Replacing Bulk Heads with Marine Plastic

[Scituated]

I would like to replace the forward bulkheads in my C22 with king starboard marine plastic (the same material Catalina Direct uses for the hatch rails and crib boards). The BHs have some water damage and just look and smell awful.

I intend to use the marine plastic to make a dining table and replace all the wood covers to storage compartments as well.

Thoughts on replacing BH? How difficult is it to replace the BH?

Thanks.

 

[slowtype]

I did mine this spring. The process wasn't too hard. I used my old ones as templates. I ran into some difficulty when the old bulkhead was so rotted that I had to guess on the pattern a bit.

Some of the edges were tapered, I used a router and sanding to match the old ones. It would be difficult to sand marine plastic. I've used a pull type paint scraper successfully to remove excess plastic material on other types of plastic.

I thought about plastic, but ended up going with marine plywood. It was less money than plastic at my marine store. Looks nice after finding a stain to make it match the rest of the interior wood work and a few coats of poly.

Also doesn't smell anymore!

 

[Sailvayu]

Starboard does not have the structural support and stiffness of plywood. I would not recommend it. If you have to use a non wood product g10 FRP/epoxy sheet and perhaps a cored FRP sheet. Honestly if you just treat the end grain of the plywood prior to installing it should be fine.

 

[thinwater]

NO WAY.

In addition to other problems stated, you can't bond to polyethylene (the base material of Starboard et. al.).

While PE is a neat material for many non-structural uses--weather resistant and easy to machine--it's physical properties are among the worst you can find for a project like this. Use either exterior ply coated in epoxy or pre-lam FRP.

 

[centerline]

using starboard as bulkhead material also adds an unnecessary amount of weight as well as the difficulty of tabbing it to the hull... you cant! you can build the tabs but then it has to have fasteners installed because the fiberglass wont bond to the starboard.
and it isnt structurally as strong as a plywood bulkhead that has been prepped and properly installed.... and plywood is way cheaper, and it doesnt have to be any particular grade. as long as its sealed and properly installed it will last as long as the boat.

 

[Scituated]

Some great advice. Thank you all!

 

[CCrane2299]

Mine is an 89, so this may not apply.
I just reinstalled mine yesterday. There are no tabs to bond, just screws into or through the liner. I also removed the trim on all mine. I looks much cleaner with the trim gone, but I was surprised at the loose tolerances. I am no materials expert but just also installed a plastic pad for my motor mount. That stuff is way tougher than the plywood from the factory. It takes about 15 minutes to remove them both with a cordless drill. A little longer to reinstall as you have to bed the chain plates. I like the wood and wouldn't have mine any other way, but the plastic would be forever...however, if my wood hadn't been wet I might not have noticed the chain plates leaking and could have lead to a wet cabin top. I say if you like it go for it!