Dry Rot - Flooring - Morgan 27

[BobB2020]

Hello,

I own a 35 year old Morgan 27 sail boat- Glass hull.

A 35 foot mast reaches through the cabin and sits on the cabin floor directly above a lead keel.

While the hull is fiberglass - The cabin floor is marine plywood with carpet on top. The mast step sits directly on the marine plywood and surrounded by carpet. There is no bilge beneath the plywood. It sits flatly on the fibergalss The mast set is also wood. After years of water occasionally in the bilge the mast step and marine plywood flooring is rotten.

The problem is the marine plywood is integrated with fiberglass around the plywood as the plywood reaches out towards the sides of the hull. There is a pathway about 5 feet long and 3 foot wide that is exposed plywood, surrounded by fiberglass.

I would appreciate any help in advising how I may remove the plywood to refit with new or seal the plywood with epoxy or fiberglass to confirm a secure base for the mast step and mast. The plywood does not seem to offer any structural strength other than a footing for the carpet and a base for the mast step.

Please comment.
Bob Bloom
Bristol, RI.
Cell: (248) 722-0262

 

[kappykaplan]

Do you have any photos?

 

[dlochner]

There is probably no neat way to remove the sole. The usual tools of destruction will serve you well.

It is likely the plywood also serves to stiffen the hull. Once removed you may well find floor Timbers beneath the plywood. The floors strengthen and stiffen the hull.

You can remove the tabbing connecting the sole to the hull, just be sure to replicate when the new s sole is installed.

Photos will help confirm the advice presented.

 

[BobB2020]

Thank you for your response - I only have the one attached photo at the moment. But, I will be at the boat later this week and can send more complete photo's

 

[BobB2020]

There is probably no neat way to remove the sole. The usual tools of destruction will serve you well.

It is likely the plywood also serves to stiffen the hull. Once removed you may well find floor Timbers beneath the plywood. The floors strengthen and stiffen the hull.

You can remove the tabbing connecting the sole to the hull, just be sure to replicate when the new s sole is installed.

Photos will help confirm the advice presented.

Thank you for your response. I only have the one photo at the moment. But, will be at the boat later this week and can send more complete photos.

 

[dlochner]

Thank you for your response - I only have the one attached photo at the moment. But, I will be at the boat later this week and can send more complete photo's

Sorry couldn't download the pdf. It uses too much data. I live on a limited data budget and weak internet access. When we get back home, that will change but that won't be until summer.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Screenshot of the contents of the PDF -

 

[DArcy]

It's a bit hard to tell from your photo but it looks like the floor is tabbed to the hull around the perimeter. The hard part will be getting the floor out from under the cabinet. Strange there is only plywood under the mast.

The rot in my forward cabin floor wasn't very extensive but needed to be replaced. You can see a bit on the right in this photo and I had already cut out the rot on the left around the mast step. My floor is tabbed to the hull, you can sort of see it in this photo, and the cut line I had made already. I used an oscillating tool to cut the tabbing which was a bit nerve racking cutting that close to the hull but it was easier than I first thought it was going to be but I can see under the floor to see how close I was to the hull. I bought a multi-pack of blades on Amazon because the glass really chews them up quick. The bottom of the cabinet was rotted as well so I cut about a couple of inches off the bottom of the cabinet which also made it easier to get the old floor out and the new floor in. There were "baseboard" pieces that I still need to replace, making them a bit taller to cover the gap.

After removing the old floor I ground the tabbing down to get a reasonably smooth surface on the hull then fit the new floor in and tabbed it in the same way the old one was installed, using strips of fiberglass and epoxy, as well as screwed it down to the cross beams.