Please let me know what you think about my questions in the original
post. Thanks.

----------------------- Original Post -----------------------

The core of the deck of my small center console is totally wet and
rotten. I am thinking of taking this opportunity to make the whole
deck removable. I mentioned the other reasons of doing this at the
bottom of this message.

I come across an article in continuouswaves.com where it describes a
boat owner replaced the rotten wood in a removable deck with new
marine
plywood. I think replacing the deck with marine plywood probably is
easier for me because the plywood is flat to begin with and I can
glass
it on a flat table. And make the deck removable will help me to do
any
work under the deck. And as long as the deck is open up, I can add
structural bracing under the deck to support a large unsupported deck
area.

I am planning to cut the console from the deck and remove it. I will
cut out the old deck to remove the rotten core and my "mistakes", and
only leave 4" wide band of the deck near the gunwale. I will add
structure to support the edge of the deck and also I will screw the
deck into the added structure. I will use 3 layers of 1/4" marine
plywood to form the new deck, glass it, and place it over where the
old
deck was, and allow its edge to butt against the gunwale, and then
screw the new deck to the frame.

I have some questions though:

o Currently, the old deck is integrated with both the left and
right
gunwale in one piece. I am wondering whether the old deck may be
holding the boat together to prevent the sides of the boat from
spreading outward. If this is the case, I will have to leave some of
the old deck in place to hold the boat together. I hope not, and I
have a feeling that it doesn't. But I don't have enough experience
in
how a boat generally comes together. Therefore, I would like to hear
what other people may say.

o How many layer of fiberglass that we should put on top and on the
bottom of the new deck? As mentioned above, the new deck is going to
be composed of three layers of 1/4" marine plywood. If I am going to
use core material, I will use 4-to-5 layers of fiberglass on top, and
1-to-2 layers on the bottom. Is this number of fiberglass also
applicable in using marine plywood as core?

o How do we deal with the edge of the plywood when we are laying
fiberglass? Should we wrap the fiberglass around the edge from the
top
to the bottom? Or should we not wrap the edge and simply treat the
edge with thickened epoxy?

o Did anyone try this before? How did it go? Any tip?

Thanks in advance for any info.


Reasons of making the whole deck removable (you can skip this section
if you don't want to know):

o I was trying to remove the rotten core, and replace it with new
core
material. But I made some mistakes in mixing the epoxy, and now I
need
to undo the repair. Seem like cutting away the deck (the mistake) is
easier than trying to scrape the epoxy from the inner skin of the
deck.

o The repair that I have made is kind of sagging. The reason is
that
I need to replace the core of a large area of the deck, and that area
doesn't have anything to support it from below, and there is no
access
to the underside of the deck to add support to it. That's why the
area
became sagged when I put new core material and epoxy on it. When I
look at it, I just don't like it.

o The sagged area is going to be tough to fair it flat, and is going
to cost me money to fill the sagged area.

o This will be nice to make the deck removable; then if I need to
replace the fuel tank or fuel hose, I don't need to cut the deck open
again.

o I need to remove two boxy structures near the stern, and cover
the
areas with deck. That is for adding a kicker motor later on. This
means I am getting further and further away from the original deck
layout anyway. I may take this opportunity to do a major makeover.

o I need to move the console slightly backward to enlarge the area
for the bench in front of the console in order to make room for a
portable toilet (I will put it right under the bench seat). Again, I
am getting further and further away from the original deck layout
anyway. I may as well do a makeover of the deck.

Jay Chan

Jay Chan wrote:
Please let me know what you think about my questions in the original
post. Thanks.

** Jay, I'll post a few comments here; probably more later.. It's
Midnight here in Africa..
A (Few?) basic questions:
- How big is the boat? Length/Beam?
- Outboard, right??
- Is the whole hull glass/plastic?
- Is the transom sound?
- I picture an open boat where you walk on the "Deck" which is low in
the boat. Right? I might call that a "floor". Do I have the right
picture?? Got a camera?? :-)
- How does the existing deck connect to the hull? Side/Bottom? Or an
inner wall section?
- Does the center console sit on glassed-wood stringers or braces on
the hull bottom, or was it suspended by the deck?
- Um, Fresh Water or Salt? Mostly...

----------------------- Original Post -----------------------

The core of the deck of my small center console is totally wet and
rotten. I am thinking of taking this opportunity to make the whole
deck removable.
...snip

I will use 3 layers of 1/4" marine
plywood to form the new deck, glass it, and place it over where the old
deck was, and allow its edge to butt against the gunwale, and then
screw the new deck to the frame.

** I've built and rebuilt frames and floors, using wood, plywood,
glass cloth and West Epoxy.
I'm sure you can do this, with some planning.. I think you need to
get the old deck pulled out before you make any decisions; you may
find surprises. Hopefully no squirrels, like I did :-)

Currently, the old deck is integrated with both the left and
right gunwale in one piece.
**?? Is the "Gunwale" an inner wall, separate from the hull side??
Hmmm..

**?? How close is the "deck" level to the outer chine level?

If this is the case, I will have to leave some of
the old deck in place to hold the boat together. I hope not, and I
have a feeling that it doesn't. But I don't have enough experience in
how a boat generally comes together. Therefore, I would like to hear
what other people may say.
**Hmmmm

How many layer of fiberglass that we should put on top and on the
bottom of the new deck? As mentioned above, the new deck is going to
be composed of three layers of 1/4" marine plywood.
** Why are you using 3 layers of plywood? If you do, how will they be
attached to each other?

If I am going to use core material, I will use 4-to-5 layers of fiberglass on top, and
1-to-2 layers on the bottom. Is this number of fiberglass also
applicable in using marine plywood as core?
** That seems like a lot of layers for a 3/4 inch thick 'deck'. You
should be using some bracing strips, maybe glassed in, for stiffness
of the deck... I think..

How do we deal with the edge of the plywood when we are laying
fiberglass? Should we wrap the fiberglass around the edge from the
top to the bottom? Or should we not wrap the edge and simply treat the
edge with thickened epoxy?
** I would round over the edges about a 1/4" radius and wrap the glass
top to bottom. Wet the end grain a couple of times with epoxy, let it
harden, and sand before any glass. You want zero voids in the end
grain or water will getcha again...

Did anyone try this before? How did it go? Any tip?
** If this is the "floor" AKA "part you walk around on" in an open
center console boat, yes, I've used unglassed 5/8" Plywood and glassed
1/2" plywood, with a maximum unsupported span of about 2 feet.
Similar construction for the roof of my Cuddy Cabin boat, and it's
"Front Deck". 2 Layers of glass/epoxy. Good bracing. Very solid
feeling...


Thanks in advance for any info.

** I think I would consider making the "deck" removeable for sure.
But I think I'd make it in two or more sections, not one piece. If the
joining lines are on a nice solid frame piece, it will be strong, with
lots of stainless screws..

Aside: I did not make the floor inside my cabin removeable,
originally. I recently cut it out with a sabre saw, and made a new
removeable section, after I had some rot in the original just-painted
1/2" plywood. After 26 years...

Hope some others will add their opinions. I have a few unorthodox
materials opinions and rot-prevention opinions, but I won't cloud
things yet...

Jay Chan

Regards, Terry King ...On The Mediterranean in Carthage

Thanks for your comments. Please see my responses highlighted with
**J**

On Jan 30, 6:19 pm, " wrote:
Jay Chan wrote:
Please let me know what you think about my questions in the original
post. Thanks.

** Jay, I'll post a few comments here; probably more later.. It's
Midnight here in Africa..
A (Few?) basic questions:
- How big is the boat? Length/Beam?
- Outboard, right??
- Is the whole hull glass/plastic?
- Is the transom sound?
- I picture an open boat where you walk on the "Deck" which is low in
the boat. Right? I might call that a "floor". Do I have the right
picture?? Got a camera?? :-)
- How does the existing deck connect to the hull? Side/Bottom? Or an
inner wall section?
- Does the center console sit on glassed-wood stringers or braces on
the hull bottom, or was it suspended by the deck?
- Um, Fresh Water or Salt? Mostly...

**J**

It is 18-ft with 7-ft beam, and it is a very typical center console.

It has a 115hp outboard.

The whole hull is fiberglass with wood structural members. The bottom
of the hull is solid fiberglass. I don't know if the side of the hull
is solid or cored. The deck is cored.

The transom is sound. The rottened core of the deck is not directly
connected to the transom (they are separated by a solid fiberglass
area).

Your picture of the deck being lower than the gunwale is correct. OK,
I will use the term "floor" to describe the deck. I have a page of
the boat in my web site he
http://www.geocities.com/jaykchan/index.htm

The existing floor is seamlessly connected to the side of the
gunwhale, and the floor is supported by wood stringers. There are
still rooms under the floor that I am considering using the space for
storage. The gunwhale is hollow with spaces that I may mount fishing
rods, speakers and such. I guess this probably means that the floor
is not structural and is not holding the side of the hull together.

The floor is not anchored permenantly on the wood stringers. They are
separated. I mean the floor is simply resting on the wood stringers
but not fastened to the stringers. Seem like the floor is simply
being held in place by the connection to the side of the hull. I
guess this also means that the floor is not structural, and I should
be able to replace the floor without hurting the structure of the
boat.

The center console is resting directly on the wood stringers, and is
not connected to the floor. I am not quite sure how the center
console is being attached to the wood stringers though.

The boat is a salt water boat. But it is left on a trailer. I guess
this helps a bit.

----------------------- Original Post -----------------------

The core of the deck of my small center console is totally wet and
rotten. I am thinking of taking this opportunity to make the whole
deck removable.

..snip

I will use 3 layers of 1/4" marine
plywood to form the new deck, glass it, and place it over where the old
deck was, and allow its edge to butt against the gunwale, and then
screw the new deck to the frame.

** I've built and rebuilt frames and floors, using wood, plywood,
glass cloth and West Epoxy.
I'm sure you can do this, with some planning.. I think you need to
get the old deck pulled out before you make any decisions; you may
find surprises. Hopefully no squirrels, like I did :-)

**J**
I will definitely make the final decision after I have cut the old
floor out. I don't think there will be any squirrel in the boat
because I have several nice/warm compost piles in my backyard that I
think will be more appealing than the cold/hard fiberglass boat;
moreover, I have a chimney that the squirrels also may find very
appealing (one did).

Currently, the old deck is integrated with both the left and
right gunwale in one piece.

**?? Is the "Gunwale" an inner wall, separate from the hull side??
Hmmm..

**J**
The gunwale is hollow. The inner side of the gunwale connects to the
floor, and the outer side connecting to the side of the hull. I have
a feeling that the hull is made in one piece from one mold, and the
gunwale/floor combo is made in one piece from another mold. And then
they are attached together like this (please use fixed-spacing font
like Courier to view the line art):

Gunwale/floor combo:

/----\ /----\
| | | |
| |
| |
|----------------------------|

|
| Attached to
V
Hull:

| |
| |
\ /
\ /
\ /
\--------\ /--------/
\ /
\--------/

**?? How close is the "deck" level to the outer chine level?

**J**
I figure the floor is probably 4 to 5 inches above the chine level.

If this is the case, I will have to leave some of
the old deck in place to hold the boat together. I hope not, and I
have a feeling that it doesn't. But I don't have enough experience in
how a boat generally comes together. Therefore, I would like to hear
what other people may say.

**Hmmmm

How many layer of fiberglass that we should put on top and on the
bottom of the new deck? As mentioned above, the new deck is going to
be composed of three layers of 1/4" marine plywood.

** Why are you using 3 layers of plywood? If you do, how will they be
attached to each other?

**J**
I get that idea by reading the guy in www.continuouswave.com who
replaced his rotten deck with 3 layers of 1/4" plywood all glued
together using thickened epoxy. His idea of using 3 thin layers
instead of 2 thicker layers is to be able to stack the joint. I guess
if I can find one large piece of marine plywood, I will be able to use
one thick layer instead of 3 thin layers. But I have a feeling that I
may have a problem locating one large piece of marine plywood. The
mail order houses seem to only ship in small pieces. I guess this is
about time for me to look for a mail order house that can ship one
large piece of plywood.

If I am going to use core material, I will use 4-to-5 layers of fiberglass on top, and
1-to-2 layers on the bottom. Is this number of fiberglass also
applicable in using marine plywood as core?

** That seems like a lot of layers for a 3/4 inch thick 'deck'. You
should be using some bracing strips, maybe glassed in, for stiffness
of the deck... I think..

**J**
Your idea of using bracing strips is good. Actually the rear deck
area of the boat is totally under-braced and I should add additional
bracing in there anyway. Let me ask you a quesion: Let say we have
added additional bracing to make sure the bracing strips are not more
than 2-ft apart, and we use 3/4" marine plywood (in one piece or in 3
thin layers combined). How many layers of fiberglass would you
recommend?

I know that you will recommend using 2 layers of fiberglass if I use
1/2" marine plywood instead of 3/4" because you have mentioned this
below.

How do we deal with the edge of the plywood when we are laying
fiberglass? Should we wrap the fiberglass around the edge from the
top to the bottom? Or should we not wrap the edge and simply treat the
edge with thickened epoxy?

** I would round over the edges about a 1/4" radius and wrap the glass
top to bottom. Wet the end grain a couple of times with epoxy, let it
harden, and sand before any glass. You want zero voids in the end
grain or water will getcha again...

**J**
Thanks for the good tip. I will follow this when I get to that point.

Did anyone try this before? How did it go? Any tip?

** If this is the "floor" AKA "part you walk around on" in an open
center console boat, yes, I've used unglassed 5/8" Plywood and glassed
1/2" plywood, with a maximum unsupported span of about 2 feet.
Similar construction for the roof of my Cuddy Cabin boat, and it's
"Front Deck". 2 Layers of glass/epoxy. Good bracing. Very solid
feeling...

**J**
Great to know this! This means 1/2" or 5/8" plywood is a viable
alternative to 3/4" thick plywood. Good, less thick means lower
weight. And I will use 2 layers of fiberglass/epoxy -- may be 3 (just
to be in the safe side)...

Thanks in advance for any info.

** I think I would consider making the "deck" removeable for sure.
But I think I'd make it in two or more sections, not one piece. If the
joining lines are on a nice solid frame piece, it will be strong, with
lots of stainless screws..

**J**
I have the same feeling too. I will be making the floor in multiple
small sections instead of one giant piece. A small piece is easier to
handle than a giant piece anyway.

Aside: I did not make the floor inside my cabin removeable,
originally. I recently cut it out with a sabre saw, and made a new
removeable section, after I had some rot in the original just-painted
1/2" plywood. After 26 years...

Hope some others will add their opinions. I have a few unorthodox
materials opinions and rot-prevention opinions, but I won't cloud
things yet...

Jay Chan

Regards, Terry King ...On The Mediterranean in Carthage

**J**
Enjoy your stay in Mediterranean, and I look forward to hear your
advice -- orthodox or unorthodox.

Jay Chan

On Jan 31, 7:51 pm, "Jay Chan" wrote:
...snip

It is 18-ft with 7-ft beam, and it is a very typical center console. It has a 115hp outboard.
The whole hull is fiberglass with wood structural members. The bottom
of the hull is solid fiberglass.
I have a page of the boat in my web site he http://www.geocities.com/jaykchan/index.htm

**T* Jay, could you email me a photo at ??
Sigh..
- You are on GeoCities
- One or more of the 1000's on Geocity said something about the
president of the Country I am in.
- Geocities.com is "Impossible de trouver la page" in this country


The existing floor is seamlessly connected to the side of the
gunwhale, and the floor is supported by wood stringers.

The floor is not anchored permanently on the wood stringers.

The center console is resting directly on the wood stringers, and is
not connected to the floor. I am not quite sure how the center
console is being attached to the wood stringers though.
....
**J**
The gunwale is hollow. The inner side of the gunwale connects to the
floor, and the outer side connecting to the side of the hull. I have
a feeling that the hull is made in one piece from one mold, and the
gunwale/floor combo is made in one piece from another mold.
And then they are attached together like this (please use fixed-spacing font
like Courier to view the line art):

Gunwale/floor combo:

/----\ /----\
| | | |
| |
| |
|----------------------------|

|
| Attached to
V
Hull:

| |
| |
\ /
\ /
\ /
\--------\ /--------/
\ /
\--------/

**T* OK, that's what I thought. Yes, this boat is made by making the
hull in one mold, adding some wood/glass supports to the hull, and
making the top/gunwhale/inside-sides/floor in another mold, and mating
the two pieces together.

** Why are you using 3 layers of plywood? If you do, how will they be attached to each other?

**J**
I get that idea by reading the guy in www.continuouswave.com who
replaced his rotten deck with 3 layers of 1/4" plywood all glued
together using thickened epoxy. His idea of using 3 thin layers
instead of 2 thicker layers is to be able to stack the joint. I guess
if I can find one large piece of marine plywood, I will be able to use
one thick layer instead of 3 thin layers. But I have a feeling that I
may have a problem locating one large piece of marine plywood. The
mail order houses seem to only ship in small pieces. I guess this is
about time for me to look for a mail order house that can ship one
large piece of plywood.
,,snip..

**T* OK, that's a method of making 'long' plywood.. But, since you
don't NEED
long plywood, and the 'floor' is not hull-structural, there are other
possibilities..

**T* Blasphemous-according-to-some idea: I have used higher-grade
Pressure-Treated plywood for some boat sections. I scrubbed it down
hard with detergent, dried it inside, then supported it in the sun for
a few days before (carefully with mask) cutting / epoxying it. The
off-boat samples I did seem to have fine adhesion..
If I had to replace that floor right now, I'd use pressure-treated 1/2
- 5/8 or 3/4 plywood (depending on the span and springiness you can
accept.). Adding 3 layers of glass on top (to survive another 20
years of foot traffic) and one or two on the bottom will make it a lot
stiffer. I bet 1/2" with all that glass would be fine. Consider
using a colorant in the last 2 top layers, and never paint it!

Major part of the work is to assess and repair and add the floor
stringers so that the floor both has adequate support AND has good
places for the floor joints. Since the floor is not structural and
will not have any tension loading you don't need much in the way of
attachment except you don't want it moving / vibrating underway.
Stainless steel screws are OK as long as you do NOT paint them in
place or bury them in glass. Turns out Stainless needs Oxygen to keep
it's corrosion resistance! I'd use countersunk (epoxy over the raw
edge) holes and those square-drive BeaverBite screws, myself. Then the
floor sections are removeable. I'd want to remove them every year or
two to clean everything and check the stringers etc.

AND the stringers! Better get a good look at them and see if any have
gotten wet or got any rot.

Look at:
Epoxy Knowhow and
Chemotherapy for Rot
at: http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/davecarnell/
(Hopefully your local government hasn't Fired the Angels)

Second Point of Blasphemy: I have a few wood areas in my current boat
(28 years) that have some rot, but are pretty sound still, and are
mostly encapsulated in Glass. Now they have several 1/4" holes it the
topmost point and get a yearly dose of DaveC. Stable, no changes, no
evidence of any biological activity, after 5 to 8 years of this. And
a LOT less toxic than the PentaChlor I used to get at the Marina. Yup,
PCP! No longer available.. The "Penetrating Epoxy" I used earlier
on rot worked. Until it rotted all AROUND it! :-(

I think you can handle this well, once you get into it... I agree you
should pull the console, mainly to get a look at its stringers.

Your idea of using bracing strips is good. Actually the rear deck
area of the boat is totally under-braced and I should add additional
bracing in there anyway. Let me ask you a quesion: Let say we have
added additional bracing to make sure the bracing strips are not more
than 2-ft apart, and we use 3/4" marine plywood (in one piece or in 3
thin layers combined).
**T* Stringers: Mahogany is great stuff, but getting hard to find and
expensive. I used Cedar Flooring on edge for some floor stringers and
cabin roof stringers. And the epoxy-on-cedar looks real nice in the
cabin...

How many layers of fiberglass would you recommend?

I know that you will recommend using 2 layers of fiberglass if I use
1/2" marine plywood instead of 3/4" because you have mentioned this
below.

**T* Sounds good. You COULD test a floor section after N layers of
glass to see how stiff it was...
...snip

**J**
Great to know this! This means 1/2" or 5/8" plywood is a viable
alternative to 3/4" thick plywood. Good, less thick means lower
weight. And I will use 2 layers of fiberglass/epoxy -- may be 3 (just
to be in the safe side)...

** I think I would consider making the "deck" removeable for sure.


**J**
I have the same feeling too. I will be making the floor in multiple
small sections instead of one giant piece. A small piece is easier to
handle than a giant piece anyway.

**T* Hope someone else will comment; I know some of you guys have done
a lot; I have only done what I've done, on 2 boats.... Terry


Jay Chan

Please see my response in ****J****

On Feb 1, 4:46 am, " wrote:
On Jan 31, 7:51 pm, "Jay Chan" wrote:
..snip

It is 18-ft with 7-ft beam, and it is a very typical center console. It has a 115hp outboard.
The whole hull is fiberglass with wood structural members. The bottom
of the hull is solid fiberglass.
I have a page of the boat in my web site hehttp://www.geocities.com/jaykchan/index.htm

**T* Jay, could you email me a photo at ??
Sigh..
- You are on GeoCities
- One or more of the 1000's on Geocity said something about the
president of the Country I am in.
- Geocities.com is "Impossible de trouver la page" in this country

****J****
I didn't know that having a web site in geosities.com this can be a
problem to you. OK, I will email some pictures to you when I get back
home.

The existing floor is seamlessly connected to the side of the
gunwhale, and the floor is supported by wood stringers.
The floor is not anchored permanently on the wood stringers.
The center console is resting directly on the wood stringers, and is
not connected to the floor. I am not quite sure how the center
console is being attached to the wood stringers though.
...
**J**
The gunwale is hollow. The inner side of the gunwale connects to the
floor, and the outer side connecting to the side of the hull. I have
a feeling that the hull is made in one piece from one mold, and the
gunwale/floor combo is made in one piece from another mold.
And then they are attached together like this (please use fixed-spacing font
like Courier to view the line art):
Gunwale/floor combo:

/----\ /----\
| | | |
| |
| |
|----------------------------|

|
| Attached to
V
Hull:

| |
| |
\ /
\ /
\ /
\--------\ /--------/
\ /
\--------/

**T* OK, that's what I thought. Yes, this boat is made by making the
hull in one mold, adding some wood/glass supports to the hull, and
making the top/gunwhale/inside-sides/floor in another mold, and mating
the two pieces together.

****J****
Thanks for the confirmation. This means the floor is not structural,
and I should not have a structural problem when I remove the floor.

** Why are you using 3 layers of plywood? If you do, how will they be attached to each other?

**J**
I get that idea by reading the guy inwww.continuouswave.comwho
replaced his rotten deck with 3 layers of 1/4" plywood all glued
together using thickened epoxy. His idea of using 3 thin layers
instead of 2 thicker layers is to be able to stack the joint. I guess
if I can find one large piece of marine plywood, I will be able to use
one thick layer instead of 3 thin layers. But I have a feeling that I
may have a problem locating one large piece of marine plywood. The
mail order houses seem to only ship in small pieces. I guess this is
about time for me to look for a mail order house that can ship one
large piece of plywood.

,,snip..

**T* OK, that's a method of making 'long' plywood.. But, since you
don't NEED
long plywood, and the 'floor' is not hull-structural, there are other
possibilities..

****J****
I see. This means I may be able to use one layer of marine plywood
instead of glueing three layers together -- that is as long as I can
find the piece that is wide enough to cover the width of the boat (I
try to avoid having too many screws right in the middle of the floor,
and I prefer the screws to be near the edge of the floor). This
should reduce my time in preparing the floor replacement. Thanks!

**T* Blasphemous-according-to-some idea: I have used higher-grade
Pressure-Treated plywood for some boat sections. I scrubbed it down
hard with detergent, dried it inside, then supported it in the sun for
a few days before (carefully with mask) cutting / epoxying it. The
off-boat samples I did seem to have fine adhesion..
If I had to replace that floor right now, I'd use pressure-treated 1/2
- 5/8 or 3/4 plywood (depending on the span and springiness you can
accept.). Adding 3 layers of glass on top (to survive another 20
years of foot traffic) and one or two on the bottom will make it a lot
stiffer. I bet 1/2" with all that glass would be fine. Consider
using a colorant in the last 2 top layers, and never paint it!

****J****
I will hesistate to use pressure treated plywood. The pressure
treated plywoods available in home centers around here look really bad
-- all warped and full of voids and really wet. I think I will pay
the extra and order marine plywood. The pressure treated solid woods
in home center look more promising, and I may use them as stringers
_if_ somehow I can get them to dry in time for the repair, and this
can be a problem.

I will paint the glassed surface because I need to put on a non-skid
surface on the floor. And I need to make sure that I have a layer of
finish on the epoxy surface to prevent water from getting through the
epoxy layer.

Major part of the work is to assess and repair and add the floor
stringers so that the floor both has adequate support AND has good
places for the floor joints. Since the floor is not structural and
will not have any tension loading you don't need much in the way of
attachment except you don't want it moving / vibrating underway.
Stainless steel screws are OK as long as you do NOT paint them in
place or bury them in glass. Turns out Stainless needs Oxygen to keep
it's corrosion resistance! I'd use countersunk (epoxy over the raw
edge) holes and those square-drive BeaverBite screws, myself. Then the
floor sections are removeable. I'd want to remove them every year or
two to clean everything and check the stringers etc.

AND the stringers! Better get a good look at them and see if any have
gotten wet or got any rot.

Look at:
Epoxy Knowhow and
Chemotherapy for Rot
at:http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/davecarnell/
(Hopefully your local government hasn't Fired the Angels)

Second Point of Blasphemy: I have a few wood areas in my current boat
(28 years) that have some rot, but are pretty sound still, and are
mostly encapsulated in Glass. Now they have several 1/4" holes it the
topmost point and get a yearly dose of DaveC. Stable, no changes, no
evidence of any biological activity, after 5 to 8 years of this. And
a LOT less toxic than the PentaChlor I used to get at the Marina. Yup,
PCP! No longer available.. The "Penetrating Epoxy" I used earlier
on rot worked. Until it rotted all AROUND it! :-(

I think you can handle this well, once you get into it... I agree you
should pull the console, mainly to get a look at its stringers.

****J****
Thanks for reminding me to check the stringers. This makes perfect
sense to check them while I have the floor cut open. I will focus on
the stringers under the area where the T-top anchored on the floor and
where the water went through and rotted the core.
Thanks for pointing out that I should not paint over stainless steel
screws. I didn't know that, and I was thinking of painting over
them. What you said also explains the reason why people need to
remove stainless steel staplers after using them to fix something in
place temporarily -- I was wondering about why not just epoxy the
staplers over.

Your idea of using bracing strips is good. Actually the rear deck
area of the boat is totally under-braced and I should add additional
bracing in there anyway. Let me ask you a quesion: Let say we have
added additional bracing to make sure the bracing strips are not more
than 2-ft apart, and we use 3/4" marine plywood (in one piece or in 3
thin layers combined).

**T* Stringers: Mahogany is great stuff, but getting hard to find and
expensive. I used Cedar Flooring on edge for some floor stringers and
cabin roof stringers. And the epoxy-on-cedar looks real nice in the
cabin...

****J****
Sorry to hear that mahogany is in short supply. I guess I will just
have to get whatever marine wood is available and don't worry about if
they are mahogany or not. Or I will stock up on pressure treated
solid woods and wait for them to dry (probably not).

How many layers of fiberglass would you recommend?

I know that you will recommend using 2 layers of fiberglass if I use
1/2" marine plywood instead of 3/4" because you have mentioned this
below.

**T* Sounds good. You COULD test a floor section after N layers of
glass to see how stiff it was...
..snip

**J**
Great to know this! This means 1/2" or 5/8" plywood is a viable
alternative to 3/4" thick plywood. Good, less thick means lower
weight. And I will use 2 layers of fiberglass/epoxy -- may be 3 (just
to be in the safe side)...
** I think I would consider making the "deck" removeable for sure.

**J**
I have the same feeling too. I will be making the floor in multiple
small sections instead of one giant piece. A small piece is easier to
handle than a giant piece anyway.

**T* Hope someone else will comment; I know some of you guys have done
a lot; I have only done what I've done, on 2 boats.... Terry

Yours is two boats more experience than mine.

Glad to learn from you.

Jay Chan