Replacing rotten core deck via inner skin removal

[pearsoncommander251]

Does anyone have expereicne removing rotten core wood from the deck by accessing and Removing Inner Skin?

I need to repair the deck where the stanchions mount. I can see the mounting plate from in side the cabin.

Is it better (or recommended) to remove the fiberglass inner skin thus leaving the deck un-touched?

Ref: http://www.cncphotoalbum.com/doityourself/rotrepair/rotrepair.htm

 

[KD3PC]

it is much tougher to get fiberglass/resin/etc to adhere to an overhead surface than laying it on something....you have to find a way to fight gravity and weight of the wetted stuff.

That being said, it can be done. I would not say there is one way or another that is better, just what level of repair do you want to see every day. ie... a repair of an inner panel would likely not have to be as well faired/finished as the deck itself.

it was nice to have a second pair of hands to wet things out while I positioned and rolled things. YOu will then need something to "hold" things in place...I used wax paper covered stiff cardboard (like dress shirts used to come in) and pieces of lathing (thin strips of wood that could be bent or used as support posts) to hold things till the resin set.

This is much easier while not living aboard, and you will need good ventilation, else stay at a hotel.

Is it just one or two stanchions, or all of them. Gaining access from below could well be a chore. But so is opening up a bunch of holes to the weather from the top sides.

YMMV

 

[tommays]

First you have to see how the boat is built to see if you even have a choice

A lot of people will tell you to work from the top because gravity if you friend

I favor the bottom because most of my repair projects have had perfect non-skid patterns from the original molding and i wanted to keep it that way

I do not know how every boat is built BUT on old Cals there is no structural connection of the inner skin to the hull so you have no choice

There is single layer of glass sealing the edges of the inner skin and the core goes all the way to the molded toerail which allow no way to taper the outer skin if you went that way







On every more modern Jboat and perhaps others the inner skin is the thick one and the way the inward flange hull deck joint is done with the core well away form the edges allows a top repair to make sense


So the first step is understanding HOW this boat is built either by examination of the boat or seeking out owners groups to see how it was done before

If it had not sought out all the Cal information that was laying around on the Internet there would have been many bad decisions made

 

[Chris Patterson]

251, on the EricsonYachts.org web site, at the very top of the posts in the mechanical section, there is a long running thread on deck repairs.
Maybe a couple of ideas..

 

[Merlin Clark]

Unless there is a REALLY good reason to work from the bottom, like the deck is in great shape and you don't want to paint it, you'd just be making the job much harder than it needs to be.

 

[centerline]

if I had to do extensive core replacement in a small boat (less than 30ft), i would seriously weigh the costs of turning the boat over and working from the inside with gravity in my favor. the project could be completed so much faster with less work involved

this may not be possible with some heavily keeled boats, but if the keel can be unbolted and removed, it could, and has been done....

 

[Ross]

I glassed the entire inside of my 30 foot Islander after I cored it with Airex core. I rolled six foot long pieces of chopped strand mat onto a cardboard tube and working with a paint roller in one hand and the roll of glass in the other got the entire job done three layers of CSM and two layers of woven roven roving. I recommend that you wallpaper a bathroom ceiling before you try glasing the inside of a boat.

 

[davisr]

I've fully documented the core repair project that I undertook in my chain locker. It wasn't easy. I thickened all the pots of epoxy with colloidal silica to the consistency of peanut butter, and I was still able to achieve good wet-out of the cloth.

http://www.ericson25.com/2013/01/deck-core-repair-anchor-locker.html

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I've recored three boat decks, all from underneath. Getting the new core in is fairly simple. And as long as you work with smaller sections of glass, that's not a major problem.

And making it look good isn't all that hard- just work carefully and clean up while the epoxy is wet- no drips left to harden.

For something like you are doing, under stanchion bases, I'd definitely go from below, as long as the area was accessible at all.