Hunter 23' Spongy Interior Floor

[carboman]

I read this on one of the posts, so I decided to cut it out and see what was back there. The are is the first area of cabin flooring when you step off the step into the cabin. Mine was spongy. It looks like Hunter built a core with two layers of glass and some different wood. The wood was damp and rotted and looked like a parquet style of plywood. Of course, this all came a part in small squares about 2x2". Should be fairly easy to rebuild what I cut out.

Dave

 

[MrUnix]

I read this on one of the posts, so I decided to cut it out and see what was back there.

Wow! If you are talking about this post, it was about cutting out a 6" access hole and then using a plastic cover.. not cutting out the whole floor!

But I'm glad you did.. gives us a chance to see what is down there. I would have thought there would be some kind of support and am a bit surprised to see it hollow. Can you peek under the liner towards the stern and see if it is the same?

Cheers,
Brad

 

[carboman]

the last pic is from aft to stern. really looks like the same stuff you see under the cockpit. i did drill out that small draiin hole a bit. when i cut it out i was really watching the hull. could have hit that easily. overall not to bad.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Dave;

You took a big leap and not afraid to repair. Good start. Keep me posted on the repair but you will need to find the source of the leakage of water to keep that from happenning again.

crazy dave condon

 

[carboman]

I may make a wood insert too replace the fiberglass piece I cut out but have not figured out how to make it water proof. Seems like when I get the crew out for a bit they always go below after swimming. I know I can put it back together without to much hassle. Some more wood down there would look nice, may something synthetic.

Thanks!

 

[isaksp00]

Maybe Trex or something like it? You may not have to make it 100% waterproof - what happens to the small amount of water that gets in there - does it drain to the lazarette area? You could use something like butyl rubber strips, and screw down the new floor panel with stainless. Supposedly the butyl doesn't cement the pieces, so you could unscrew it when needed.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Dave'

If you want to go back with glass, first consider where you would put supports and I suggest plastic strips/blocks or aluminum.

When replacing a deck on a Sunfish/Aquafinn, there are no access panels. What I do is cut the area out and then I would angle the cut from the inside to the outside minimum of 45 degrees but more is angle is better.

Then I would sand the underneath of the floor edges from 1-3 inches. I would then take a piece of cardboard with two strings that go thru the cardboard and back out which to hold with. Make sure the cardboard is 1-2 inches larger than hole in floor. Then put two layers of glass covering the cardboard with the strings coming up thru the glass. Make sure of course you can take the long lenght of the cardboard and insertinto the hole and then turning. With the cardboard laying down, I would then put resin on the glass and then brush on resin to the underneath edges of the floor board and then pull up and hold it in place unitl the resin starts to hold. What you are doing is putting a base of glass to the underneath making a false bottom. Let dry overnight and then ;you a good base which to lay a new floor.

Make sure the first layer of glass is as big as the hole and each additional overlaps a little to fill the flared edges. Obtain a resin roller from West Marine to smooth out wet glass and get the air bubbles out too. When you feel you have filled in, lket dry overnight. Then spray a little black or gray into the new glass and sand with a long board covered with sandpaper till smooth. Where paint is left will denote the valleys that have to still be filled.

If you have trouble understanding this, email me at davecondon@mindspring.com with phone numbers so I can call. I will be gone this coming week to work on boy scout sailing fleets.

crazy dave