The soles may be next

SFS

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Aug 18, 2015
2,088
Currently Boatless Okinawa
Questions about H31 soles

Ok, so I should get the boat back next week (new strut, shaft, bottom job). My next project will be replacing the soles, which are soft/delaminating. I've read most every thread on the site regarding soles, in lots of different boats. I still have the following questions (boat is a 1983 H31):

1) How are the soles in this model attached/adhered? Or did it vary from boat to boat? Will there be stringers? A subfloor?

2) My plan is to work in sections, so we can continue to use the boat. What's the best way to take out the entire sole within a section? I feel like I want to keep the pieces intact if possible, to use as templates, but depending on how it is attached/adhered, that may not be possible. I plan to start with the small section just aft of the nav station on the port side. If I can't salvage a section, I'll make a template with paper or poster board, and cut test pieces out of less expensive material to start.

3) In a lot of places, the soles run under cabinetry, settees, etc. Do those installations have to come out to remove the soles? Or does that depend "what we find underneath"?

4) Even if removal is a nightmare, and everything has to be chiseled out in small ragged pieces, should the fixtures come out to facilitate installation of the NEW soles?

New soles will likely be marine plywood, epoxied on all sides and edges, then painted on the topside. I don't want to spend time refinishing wood any more than I have to, and a painted surface can be resurfaced in situ with little effort and prep.

All suggestions and comments are welcomed.
 
Last edited:
Jun 6, 2006
6,990
currently boatless wishing Harrington Harbor North, MD
some are glewed some are screwed. you should be able to tell as the screws will be visable around the edge of the soleboard.
Can't help on #2
on my 41.5 the cabinets are not attached to the sole but the seating is. The seats just unscrew (and is a storage nightmare)
you will, no doubt, need to take the soles out in a specific order at some point. I had to take out 5 sole boards to get to the one under my gally cabinet.
Epoxy works great. you will want to clear the painting with the admeral before going that route
 
Sep 4, 2007
776
Hunter 33.5 Elbow, Saskatchwen, Can.
The 31 is very similar to the 34.
I replaced the salon floor this spring and to do so I had to remove all the settee's.
The floor is screwed down you should find dowels covering the screws. Mine came out in 2 pieces. But the biggest section wouldn't go though the companion way it was to wide. I had to trim it down it get it outside.
I've attached a couple of pictures one is the old floor on top of 3/4 inch plywood that I was tracing onto.
The second one shows the port settee removed and the water tank location.
Hope this helps
 

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Jul 4, 2015
436
Hunter 34 Menominee, MI; Sturgeon Bay WI
Sole replacement

Thanks for the pictures. I'm about to embark on the same project.

Did you find any wood rot in the area of the mast compression post?
Is the replacement plywood marine grade?
How will you resurface the plywood; where will you obtain the veneer?
Will you veneer it attached back in the boat since you couldn't get it out in one piece?

Thanks for your advice.
Ilan
 
Sep 4, 2007
776
Hunter 33.5 Elbow, Saskatchwen, Can.
Ilan
Sorry for the late reply life sometimes gets in the way.
I had rot under both the water tank on the port side and under the septic tank.
I used 3/4 inch birch plywood that I routed out 1/4 inch strips then stained. I then inlayed some light coloured strips and finished with varnish.
It's not a perfect match in colour but pretty close.
Like Claude I have 3 piece floor now instead of 2.
 

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Jul 4, 2015
436
Hunter 34 Menominee, MI; Sturgeon Bay WI
Very nice.

How did you reattach the tanks to the floor?

Thanks. Ilan
 
Jan 22, 2008
339
Hunter 34 Herrington South, MD
How long should it take to remove the settees in the main cabin and take out the remove the flooring. I've got a few other partners to help and figured we could pull it out in one day. Take about another day to cut out new pieces and then maybe 2 days to reinstall everything.
 
Sep 4, 2007
776
Hunter 33.5 Elbow, Saskatchwen, Can.
Ilan; I haven't attached the tanks to the floor yet. I did screw in 1by1's around the base of the tanks to stop them from sliding around. I will strap them down before I launch next spring.
Mike; You should be able to remove the settees and floor in one day. Clean-up a couple of hours. I like what Claude had done with his floor. It's in another post. But he make the floor into 3 pieces. Much easier to install. That post is in Big boats.
Good luck it's not that hard even for one person.