A thought on flooring

Homerr	What are your thoughts on setting your flooring a few degrees off level for drainage? It would make sense to me. Kind of like a concrete patio under your shed. It's recommended that a slight angle is applied to the pad for water drainage. I'm not saying place your stringers off level, that would be a bad thing. Just tilt your floor a bit. H.	2002-12-02
crab bait	how would one do that ..?? if the stringers a level.. you lay the floor to the stringers.. anyway ,, there's no need.. it isn't going' to be perfect anyway .. only takes a slight fall to get water rolling' also with the pitch & roll an the 'hang' in the back.. water on the deck wont be sitting' still.	2002-12-02
bond-o	I'm with Crabbait on this one..... When I built my semi-rigid bimini, friends told me it would hold water because I built it reasonably flat..... Guess what ? a boat Never sets level... on the trailer, in the water, Never.... when I installed my new 1/2" pressure treated plywood floor, I let it Breathe for a year (actually, ran out of time, Fishing is Much More Important).. Then coated it with epoxy,+ light weight cloth... while still "wet", I "dusted" with blast sand... when cured, I vacuumed up the remaining sand,+ painted with rustolium to seal from UV light...	2002-12-02
Homerr	I have a few high spots in my cross-members on my floor. I can sand them out I suppose, but I thought if the floor was slightly titled in those places might help the run off. Besides...Getting tired of sanding, fiberglass and otherwise... I agree, a boat never sits level anyways. Bondo... How'd the pressure treated work out? I've heard that's a no-no in the boat building process. I still need to buy plywood myself. I can't get AAX ir ABX around here easily. And go figure. I live in Oregon and 2 hours away from our largest plywood maker! I was thinking of ACX. Most of the floor will be in the cabin and below deck. None of it will be directly exposed to the elements. H.	2002-12-02
crab bait	I wouldn't do any more sanding' .. if the stringers aren't perfect,, so what.. lay the floor.. an if it has a little slope ,,all the better.. you just don't want a sharp hunk of glob here & there on the stringer tops .. it would be like laying' carpet over walnuts.. but a smooth imperfection is fine.. the sand idea is a good one.. but I hear there getting' away from that ,now.. there using' saw dust instead.. about the 'ACX' ... well, you know how I feel about the junk...	2002-12-02
Homerr	Thanks again Bait... Like I say, it's below deck anyways, and on a fishing boat. Cosmetics is the least of my worries. My goal is to have a tough, sturdy boat that I don't have to worry about running into the dock and scratching it. Kind of like having that 'old farm truck vs. your nice truck. It's nice to have both. I like my runabout for the lakes, fun and fast, but I'm always worried about scratching it. I forgot to ask... When final laying the floor down, what would you use (if any) to bed it in place? Would you mix up some resin and filler, or could you use something else like liquid nails, etc... I'd prefer the filler/resin, but I have a lot of floor to cover. I mentioned liquid nails, as the stuff bonds at the molecular level I think! (lol) Very strong stuff. Worked great in my bathroom around the tub enclosure. Thanks, H.	2002-12-02
Firewood	If I remember correctly I used ACX for my floor. It has the same glue as marine grade, same type of wood (Douglas fir). The face is "A" grade sanded and the back is "c" grade. The only difference worth mentioning is that marine grade has less voids in the middle sheets that are laminated. I wouldn't call ACX junk. I'll see if I can find the link to the break down of the plywood. I came up with this:http://www.rci-mercury.com/files/bz02046.pdf	2002-12-02
crab bait	I wouldn't use anything' but epoxy & fillers.. but since your using' all poly resin,, I guess poly & fillers.. either way,, use fillers. It's all to thin without them fillers.. I wouldn't use liquid nails ..only cause I read in 'wooden boat mag ' not to.. plus I think it's to soft.. but ask around.. acx is junk for boat building' imho.. just has to many big viods.. the only way I'd use it [ but I wouldn't] is to glue down a 1/4 in sheet floor & glue another 1/4 sheet on top .. or 3/8 on 3/8's...	2002-12-02
Homerr	Thanks Bait. As I said, this floor is all below deck. The only time it will see any weather is if I take the engine doors off, or forget to close a cabin window. If the water gets up high enough to reach the floor, then I'm already sunk! I was talking with the wood yard today, and he confirmed that it's the same glue as the marine stuff. It just has more voids like you said. The original ply that's in the port side of the boat is still in good shape. The floor that I am replacing on the starboard side rotted mainly because water came in from the flybridge thru a pipe for the controls. The factory idiots didn't bother to run this pipe all the way down to the bilge, nor did the original owner cover the boat. So anyways, if I could have found AA, or AB, I might have bought it. I can't justify marine grade since it's not going to be exposed all the time. Thanks everyone! H.	2002-12-02
bond-o	I also heard that p/t is a no-no, But, 3 years ago, I built a new 3 layer transom, glued with resorcinol... and put 1/2 on the floor... epoxied the next year... NO problems, Yet... I don't worry about the transom because there's enough hardware through it, that If the glue fails, it Still isn't going anywhere... the floor shows No sign of elimination.... of course, the stories I've read about p/t not working in boats, May have been written by authors who use.........."Polyester"......... And of course, we All know ... poly is a casting resin,+ epoxy is a bonding resin.... (just Had to Beat that horse One more time)	2002-12-02
Homerr	Yea yea yea...LOL I suppose if I was going to leave my boat in the water most of the time, I would have went with epoxy. But as it will only see constant water for about 2 to 3 months in the summer when it's moored, poly will be OK. I am going to final coat with tinted epoxy anyways. It should help. H.	2002-12-03
bond-o	You, you're going to have one hell of a boat when you're done.....I'm at your site looking at the mystery floor now.....Seems like you could turn that into usable space... I see where it may add strength, but as you are going to add bulkheads anyway... you're Lucky... your starting with a clean slate... build it anyway you like....	2002-12-03
SCO	I'm with you Bondo. We put a lot of stock in epoxy plywood for transoms together, and I'm one of the worst, but you know they don't make plywood with epoxy. Next tome I might use the plastic glue "weldwood"	2002-12-04
crab bait	they use a rescortial [ sp. is butchered] which some claim better then epoxy.. but hard to work with an not user friendly if you ever take a piece of 1/4 in. piece an break it .. you'll see black glue.. it's that said glue.. if your going' to experiment.. use a polyurethane glue [ gorilla glue ]	2002-12-04

If you would like to post your own question for the experts just click on
the Boating Forums tab at the top of the page or click here!

Disclaimer: iboats.com provides this content for the education and benefit of all boating enthusiasts.
We cannot, however, take responsibility for individual postings, nor can we verify the accuracy of any posting.
Please use any information provided from individuals with great care and read any applicable manuals or safety instructions.
Also, if you determine that a posting is inaccurate or offensive in any manner, please email us.