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Friend was saying his floor / deck feels spongy and was wondering if he could cover it with a layer of plywood and glass it in.

My thoughts were that it's not something he ( or I ) could do even if it was feasible.

It's an old boat ... parked outside.

Anyone do that kind of work in the Spartanburg / Greenville area ? He might be better off looking for another boat and take what he can get for his.

Thoughts ???

Stringer

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If you can't take a kid fishing ... consider a senior citizen !!!

You didn't say what type boat your bud has, and where the soft spots are. But depending on type, the top cap may have to come off and then the floor removed, inspection of stingers and cross work and replacement if needed. Replace flooring, and re-install new carpet and top cap. Whew big $$$.
If just some small spots then he could cut out the floor in that section and"splice" it in. Cheaper.

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I'm not fluent in Idiot could you please speak slowly?

I had an old Stratos one time that had some soft spots in the floor. what I did was to rip up the carpet, sand off all the crud I could. then measured the whole floor and cut a peice of plywood to fit. The only place that was really hard was the drivers area with the console. I cut it 1/4 inch smaller than the area and used fiberglass roping to seal around the edges and so water would roll off like a new boat. made sure I cut for the drains and the seat area drains. I screwed the whole thing down with SS screws then sealed the edges and laid fiberglass cloth out and glassed the whole thing in. Let it dry and then sanded it some just to get a little rough surface. Laid down carpet glue ( outdoor type) and used lowes grey carpet to carpet the cockpit. it was good and solid and water tight traded in the boat on a procraft and some guy bought it and is still using it with no problems. the best thing you can do after doing it is to buy a ozark canopy ( tarp kind) and use it as a boat shed will help keep water and such off the boat.
The hardest part was the measuring and cutting of the plywood for the floor and getting it to fit just right , remember measure 3-5 times and cut once. it is a 2 man job at that point the rest of the way is pretty easy one person can do it in a few days of good weather.

Sounds really good Steves.... lol... sounds like something I would have come up with... making YOU very smart...lol...best regards... retiredguy

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Always on a bentpole pattern
Chiefretiredguy

Depending on how bad it is, I would have someone who has done some glass work to look at it. Just like Cm said it could have bigger problems..

I ve done a bunch of them & its not very difficult just takes a good bit of time to do it right.

Mike

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One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.....

Thanks, guys.

I'll see him tomorrow, quiz him some more and pass along your suggestions. I'll copy and print out Steves ideas. He had planned on talking to Holdens so he may have some more input.

Thanks again, Stringer

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If you can't take a kid fishing ... consider a senior citizen !!!

Stringer, you better go with him to hold him up when he gets the quote on fixing it at a dealer. if it is an old boat he dont care about ( since he keeps it outside uncovered or not under a canopy or such) he isnt going to want to spend the amount of money to get it done at a dealer. the way CM said about cutting out the soft areas is ok but it is really a pain and if you cut into a stringer that is not damaged well you have a problem and have to reseal it or else it will go at a later date.
The first and most important thing for him to do is pull up the carpet and see where the soft spots are if in between the stringers it may be fine to cut but again watch out and also fitting in the new peice is a pain to line up the edges. That is why I just went ahead and did the whole floor. when I got done it was so solid I weigh about 270 and could not push down anywhere on the floor. cost of doing it not including labor was probably a couple hundred dollars, sheet of marine plywood, couple gallons of fiberglass, enough fiberglass cloth to cover area 3-4 times do not use glass mat use woven cloth ( stronger and better less stuff to stick your clothes also) a gallon of carpet glue and a roll of carpet oh and fiberglass roping. and SS screws.
I did my boat in my yard in a few days ( summertime) with a friend ( yes I have a few) doing the cutting of the wood and fitting, the glassing took maybe a few hours to dry and then did a second coat. if your friend wants he can IM me and I can tell him just what I did and how. Steve