I'm looking at buying at buting a 22' oday, but the cockpit floor is alittle soft...I assume the floor is made from sandwiched fiberglass-balsa wood? Is this very expensive to repair? Haven't seen it yet, wanted to know if it's empty space below that area for storage, or is it even more complicated to repair? info is much appreciated
how much work for a cockpit floor?
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My OD22
My 1972 OD22 had soft spots in the cockpit floor. To my surprise, the floor was not sandwiched, or 'cored', fiberglass construction. Instead, there were simply two layers of fiberglass that were, originally, glued together. In some places the lamination had failed and the two layers had separated. In these places I drilled through the top layer of glass, stopping before I drilled through the second. I used a 3/8" bit and drilled many holes in each soft spot. I then mixed up some unthickened epoxy resin and poured it into each hole. The idea is that the resin will fill the void where the two fiberglass layers had come apart. I had to repeat the process in a couple of places where the epoxy did not penetrate. After it all set the cockpit was very solid. I anticipate having to do this some more. Also, I did this because there were clear stress fracture 'rings' visible in the cockpit floor. These rings were the outline of the delaminated area, basically a pocket of space between the two layers. Perhaps your cockpit is simply soft because of the non-cored construction and not actually delaminated like mine? If so, I would maybe consider a cockpit sole insert instead. I have seen teak grid type constructions that were very attractive and would certainly stiffen it up. I have some photos that I will post later today. Let me know how it works out.
My 1972 OD22 had soft spots in the cockpit floor. To my surprise, the floor was not sandwiched, or 'cored', fiberglass construction. Instead, there were simply two layers of fiberglass that were, originally, glued together. In some places the lamination had failed and the two layers had separated. In these places I drilled through the top layer of glass, stopping before I drilled through the second. I used a 3/8" bit and drilled many holes in each soft spot. I then mixed up some unthickened epoxy resin and poured it into each hole. The idea is that the resin will fill the void where the two fiberglass layers had come apart. I had to repeat the process in a couple of places where the epoxy did not penetrate. After it all set the cockpit was very solid. I anticipate having to do this some more. Also, I did this because there were clear stress fracture 'rings' visible in the cockpit floor. These rings were the outline of the delaminated area, basically a pocket of space between the two layers. Perhaps your cockpit is simply soft because of the non-cored construction and not actually delaminated like mine? If so, I would maybe consider a cockpit sole insert instead. I have seen teak grid type constructions that were very attractive and would certainly stiffen it up. I have some photos that I will post later today. Let me know how it works out.
Whoops!
I'm going to go ahead and retract my previous post. Turns out that my cockpit sole was two layers of fiberglass b/c the wood had long since rotted away. Joy. I went to take the picture that I promised and got curious enough to drill a test hole closer to the edge. There I found cored fiberglass like I would have expected. So, ignoring the fact that I made my eventual cockpit sole replacement extremely difficult by the previously described fix, onto your issue. I have replaced the entire cabin sole's balsa core. This was quite expensive due the fact I had to buy epoxy, fiberglass tape, and the 3/8" core material (scored scrimmed balsa around $18 per 2'x4' section). I suppose that this expense is all relative, you could probably spend under $200 on the materials, but you will need the appropriate tools, time and then you will probably want to paint it. That will require lots of sanding, sanding, priming, sanding, sanding, painting, sanding, painting, buffing... you get the picture. All in all not too technical of a repair, but certainly takes time. Anyway, you will need to figure out why the core material rotted (ie. find the source of water intrusion) and repair this. Then take whatever steps you feel are appropriate. I may take my own advice and try to construct a sole insert as opposed to replacing the core. I am not too bothered by a soft sole though, until it starts cracking. Best of luck and let me know what you end up doing. I have done many, many repairs like this to my OD22 and can give you some tips/lessons learned.
I'm going to go ahead and retract my previous post. Turns out that my cockpit sole was two layers of fiberglass b/c the wood had long since rotted away. Joy. I went to take the picture that I promised and got curious enough to drill a test hole closer to the edge. There I found cored fiberglass like I would have expected. So, ignoring the fact that I made my eventual cockpit sole replacement extremely difficult by the previously described fix, onto your issue. I have replaced the entire cabin sole's balsa core. This was quite expensive due the fact I had to buy epoxy, fiberglass tape, and the 3/8" core material (scored scrimmed balsa around $18 per 2'x4' section). I suppose that this expense is all relative, you could probably spend under $200 on the materials, but you will need the appropriate tools, time and then you will probably want to paint it. That will require lots of sanding, sanding, priming, sanding, sanding, painting, sanding, painting, buffing... you get the picture. All in all not too technical of a repair, but certainly takes time. Anyway, you will need to figure out why the core material rotted (ie. find the source of water intrusion) and repair this. Then take whatever steps you feel are appropriate. I may take my own advice and try to construct a sole insert as opposed to replacing the core. I am not too bothered by a soft sole though, until it starts cracking. Best of luck and let me know what you end up doing. I have done many, many repairs like this to my OD22 and can give you some tips/lessons learned.
Cockpit floor
From my own experience and from the many posts on the subject, I think it's safe to assume that ALL horizontal surfaces on O'Day boats ( cockpit sole, deck, cabin roof etc.) have a cored construction. It is used because it creates a stiff panel without excessive weight. The problem lies with the fact that O'Day's were relatively low-cost production boats and holes drilled thru the horizontal panels for mounting hardware,electric wires, vents, chainplates etc etc were not adequately sealed to protect the balsa core from the eventual seepage of water into the core, causing rot. The method for sealing & protecting the balsa core is covered in several texts, manuals etc and has often been discussed on this site. It takes time and is too expensive for most production builders to bother with. As for repairing the cockpit sole, my personal choice would be to remove the bottom or inner f'glass and the core and do the repair from inside the boat. This is much harder as it's cramped and you're fighting gravity etc, but you don't have to worry abt. cosmetic issues as you would if you removed to outer layer of glass in the cockpit floor and you can concentrate on making a good structural repair job. That's the approach I plan on my O27, but the O22 may be too cramped to allow any access from the underside and you'll have to develop a different approach.
From my own experience and from the many posts on the subject, I think it's safe to assume that ALL horizontal surfaces on O'Day boats ( cockpit sole, deck, cabin roof etc.) have a cored construction. It is used because it creates a stiff panel without excessive weight. The problem lies with the fact that O'Day's were relatively low-cost production boats and holes drilled thru the horizontal panels for mounting hardware,electric wires, vents, chainplates etc etc were not adequately sealed to protect the balsa core from the eventual seepage of water into the core, causing rot. The method for sealing & protecting the balsa core is covered in several texts, manuals etc and has often been discussed on this site. It takes time and is too expensive for most production builders to bother with. As for repairing the cockpit sole, my personal choice would be to remove the bottom or inner f'glass and the core and do the repair from inside the boat. This is much harder as it's cramped and you're fighting gravity etc, but you don't have to worry abt. cosmetic issues as you would if you removed to outer layer of glass in the cockpit floor and you can concentrate on making a good structural repair job. That's the approach I plan on my O27, but the O22 may be too cramped to allow any access from the underside and you'll have to develop a different approach.
75 oday 22 soft spot in cockpit floor
i also have a spongy spot right at salon entrance but no cracks and was thinking the route of the teak insert to spread the load a bit
i also have a spongy spot right at salon entrance but no cracks and was thinking the route of the teak insert to spread the load a bit
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