No Drain Holes Under Teak Plywood Cabin Floor ?

[rardiH36]

Although my boat is a 1980 Cherubini Hunter, I expect that this topic will be generic to other brands built the same era.My boat's teak/holly veneer plywood cabin floor is mounted within a matching shaped molded basin of the interior fiberglass liner. A few months ago, I spilled a pail of water and noticed that the water that seeped into the gaps between the veneer/plywood and the molded basin did not drain into the bilge. Took quite a bit of time to dry out. I would have thought that drain holes at the low points in the basin would be been in the design. (I felt around underneath the best I could and couldn't detect any openings that might have become clogged over time.)Questions:- I can't tell if the flooring is mounted on raised ridges inside the basin that would leave some space so that the wood won't be in constant contact with any water moisture that may have found its way under. Does anyone know if this is case?- Has anybody drilled drain holes under the flooring to allow drainage into the bilge? Would this help anyway? I don't plan to go through all of the difficulty of removing the flooring, so if people do drill holes, what is the process?- Another thought is to caulk (neatly of course!) all around the edge of the flooring and the fiberglass basin. The drawback to this is that any moisture that may seep down into the basin will have an even harder time of drying out.Thanks in advance for your opinions/recommendations.rardi

 

[Stu Jackson]

Just dropped some water into the area

of flooring in our V berth when changing the knotmeter impeller. The answer is to take the floor board up by unscrewing it, easier than trying to feel underneath. That section on our boat has a bunch of drain holes. I don't know if the rest of the different sections do have holes, but since there is dirt buildup around the edges of all of them after 10 years of use (we did take them off and cleaned when we got the boat) it's time to do it again. It is not "difficult" - it is time consuming, and it's the only way to KNOW as well as the ONLY way to drill holes if you don't have them and feel you want or need them. I would not recommend caulking the edges - it'll attract dirt, look like crap pretty soon, and you're right about trapping whatever's there already. Each boat is different. Take your floor boards off and see what YOU have on YOUR boat. Really doesn't matter what the rest of us have...

 

[rardiH36]

Stu ...

Firstly, good to know that under-floor drain holes are a feature in boats. That was the first step before considering a solution.Your comments are logical. And I would take up the floor as you suggest to check for and clean out or drill holes for drainage. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the flooring was refinished some time in the recent past very nicely. The many screws fastening the floor to the liner are covered with wooden bungs... and under nice thick layers of varnish. Drilling them out to access the screws and later replacing them would mean refinishing the floor again to restore the existing look. Now that I know that under floor drainage holes are a feature on boats, next time I'm at the boat, I'll look again for holes using a dentist's mirrorge. If I can't find any, I'm thinking that from the bilge well, I might be able to drill a few holes here-and-there into the basin along the contour where the floor of the basin angles back up vertically. Or maybe at the low point of each flooring section (each section seems to have its own basin), I can drill one or two single holes down through the wood and then through the liner. (... With a stop collar on the drill bit so that I don't go into the hull!) Then cover the holes in the floor with an aesthetically acceptable plug that can be removed for periodic cleaning out of the drain hole. regards,rardi

 

[Stu Jackson]

One thing you may want to consider

is to look for those few areas where water could get in. The galley and outside the head/shower, as well as where your through hulls for the KM are located are perfect examples. Others may simply not, like underneath the saloon table (unless you have messy guests!)I fully understand the issue of the bungs. However, since water could repeatedly get into those areas, you may want to consider replacing the bungs with screws and finishing washers.That would allow you to check often without disturbing the connections, and to drill the holes underneath without having to add more holes to the nicely finished sole.Thanks for the feedback and enhanced description of your conditions.Nice boat, BTW.