water in sub floor

[badassb]

how do i tell if i have water in the sub floor
without ripping the floor up

[illMATTic]

out the plug in and tip the boat all the wayback so the bow is in the air. after a day or so pull the plug. im sure you will see some brown water pour out. this water is soaked up be the foam under the floor. i dont think there is any way to get this all out. if bakedgoods kept it covered and tipped it up to kept it dry, it may be dry in there.

if a boat is stored outside with no cover, like mine was, the wood floor will be soaked with moisture and need to be replaced in the future. all this stored moisture can add an xtra 100 lbs.

i could be way off on this. im sure mark will correct me if i am. http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif

[badassb]

baked always kept a cockpit cover on it and so do i
was on wixom most of the day yesterday when i pulled the plug out at the ramp had a lot of water drain out

[illMATTic]

you will get alot more than you think getting in from the water all day. you could have a bit of a leak around your motor bolts. you can take them out 1 by 1 and re seal them with some silicon.

after a long day in the water i usualy lift it up for a day just to insure all teh water came out.

[badassb]

thanks illmattic im probly just paranoid but better safe than sorry

[illMATTic]

as long as your floor is solid, your good to go.

[JW]

IF you have water coming in around the motor mount holes, THEN you'll have a wet transom. Will need replacing eventually. ALSO check your splashwell drain. The junky brass through fittings rot with age, and expose the transom wood. Look at your through fitting carefully.

IF you have carpet in a boat, you'll hold water against the wood floor, and eventually you'll have to replace the floor.

IF you have ANY way for the water to get to the foam, then illMATTic pointed out a good way to check by draining the water out, then put the plug in, raise the bow WAY up, and then pull the plug in a couple days to look for gross yellow or brown water.

IF you have wet foam, then you are probably looking at up to 200 lbs of excess weight in saturated foam, floor, AND possibly (usually) balsa core.

IF all that is wet, it's a HUGE job. I'd just get the water out by tilting the boat way up every time I was done with it, and hope for the best.

Definitely make sure your 4 motor holes are properly sealed. I just bought a new tubing boat for my wife, and I pulled the motor loose and re-sealed the mount holes because I don't even trust the factory. I also sealed around the brass through-fitting in the splashwell. Use the good 3M 5200 sealant. Nothing better than that. The new tubing boat is all fiberglass lined, with no wood and removable carpet. I put the carpet in storage. I've got nothing to rot now!
Some day I hope Checkmate can switch away from wood transoms and flooring and balsa core and use only composites.