[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Troutkiller2006

thanks skunk. after looking around the forum for as long as i have, i was hoping you would chime in. was hoping for more replies too but it that time of the year, most peeps are out enjoying there boats or working on them.

if i do this i will definitely be removing the liner to get at everything. ive also given some thought to seacast for the stringers. my biggest concern with that stuff is weight. ive read that it is very heavy and that it is lighter than wood. would definitely be a lot easier. ill have to do some cost analysis and give it some consideration.

any idea where i can find some good reading on the floor repair procedures or some guidance? what materials to use and maybe a lay up schedule would be a great help! i like to learn as much as possible before doing or even considering such a project.

i did have an idea earlier, maybe my dumbest ever lol! what if after the transom and stringers are sorted out i didnt even replace the rotten wood in the floor? since corsa and the like are too expensive for my budget, what if i cut out the rotten wood and instead of replacing it and glassing it in i just glued the correct thickness foam board to the underside of the deck so that it reaches the stringers properly and then filled all the voids underneath with foam? i could screw some generic plywood down on top of the deck to keep it from bulging and heaving and fill her up!

Ok, now you're starting to think out of the box, and that's good.

I'm sure that others besides me have redone their floor, but here's what I did. The story: The previous owner never vented under the floor, especially in the winter months with the boat covered.. so the floor rotted out but the stringers were still fine. Thank God he sold the boat to me before they did. The fix: Cut out the floor leaving a 2" border around the seats and in from the hull at the transom. Take out the floor, turn it over, pry, scrape, remove and clean all of the rotted wood off the underside of the floor. Then glue (Liquid Nails or equivalent) and Stainless screw irregular pieces of plywood to the underside. (Use irregular pieces so they don't make a continuous joint line like a box shape would). Then SEAL (something Wellcraft never did) the wood. I used fiberglass, but I don't see why you couldn't just use a good brand of wood sealer or epoxy. (Note: I had to remove all the old foam in the voids as it was waterlogged). Then I made a shelf out of scrap plywood and glued and screwed it to the underside of the 2" border that I left when I cut out the deck. Foamed the voids over the top so they would meet the bottom of my new deck. (Let the stringers be your guide for that part, and you'll have to cut and scrape the foam to properly shape it before you put your deck back onto it. But it's soft, and, while messy, it goes pretty quickly). Then I put the floor back onto the shelf, with glue and screws, and finally I covered the entire deck in U-Pol Raptor Truck bed liner (like Rhinoliner). I used the liner material because it's tough, has a nice soft rubbery feel to it on bare feet, is a great non-skid, cleans up easily and, because of it's thickness when applying, it filled all the joint lines and screw heads, making them completely invisible.
So your comment about filling the voids to the bottom of the deck is valid. I did it and my deck is solid as a rock.