Interior construction question
 

Please help me identify what is underneath the bow center floor. There is a lot of flex hear at the rear where the metal trim and "step down" is. I felt under there. The wood needs some attention. But it fells like that is a larger piece under there. Any suggestions on how to repair this??
Thanks guys! See picture...http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...psngdfrwth.jpg

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Re: Interior construction question
 

[IMG] http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...psjjoxsbye.jpg [/IMG]
Also... Anyone disassembled the rear bench to remove the cushions? I found a small split, see photo, and figure I might as well have it done too. I am going to keep the bottom. Howerer the floor in the bench bottom needs replaced. Any ideas on that? I am trying to keep the cost down as much as possible so anything I can save I'm trying to. I originally though about not doing the bench back cushion but seeing as it's has a small split and has some alge staining at the base where the cushions meet I might as well. I want to remove the rear cushion and keep the bench here to replace the bottom while the cushions getting done.
[IMG] http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/...pseyf2oxt4.jpg [/IMG]

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Re: Interior construction question
 

I had the same issue with my '98 182.. The wood under there was so spongy that there was nothing for the screws that hold that trim piece to bite into. My thought was the there was probably a sheet of plywood under that entire section that was rotting away (my bow floor has a couple cracks in it and moves when you step on it). I, having no desire to remove the entire upper hull and bow liner portion of the boat just dug out some of the rotted wood, fashioned up a replacement, squirted wood glue on it, and shoved it under that spot so the trim piece has something to be screwed to.

Re: Interior construction question
 

King Starboard!:yes_grin:
I wouldn't use wood again.:shakehead:

Re: Interior construction question
 

I didn't actually fix anything other than the trim piece has something to attach to now. lol. If I actually went to all of the trouble to separate the upper hull from the lower hull to fix this I would definitely use something other than wood to replace it. :-)

Re: Interior construction question
 

95hrs how much were you able to dig out and how wide of a piece were you able to get under there an inch or two or more like three quarters of an inch? I am definitely not separating my hull to fix it

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Re: Interior construction question
 

I dug out just enough to fit in a piece of hardwood base molding the same width as the trim piece.

Re: Interior construction question
 

All I was saying is why would you want to use wood? Whether you dig it out , or split the hull , using wood again is a band aid fix at most.
Course .......... that's just my opinion.

Re: Interior construction question
 

There is no way to dig it all out, the only way to replace the entire piece is to split the hull, and as much as I love the boat, it's value and age make that not even an option, at least in my mind.

Re: Interior construction question
 

I agree it looks like it's time to get out the wood chisel and go buy a piece of PVC board and put under there the rest of that floor is pretty solid its just right there at the trim. As much as I love Mariah's it seems like a shame they put a piece of plywood under there. They could have at least sealed it with resin or something...

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Re: Interior construction question
 

Yeah, my next boat will have no wood in it's construction and will be fuel injected! lol

Re: Interior construction question
 

You could just use a vinyl patch kit for that small split. I had one on a captains chair. Used some super glue inside an touched up the outside. Hard to tell where it is now.

Interesting place for wood... I'm sure it can be fixed fairly easy though.

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Re: Interior construction question
 

As an update when I remove the trim piece and started to dig the word out I realized it was constructed as such like a sandwich:

Fiberglass floor
\ 3/8 plywood /
Thin fiberglass
\ 3/8 plywood /
Thin fiberglass

The thin fiberglass is still intact, but the wood is toast. When it was called "spongy" in a post above, the description was extremely accurate. It feels just like a sponge! It doesn't really look like plywood either. Looks like a sheet of solid wood. Not sure that was possible. I am assuming it was originally plywood. So now the question is do I use 3 eighths inch plywood and keep the same much as it is or do I do away with the fiberglass layers and mount one thick piece of wood under there. I could dig out a good bit of the wood but I'm not sure that's a good idea and may weaken the center of the floor even more. Any ideas here would be greatly appreciated. Does anyone know of a squritable filler that dries very rigid but not brittle. Maybe I could dig out the wood and fill it with that.


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Re: Interior construction question
 

Start injecting.

GIT-ROT

Re: Interior construction question
 

So I am assuming the wood would have to be dry to use that I don't see any way of getting all the water out of there. All water from the anchor compartment front cooler and compartments under the bow seats runs down the carpet and that carpet runs all underneath the bow floor. So basically that wood just sits in water that never fully dries.

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Re: Interior construction question
 

Maybe chase the drain from the front cooler/anchor compartment with a snake. Sounds like it might be clogged.
If it's still wet , West Marine has a epoxy that still works wet.
I'll see if I can come up with a part number for you. :)

Re: Interior construction question
 

See what you think about this.

Re: Interior construction question
 

I haven't used it , but it has very good reviews in most of the boating world.:)

Re: Interior construction question
 

From what I have found........ drill a 1/16"-1/8" hole every 6" on a grid pattern and inject the substrate.
When your done , fill the remaining hole from the injection process with Marine Tex , sand , reinstall carpet , or go cool and do SeaDeck on top.:wink_thumbup:

Re: Interior construction question
 

The anchor compartment and cooler do not have drains. The bottom of the anchor compartment is the carpet that runs underneath The bow floor. Hole in the bottom of the front compartment or cooler as I call it does not have a drain tube it simply has a hole with a grommet to make it look nice that drains directly onto the carpet that runs under the bow floor. There is no room for a tube to ever have been hooked to it. That epoxy looks promising my floor however is the knurled fiberglass it never had carpet in it so I would have to patch the holes with marine Tex. That apoxie will definitely be the tickets 4 gluing in new wood reinforcement strips at the step down I managed to dig out about 3 to 4 inches of the rotten stuff so hopefully once epoxy it all back together it will give it enough strength at the step. Injecting the other epoxy seems like the ticket if it would stop the wood from rotting or at least take its place I guess. I am wondering will I actually be able to inject it in the wet wood.

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Re: Interior construction question
 

I'll find more info for ya on the process......... then you can make the decision.
Personally , I'd give it a shot. Worst case , cover it with the SeaDek after the injection.
I had the SeaDek on my old boat (pre Mariah) and it worked great. It's very user friendly in my opinion.

Re: Interior construction question
 

I am going to try to replace the wood in the end at the step and proably inject the rest. Not sure if it will be better or worse. I am basically going to be encapsulating the bad wood... I don't see any way to stop it at this point.

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Re: Interior construction question
 

Update... Well I pulled the trigger on the repair. I dug out what I could of the bad wood gave it several weeks to dry, then injected epoxy into what I could at the end. Squirted and some gap filling epoxy in there then coated the new waterproof boards with epoxy and squeezed them in the holes and screwed it all back together. It seems pretty solid and the epoxy definitely filled all the gaps so hopefully I am at least back to a solid piece at the rear where it really matters...

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