So I decided it was finaly time to replace the carpet this year. The floor was never solid but I figured that was just from the age of the boat. I pulled up the carpet and found patches that were somewhat holding and two cracks in the fiberglass about 8 inches log under the rear seat. I figured it was time to replace the entire floor. I cut the fiberglass out and as expected found rotting wood underneath. Every other board was completely rotted and composted into a muddy mess. I had to take the shop vac and just vacumme it out. I have been researching about the floor and hear it is part oak and part balsa wood. The balsa wood was completly rotted and the oak was still in tack but very weak from water damage and rot. I was easily able to break the oak up into smaller pieces to put in the trash. Now for the repair. I have ground down the old floor to get a smooth surfact to epoxy the new wood to. I am still looking for the best wood to epoxy and fiberglass down. There are so many different suggestions out there but hard to tell what is best. I have heard that white oak is great and probably original. I have bought some red oak but I hear that will rot out faster than the white. I'll see if I can post pictures of the progress. Please chime in with advise and let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Sam
"Holly worm dirt".... Sam. I havn't done a recore but may offer some assistance. I can be reached through Hydrodyners oe at ktbugel@gmail.com.
Thanks Kevin, I have decided to go with douglas fir like you suggested. I epoxied the first board last night with a mixture of sawdust from Lowe's table saw and marinepoxy. I glassed it in today and now waiting for it to dry. Each board I am coating with marinepoxy first before epoxying down, then glassing the next day. I bought the slow cure mixture so this is going to take awhile.
Hi Sam: My suggestion was to use end-grain balsa for the core and douglas fir for stringers for a false floor (if you install one). If you use doug fir for the entire core, you will be adding a lot of unneccessary weight IMO. The original was balsa (probably not end-grain in your case) for its light weight and strenth characteristics. Good luck! kevinb-
