Boat Floor

[jnaughton]

I am looking to put a new floor in my 19 foot Celebrity Bowrider, any suggestions?

[Kamper]

When I replaced my deck I pulled up the original and used the sections as a template. The biggest complication was attaching the new parts. I had to special order jumbo pop-rivets.

Good luck!

[Dave R]

Buy a respirator. You don't want to be breathing the resin fumes. Otherwise, it's a simple matter of a lot of labor and not a lot of money. Messy, yucky, tedious labor.

Random tips: If you can, add encapsulated supports accross the bottom of the biggest expanses of floor to make it stiffer. Be sure to encapsulate the stringers and such while you have the floor out too. Make sure all the limber holes are glassed properly. Be prepared for a little less speed. The boat is going to weigh more when you are done.

[BroadHopper]

I'm assuming you are replacing a wood floor. If that is the case this is what I did.

I ripped out the old floor without tearing it up so that I can use it as a template. I filled in all the old screw holes with epoxy so that the water does not rot out the bannisters.

I purchase fiberglass sheets to replace the wood floors. You can purchase them from Overton's. They are a lot lighter than wood and you can cut them with ordinary wood tools. I fasten them down with epoxy and stainless steel screws.

Instead of putting new carpeting down where I tear out the old one, I took the boat to a tuffliner dealer and he covered the floor with a gray liner. It looks so professional and sharp!

The fiberglass sheets at the time were actually chaeaper than marine plywood, but the difference was eaten up with the tuffliner method. It was more expensive than marine carpeting. However the tuffliner is a lot easier to take care off and it is not slippery at all when your feet are wet. :D

[On The Edge]

Hi

I was going to remove the wooden deck in my boat and someone pointed me to these composite marine products.

http://www.plasteak.com

http://www.kingplastic.com/Products

Good luck

O T E

[Mee-n-Mac]

Hi

I was going to remove the wooden deck in my boat and someone pointed me to these composite marine products.

http://www.plasteak.com

http://www.kingplastic.com/Products

Good luck

O T E

I'm not sure that these products should be used in an unsupported horizontal deck. King starboard is basically a marine polyethylene, like a cutting board. I think it'll sag if not supported properly. Plus it's pretty dense so it'll be heavy. Same support is needed for Plasteak. I'd check very carefully with a manufacturer's rep before I used these as deck replacements.

ps - Perhaps some thin underlayment could be used under the Plasteak ? That would look great though a bit pricey perhaps !
http://www.plasteak.com/boating/plasdeck/PlasDECK%20pricing.htm

[John A. Birdsall]

I have done a couple different fiberglass boat deck replacements. In both I replaced the stringers and have not use one screw in any of it. But to do it the way I was taught you have to insure that the fiberglass bottom is free of any oil. using strips of fiberglass to tie in the stringers I also made a couple of spaces under the stringers so that water could get out. After the stringers were inplace and dry I made my 5/8" marine plywood deck, glassed on the bottom after 1st coat was dry apply second coat to bottom put it in place wet. but cinder blocks on top and allow to dry. Then seal in edges with constant sheet of fiberglass and resin allow to dry and put another layer over all deck. Sand smooth, apply even coat of resin My boat has been used like this now for five years and no problems