Starlet FS - floor replacement

[Practical Magic]

I am the proud owner of a 1988 Starlet FS. The floor was showing signs of softness when I bought the boat 1 1/2 years ago. Before I put the boat back in the water this year, I am going to fix the rotted floor.

I have removed all the interior and pulled up the carpet in the bow area. The floor in the bow area (under the bow seats) and the walkway from the bow to the in-hull storage area needs replacing.

Any tips on how to accomplish and the proper way to do the job? Do I remove the bad wood all the way to where the floor meets the hull? Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. I plan to actually start removal the weekend of Feb. 18-20.

I'll get some pics of the floor in its current condition and try to get them posted.

Thanks in advance!

[Practical Magic]

I am the proud owner of a 1988 Starlet FS. The floor was showing signs of softness when I bought the boat 1 1/2 years ago. Before I put the boat back in the water this year, I am going to fix the rotted floor.

I have removed all the interior and pulled up the carpet in the bow area. The floor in the bow area (under the bow seats) and the walkway from the bow to the in-hull storage area needs replacing.

Any tips on how to accomplish and the proper way to do the job? Do I remove the bad wood all the way to where the floor meets the hull? Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. I plan to actually start removal the weekend of Feb. 18-20.

I'll get some pics of the floor in its current condition and try to get them posted.

Thanks in advance!

[Practical Magic]

Does anyone have any helpful suggestions on the floor repair I mentioned in the above post?

Thanks,
Practical Magic

[Convincor283]

Yes, first remove the wood all the way to the hull, 2nd grind any fiberglass you plan to glass to with 16 grit sand/grind disk, 3rd put one layer of glass over the whole section of new floor and 4 layers at the edges ( 4 inchs on floor and 4 inchs on hull). 4th use regular plywood dont use treated, glass wont stick to it.5th I have always used polyester resin and in 15 years it has never failed me, but some people like epoxy,the boat was built with polyester resin ( polyester is much cheaper $). Hope this helps.

[jrs1958]

Use fiberglass mat, not cloth on the first layer against the wood. Sand the bare wood to rough it up a little. Buy a fiberglass roller to roll out the air between layers. Do both sides of the wood and resin the edges. Put at least 2 layers of mat on each side and use Duraglass or Kitty Hair to fill the small gaps between the wood and the hull. Re-enforce corners with mat first, then cloth. If you wait longer than 24 hours between applying layers of mat/cloth you have to sand the surface with 40 grit to remove the hard wax coating that forms during curing, unless you use laminating resin which doesn’t form a hard wax coating.

1984 Predictor 1968 Mercury 1250SS I-6 125 HP

[daren34]

you should ude epoxy resin to repair thefloor
the reason the use polyester resin building is that it shrinks and will pop out of the mould