79 30ft cheribini on my lower deck in front of the pedestal some yoyo has drilled holes along a hair line crack! need advice on repairing that area
deck repair
- Thread starter lee oakley
- Start date
Sounds like someone was going to do some epoxy filling to strengthen some soft spots. Is it leaking into your engine compartment? If not, let it dry out and continue the job. I had the same problem years ago but removed the entire forward section and rebuilt it. I don't think you will need to get that extreme. Do you have pics?
no pics handy but the area is soft pretty sure I will have to take a section out and redo it how hard of a project am I getting into
lee, will take a pic of my repair tomorrow. I actually cut the front sole out with a circular saw and rebuilt it. Will give a better description of the repair when I have more time to describe this. It was pretty intensive. Stand by.
Hello,
Just an FYI I have some cockpit floor (solid as a rock under 32 deg. F. go figure) and mast step work to do in the spring and I've found great tutorials and lessons learned here by members when searching around the site. Sorry I don't have the links but search mast step repair and deck repair you'll find them. Not technically difficult but it looks like a dusty messy job!
Just an FYI I have some cockpit floor (solid as a rock under 32 deg. F. go figure) and mast step work to do in the spring and I've found great tutorials and lessons learned here by members when searching around the site. Sorry I don't have the links but search mast step repair and deck repair you'll find them. Not technically difficult but it looks like a dusty messy job!
o.k. ya found many sites but was told by someone that the deck in the lower pedestal area was all fiberglass no wood spaced inbetween
Lee, I looked at mine today while messing with the rudder packing. It is a cored cockpit floor.
Have not abandoned the thread. Still need to take pics. Hang in there. I'll be back.
The drilled holes sound like exactly what I would do. See my blog-- http://dianaofburlington.blogspot.com/2012/05/jcs-secret-system-for-filling-deck-core.html
Lee, I would go with the advice of John Cherubini, first. However, in my situation the top and bottom layers were compromised allowing water to drip right on the engine and tranny. The wood core was completely rotted. What I did, and this is most likely overkill, was cut out the entire section leaving a few inches in front of the pedestal, behind the bulkhead into the companionway, and the side bulkheads. Built a frame, see pics and screwed into place. Took a piece of high quality plywood and glassed over. Set this onto the frame and expoxied around and built up, little by little, the sole with glass. Faired to match the original, primed and painted. Pics are looking under the sole. First one looking aft from engine comp., second looking forward from quarter berth, and third looking aft from quarter berth. In retrospect, I really didn't have to go to these extremes but, after more than fifteen years no cracks or leaks.
thanks what I had in mind was cutting the top section from in front of pedestal about 3 in. and going about 2in. infront of step up about the same on the sides takeing that wood out and putting HBO plywood in then replaceing the top with a white colored resine
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Roland!
In such a case of a totally-gone cockpit floor, I would consider the 'mexican hat' solution for sheetrock patching. Cut out the old floor but leave a flange of about 1-1/2" all around (which is outside the old core anyway). Fabricate a skin out of 'glass, or buy a sheet of 'glass, and cut it to fit on top of the flange you left. On the bench, turn it upside down and build up a foam or plywood core (I would use epoxy for all of the, BTW), leaving a flange all the way around, like a replacement floor. In section it will look like a bullfighter's wide flat hat. Then fit this whole thing in on a huge cushion of 5200 and screw it down. When the 5200 is done, pull out the screws and lay up 'glass around the edges, inside and out. This won't fail and it won't leak. And it's easy to do with a few Harbor Freight tools and by following WEST-system instructions.
You're right, that framework is overkill! Just please-oh-please tell me you didn't use pressure-treated yellow pine; and, if you did, please-oh-please-oh-please don't say you used it because it 'won't rot'. Aieeeeeeeeeeee.
In such a case of a totally-gone cockpit floor, I would consider the 'mexican hat' solution for sheetrock patching. Cut out the old floor but leave a flange of about 1-1/2" all around (which is outside the old core anyway). Fabricate a skin out of 'glass, or buy a sheet of 'glass, and cut it to fit on top of the flange you left. On the bench, turn it upside down and build up a foam or plywood core (I would use epoxy for all of the, BTW), leaving a flange all the way around, like a replacement floor. In section it will look like a bullfighter's wide flat hat. Then fit this whole thing in on a huge cushion of 5200 and screw it down. When the 5200 is done, pull out the screws and lay up 'glass around the edges, inside and out. This won't fail and it won't leak. And it's easy to do with a few Harbor Freight tools and by following WEST-system instructions.
You're right, that framework is overkill! Just please-oh-please tell me you didn't use pressure-treated yellow pine; and, if you did, please-oh-please-oh-please don't say you used it because it 'won't rot'. Aieeeeeeeeeeee.
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