Water damage repair help

[neoflyer]

Went to my boat yesterday and found it with water in cabin about 8 inches above the floor. Pumped it out and found the flooring in poor shape plus the cabinets and bench boxes will need to be refinished. There are soft spots in the floor plus the bilge cover is completely ruined. If I can't refinish the flooring and shore it up where it is soft is premade flooring available or will it need to be made from scratch? What kind of framing/joists is under the flooring? How difficult is it to repair/replace? Can the bench and cabinets be removed from the boat in one piece or do they breakdown/

Any help is appreciated. I had hoped to sell the boat but now it's a whole new ball game. Maybe I can find someone who likes projects.

 

[kito]

First off, why did you have 8" water? You need to find out and fix that first.

 

[SFS]

Lots of threads here about refinishing or replacing floors. The search box is your friend. But Kito has the right of it, stop the water ingress first.

Have you had rain? Was the water you pumped out fresh or salty? Do you still have water coming in? How long was the boat unattended? (This will give you an idea of rate of fill.)

 

[geek_guy]

To your questions:
You can buy the pre made floor. Search for 'teak and holly'. It's pre made plywood with holly strips for the light color and teak for the other darker wood. Be prepared it is not cheap.

Probably not wood under the plywood. Most boats have fiberglass 'beams'---I think the proper term is 'stringers'. That double as a level understructure for the floor, and help stiffen and strengthen the boat bottom. So it's unlikely that these were damaged by water.

Most boat interior wood(cabinets and benches) is put together with screws. If you poke you head in to the outside and bottom corners you should see a wood piece approx. 1 inch by 1 inch that has screws into both sides. If you take out the screws you'll be able to remove the side.

 

[geek_guy]

Oh and if you want a really cheap alternative to the floor. You can go to Home depot and get hardwood plywood for approx. 30 dollars. Then tape off the little light color areas. Stain the dark. voila,,,,,,fake teak and holly.

 

[neoflyer]

Lots of threads here about refinishing or replacing floors. The search box is your friend. But Kito has the right of it, stop the water ingress first.

Have you had rain? Was the water you pumped out fresh or salty? Do you still have water coming in? How long was the boat unattended? (This will give you an idea of rate of fill.)

I've tried the search approach. You have to be skilled/lucky to get the right search terms. Sometimes I'm lucky but not here, so far. I found one thread where the owner was using pry bars to remove the sole. Some soles seem to be glued and others screwed down. Does anyone know how it's done in a 1984m H 34? I'll keep trying.

One question is does Hunter offer premade soles?

Thanks

 

[neoflyer]

To your questions:
You can buy the pre made floor. Search for 'teak and holly'. It's pre made plywood with holly strips for the light color and teak for the other darker wood. Be prepared it is not cheap.

Probably not wood under the plywood. Most boats have fiberglass 'beams'---I think the proper term is 'stringers'. That double as a level understructure for the floor, and help stiffen and strengthen the boat bottom. So it's unlikely that these were damaged by water.

Most boat interior wood(cabinets and benches) is put together with screws. If you poke you head in to the outside and bottom corners you should see a wood piece approx. 1 inch by 1 inch that has screws into both sides. If you take out the screws you'll be able to remove the side.

Are these stringers molded into the boat structure or attached? I've know boats that have soft spots in the sole. How can that happen if there are fg stringers supporting it?

I asked in an earlier reply is the sole of a 1984 H 34 glued or screwed to these stringers?

Thanks

 

[SFS]

I hear you on search optimization. Make sure you start from the advanced search page. Then, under "How To Search" select "find exact phrase", though this obviously means you have to hit the right words in the right order. If you use "Find all words", you'll get more hits, but have to read through more thread titles to eliminate those that are not applicable. Under "Where to Search" select "Title, Author, Message". On the far right, you can limit the sheer volume of posts you ask the computer to look through by narrowing to a specific forum or subforum. In this specific case, I would initially limit the forums searched to "All Hunter". I would start with the phrases "replacing soles", "replace soles", and "refinishing soles" as a start (and don't be afraid to go back to the option of "find all words").

You can also check the section of the forum related to modifications that owners have performed. On the tabs at the very top, hover over "Boat Info" until the drop down appears. The third line is "Owner Modifications", and you can navigate from there. It's organized by boat maker and length, so I usually look at everything around my boat's length, not just my specific boat.

I'm in the middle of it on my 31. I will know more in a few days how my main salon sole was attached. My galley sole was missing (but was likely screwed down, based on holes in the fiberglass), and my quarterberth sole (adjacent to and aft of my nav station) was also screwed down. I elected not to attach mine. Some folks feel that the sole should not be fastened at all. See for example, post 4 in this thread (specifically the paragraph numbered "2"):
http://forums.sailboatowners.com/in...our-h33-this-year-adhesive.177011/&highlight=

Here some additional threads:

http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/planning-new-plastic-cabin-sole-for-h37c.173186/

http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/cabin-sole-replacement-hunter-28-5.175613/&highlight=replace soles

http://forums.sailboatowners.com/index.php?threads/bonding-new-vberth-sole-to-hull-in-1983-h34.126548/&highlight=replace soles

http://forums.sailboatowners.com/in...on-and-help-with-5200.177080/&highlight=soles

Good luck, and remember that whatever experience you have can be documented here to help the next guy. Pictures are a huge help.

 

[neoflyer]

SFS,
Great information.
Thanks

 

[geek_guy]

Are these stringers molded into the boat structure or attached? I've know boats that have soft spots in the sole. How can that happen if there are fg stringers supporting it?

I asked in an earlier reply is the sole of a 1984 H 34 glued or screwed to these stringers?

Thanks

Sorry but I'm not versed on every or most boats. But I would guess that they would all be FB stringers that are integral to the boat. But if the wood floor has gotten bad between the stringers then it would explain your concept of the sole being soft. My plywood had truly delaminated. The glue that kept the ply layers together was gone so the plys flexed against each other. Start by seeing if the bilge part of the floor comes up, which it should. Then try the pieces next to it to see if they are loose.


There would be a combination of screws and no attachment. Some of mine were screwed down from the vertical walls of the settees. All the rest were simply in by friction. Some were the access to the bilge which didn't have attachment.