I have a 72 Oday 22' and have some softness or sponginess forward and aft of the mast. What would be the best way to correct or reinforce these areas. With an epoxy foam/between fiberglas/wood or stainless strips on the inside?or? Thanks
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E
Ed V.
Ask The Rot Doctor...
You might have some delamination or maybe even core rot. Check out the link below and ask Doc...
You might have some delamination or maybe even core rot. Check out the link below and ask Doc...
R
Rich
Here's what I would do...
Hi, David: If it were me, I would take the mast down, remove the maststep/hinge plate and its screw/bolt. I would then figure out how far out the sponginess radiates from that location. Hopefully, not too far. I would then get a 1/4 drill bit and a depth stop collar and measure from the bolt hole for the mast step the depth from the deck top to the inside/top of the headliner skin (i.e., how deep does the core go before it attaches to the lower fiberglass skin). Set your depth stop collar on the drill bit to an 1/8" shy of that measurement and drill a series of hole down through the deck in the spongy areas--about 1 inch apart. Your deck will look like swiss cheese when you're done. Then get a dental pick or stiff wire and start digging out all that probably rotten/wet core wood in between all of those new holes you just made. This will take the longest and be the hardest part of the whole repair. Take your time and get almost all of it out. Take a shop vac and suck out all the debris/dust as you go. Once you get it all dug out, tape off/mask off the perimeter of all the holes and get some West 105 epoxy, and fast hardener, mix it up with no additives. Pour/inject the clear mixed epoxy "soup" into each and every hole--you're not trying to fill them all the way. You just want to "wet out" the interior of all those holes and newly dug cavities. Let it settle for about 10 minutes or so. Then get some more epoxy and mix it up with some microfibers (strengthening/thickening agent) and some color additive (white makes it look like fiberglass)--mix this well and keep adding microfibers until it gets to the consistency of runny peanut butter. Pour/spoon/push the "peanut butter" into each hole until all filled. Keep pushing/adding a little more as it will settle/form air bubbles while it hardens. Put just enough in the holes to leave just a small bump over the level of the deck--when it hardens you can sand these bumps perfectly flush with the surrounding original deck level. Once hard and fair, you can paint the area--if you desire--or leave it natural until you're ready to paint the whole deck. The repaired area should now be solid as a rock. You can use this same method to repair any other spongy areas you find, inside and out, of the cabin. Good luck. Rich Lemmler, Jr. s/v TIME BANDIT 1975 O'Day 22
Hi, David: If it were me, I would take the mast down, remove the maststep/hinge plate and its screw/bolt. I would then figure out how far out the sponginess radiates from that location. Hopefully, not too far. I would then get a 1/4 drill bit and a depth stop collar and measure from the bolt hole for the mast step the depth from the deck top to the inside/top of the headliner skin (i.e., how deep does the core go before it attaches to the lower fiberglass skin). Set your depth stop collar on the drill bit to an 1/8" shy of that measurement and drill a series of hole down through the deck in the spongy areas--about 1 inch apart. Your deck will look like swiss cheese when you're done. Then get a dental pick or stiff wire and start digging out all that probably rotten/wet core wood in between all of those new holes you just made. This will take the longest and be the hardest part of the whole repair. Take your time and get almost all of it out. Take a shop vac and suck out all the debris/dust as you go. Once you get it all dug out, tape off/mask off the perimeter of all the holes and get some West 105 epoxy, and fast hardener, mix it up with no additives. Pour/inject the clear mixed epoxy "soup" into each and every hole--you're not trying to fill them all the way. You just want to "wet out" the interior of all those holes and newly dug cavities. Let it settle for about 10 minutes or so. Then get some more epoxy and mix it up with some microfibers (strengthening/thickening agent) and some color additive (white makes it look like fiberglass)--mix this well and keep adding microfibers until it gets to the consistency of runny peanut butter. Pour/spoon/push the "peanut butter" into each hole until all filled. Keep pushing/adding a little more as it will settle/form air bubbles while it hardens. Put just enough in the holes to leave just a small bump over the level of the deck--when it hardens you can sand these bumps perfectly flush with the surrounding original deck level. Once hard and fair, you can paint the area--if you desire--or leave it natural until you're ready to paint the whole deck. The repaired area should now be solid as a rock. You can use this same method to repair any other spongy areas you find, inside and out, of the cabin. Good luck. Rich Lemmler, Jr. s/v TIME BANDIT 1975 O'Day 22
J
Justin - O'day Owners' Web
Rich has the answer
Ed - I'd do exactly as Rich suggests, but I would add one step - remember to acetone the are you will epoxy to ensure good adhesion. Justin- O'day Owners' Web
Ed - I'd do exactly as Rich suggests, but I would add one step - remember to acetone the are you will epoxy to ensure good adhesion. Justin- O'day Owners' Web
G
Gene Kauffman
Use Slow hardener
Ed, I recommend the same proceedure but use West System's slow hardner (106 I believe) West has an excellent booklet for about $3.00 at most marine stores that addresses the problem exactly. They call for drilling a bunch of holes and injecting the resin with a syringe that they sell. the slow hardener will help the resin saturate far into the balsa core before it "kicks". Hope this helps. Gene
Ed, I recommend the same proceedure but use West System's slow hardner (106 I believe) West has an excellent booklet for about $3.00 at most marine stores that addresses the problem exactly. They call for drilling a bunch of holes and injecting the resin with a syringe that they sell. the slow hardener will help the resin saturate far into the balsa core before it "kicks". Hope this helps. Gene
K
Kevin
deck repair
Another option to fix is to use a router. set the depth of the router to cut through the 1st layer of glass and core, but not the bottom or second layer of glass. rout out the square or whatever shape. be certain to go far enough out to get to the hard core(not rotten core, use a handle from a screwdriver and knock, you'll hear the rotted and solid areas). Once you have the top layer of glass off, (do not throw out) scrape out all of the rotted core. let the area dry out. You now have a choice, you can use a thin layer of ply (width of the rotted core) or they sell a foam pad that is very plyable and takes the shape of the boat that is made specificly as core replacement. (this foam will absorb a lot of west system as compared to the ply. coat both sides of the ply and place in the cutout and then place the west the 1st layer of glass back into place. you could then use a west with the fairing compound to fill in the cracks,sand and paint etc. I just helped my friend replace all of his decks on his columbia 34 using the above method. On a 4ft section on the aft deck we used the swiss cheese method and I've also used the swiss cheese method on my boat. With the amount of time spent drilling and filling the holes, plus the amount of west used to do this, I totaly reccommend routhing out the section and using the ply/foam. The decks on the columbia are rock solid now. good luck. kevin
Another option to fix is to use a router. set the depth of the router to cut through the 1st layer of glass and core, but not the bottom or second layer of glass. rout out the square or whatever shape. be certain to go far enough out to get to the hard core(not rotten core, use a handle from a screwdriver and knock, you'll hear the rotted and solid areas). Once you have the top layer of glass off, (do not throw out) scrape out all of the rotted core. let the area dry out. You now have a choice, you can use a thin layer of ply (width of the rotted core) or they sell a foam pad that is very plyable and takes the shape of the boat that is made specificly as core replacement. (this foam will absorb a lot of west system as compared to the ply. coat both sides of the ply and place in the cutout and then place the west the 1st layer of glass back into place. you could then use a west with the fairing compound to fill in the cracks,sand and paint etc. I just helped my friend replace all of his decks on his columbia 34 using the above method. On a 4ft section on the aft deck we used the swiss cheese method and I've also used the swiss cheese method on my boat. With the amount of time spent drilling and filling the holes, plus the amount of west used to do this, I totaly reccommend routhing out the section and using the ply/foam. The decks on the columbia are rock solid now. good luck. kevin
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