor right out.

Within about an hour of work I have the boat to this point.

 

[Homemadexj]

Now I have to pick up some supplies and get to grinding. Going to pick up a new respirator and a few of the disposable suits to keep the dust off and out of me.
My plan is to keep this build as cheap as possible. I'm going to use pressure treated wood and polyester resin. I will probably pick up the glass at Marine Surplus since it's the closest place and they normally have good prices.
I may laminate plywood together for the center stringer and use 2x4 for the outer two stringers. 1.5oz mat and 1708 biax will be used on the stringers and the floor.
The front deck will also be replaced and will be level with the gunnels and probably come back 5'.

 

[beyondhelp]

I'm no expert. Just ask anyone. But, I am almost positive there will be issues getting the resin to stick to the pressure treated wood.

I like the laminated stringer idea, I will probably go that route next time.

I used poly resin and I am happy with the results except where I "broke the rules" and did stuff you shouldn't. Mainly, poorly sealed screw holes. I am not surprised I have rot in those areas.

 

[DuckNut]

Treated and poly is not a good mix. Pine 2x4's is not the best choice as the board will rot away and the plywood laminate may do the same. However, when you build stringers it is what is OVER the form and not what is inside it. You can use nearly anything you want to build the form that you need and then cover it in a good laminate of glass. It is this covering that is really the stringer - but on the otherhand you don't necessarily want the inner form to disintigrate.

Your best option for price would be to buy marine ply and construct all from this.

 

[Homemadexj]

What would be better using regular plywood or pt? I'm going for cheap. doesn't have to last 20 years just a few years of abuse by my 10-15 year old cousins to get started. They were planning to use the boat how it was with mud as stringers and the floor falling in.

I got a little more work done on the hull this afternoon. Cut some more of the original floor out and started doing a little grindin' just for fun..lol. Used a circular saw, sawzall, and an angle grinder with a 50 grit sanding disc. Anyone have and other tools they like to use for this type of work?
The disposable suit I bought at Lowes is working awesome. Should have got one of these when I started my first fiberglass project. Didn't think about that stuff when I was 16.
Anyways here's a few pic's of progress.

This is the worn out 40 Yamaha hanging off the back..

 

[DuckNut]

Cheap - use blue foam insulation board. Real easy to shape. Can't apply poly directly to it - it will dissolve. Can coat it with epoxy and then use poly. The foam will not hold a screw if you intend to screw something down

If you use wood, one note is you must avoid a "hard spot". A hard spot is where the hull flexes and comes in contact with the "wood" that does not flex. This will eventually flex a tear in your hull. Bedding material is used for processes like this.

*These are not the best way to do the job and I do not advise these methods*

Poly and regular plywood is better than treated. Better wood is marine. From the looks of it you would not spend a whole lot more on marine vs. Lowes plywood. Poly and wood are not the best of friends in the first place. If you choose this route you will eventually redo your boat.

Wood and epoxy are far superior.

 

[Homemadexj]

Thanks DuckNut. If I could afford it I wouldn't use wood on a boat but it's not mine and to tell ya the truth my relatives that own it would of been happy with a piece of plywood screwed over the hole in the floor. I'm just doing this to be nice and gain some more experience. I thought about using some kind of foam and focusing more on the glass work. I'm not certain on anything yet, have alot more prep to go anyways.

If I do end up using wood for the stringer, I thought that I would cut the wood to fit the hull, put a layer of glass on it and then use something like cabosil to kind of bed the piece in. Then run a fillet down each side for the next layers of glass to lay in better. Not sure if thats the right method but it should work. After that I was thinking 1/2"
plywood glassed on the bottom and set with cabosil on the stringers and then glass the complete floor in.

 

[jms]

Thanks DuckNut. If I could afford it I wouldn't use wood on a boat but it's not mine and to tell ya the truth my relatives that own it would of been happy with a piece of plywood screwed over the hole in the floor. I'm just doing this to be nice and gain some more experience. I thought about using some kind of foam and focusing more on the glass work. I'm not certain on anything yet, have alot more prep to go anyways.

If I do end up using wood for the stringer, I thought that I would cut the wood to fit the hull, put a layer of glass on it and then use something like cabosil to kind of bed the piece in. Then run a fillet down each side for the next layers of glass to lay in better. Not sure if thats the right method but it should work. After that I was thinking 1/2"
plywood glassed on the bottom and set with cabosil on the stringers and then glass the complete floor in. 

i'm thinkin' mabey you should reconsider this choice as well...

 

[Homemadexj]

Well I've been working on this boat a few hours a week for a while now. Mostly just alot of grinding, cleaning dust, and grinding some more.

Got the front deck off..

Getting grinding done a little at a time.

 

[Homemadexj]

Removed the rest of the floor and also took out the stringer.

I think that I kinda got lucky because the wood from the stringer wasn't totally gone. I'm going to use what's left to help make the new one.

I also picked up some supplies to get started, 2gals resin, 10yrds of 1708 glass, some fumed silica and a few other things.
I got the stuff at a place that used to be Fiberglass Services but now it's called Fiberlay, terrible customer service, the guy at the counter was a real jerk. Eventually once I got fed up and gave him hell he did help me out with the price though.

 

[Homemadexj]

Yesterday I got to work on making the stringer. I traced the old stringer out onto some construction paper and then onto the plywood. I am using 2 layers of 11/32" BC grade plywood sandwiching 2 layers of 1808 with the mat facing out.

Once I had the wood cut to fit, I cut out my glass with about 1/2" extra around the pieces.

Then I mixed up a quart and a half of resin and went to town. I laid down some wax paper so I wouldn't make a mess. I weighed down the piece with some 1x2's and some concrete blocks.

 

[Homemadexj]

Got my stringer glued together a couple weeks ago, looks pretty good.

I've been grinding some more and trying to straight up the rub rail area on the bow. It was pretty beat up.

 

[Homemadexj]

I've started laying some glass into the hull. I'm kinda doing one side at a time and so far I did a 12" wide strip of the 1708.

Next I've cut the glass that goes from the center out to overlap what I already have in.

 

[Homemadexj]

Got the next bit of glass in. Took about 2 1/2qts and was pretty tough to do by myself but I'm pretty happy with it. There may be a few bubbles here and there I may have to grind out but it looked good last night.
Here's a few crappy pics...

 

[Homemadexj]

I took a break from this project for a while but have started getting back into it. I put in a layer of 1708 down on the whole area I'm working on. Got the stringer in and still need to cap it.

tabbed it in with a strip of 1.5oz csm and a small fillet of peanut butter mix.

 

[Homemadexj]

I followed up the mat with 2 layers of 1708. The first layer went half way up the stringer and about 6"-8" out and the second layer went all the way up and between 8"-12" out. The stringer is pretty much a copy of the original.

 

[Homemadexj]

I've been working on a console I was given for the last few days. Toying with trying to pull a mold off it once I have the holes filled in and smoothed out.

 

[Homemadexj]

Got the stringer capped with one layer 1708 and one layer 1.5oz chop. added some small stiffeners and got most of the floor cut out.







Got a layer of 1.5oz kickin on the bottom.