• Welcome to the Checkmate Community Forums forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and access to our other FREE features.
    By joining our free community you will be able to:

    » Interact with over 10,000 Checkmate Fanatics from around the world!
    » Post topics and messages
    » Post and view photos
    » Communicate privately with other members
    » Access our extensive gallery of old Checkmate brochures located in our Media Gallery
    » Browse the various pictures in our Checkmate photo gallery

    Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support by clicking here or by using the"contact us" link at the bottom of the page.

Need Some Input

undecided

undecided

Active member
Last year my Passenger seat ripped out of the floor board. The wood was very moist and we hit a big wave and the seat pulled out.

During the winter my mechanic found that the drain from the front of the boat (under the cabin) was clogged. We rectified that problem but I afraid that the flooring under the seats is starting to deteriorate. The shop I consulted said it a major project.

I was thinking about cutting a piece of 3/4 plywood about 2ft X width of the floor and screw that down, cover it with carpet, then I would have a solid area to screw the seats back down. Looks???

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Hello Undecided. Your floor is definitely compromised as most older boats probably are and it is a pretty big job. You can patch what you have to get you through the season but it's only going to spread and get worse.

Are you fairly handy with a saw and fiberglass? If so you'll find a lot of support on this forum to help you through it.
 
I had the same problem with a 97 Pulsare. Damp floor for years and it softened. I was driving along at a normal speed. Maybe 50mph and hit a slight wave and the seat went back. I didn't ware a lanyard beck then. You should have seen me scrambling to get back to the controls. Needless to say I always ware one now. I had the same Idea as you. Cut maybe a 2 ft square piece of plywood and screw it down over floor and then seat onto that. I never got that far as I filled the holes with epoxy and bolted down into that. MY idea stunk. Ha. I like your Idea as a simple solution but I would hesitate going close to top speed with any potential problem this seat thing poses. And lets face it we like to go fast. Good luck with your fix.
 
On my Eluder the bolt holes ripped out, but it was only the top round piece of plywood that was ruined, so I built another one, put some new nut inserts on the back of it and fiberglassed it down to the floor.

On my current Enchanter I know the floor needs to be replaced, and the passenger seat ripped out. For temporary use this year (until I can put in a new floor), I got a sheet of plywood, and cut out holes for the seat pedestals and laid the entire sheet in there. I even cut a hole for the ski locker and moved the ski locker cover up into the plywood. Then, for the passenger seat I built a seat box that screws into the plywood. With the whole sheet in there, the floor is continuous and smooth. I didn't bother carpeting it.
 
undecided said:
I afraid that the flooring under the seats is starting to deteriorate. The shop I consulted said it a major project.

I was thinking about cutting a piece of 3/4 plywood about 2ft X width of the floor and screw that down, cover it with carpet, then I would have a solid area to screw the seats back down.
Click to expand...
It's probably more than the floor that's starting to deteriorate.

What you're proposing is a short term solution to a problem. Just more you will eventually need to tear out when the stringers go.

If you love the boat, do it right and tear it out until you find good/solid wood. and go from there. Yeah, it's a MAJOR project. My only experience is replacing the floor in my old 22' Sylvan. And that didn't involve a lot of cutting things out (just drilling out rivets and cutting/fitting new plywood). If you don't want to do the work yourself, there are a number of good (and not so good) places that can do it for you. Including the factory.
 
Hack said:
It's probably more than the floor that's starting to deteriorate.

What you're proposing is a short term solution to a problem. Just more you will eventually need to tear out when the stringers go.

If you love the boat, do it right and tear it out until you find good/solid wood. and go from there. Yeah, it's a MAJOR project. My only experience is replacing the floor in my old 22' Sylvan. And that didn't involve a lot of cutting things out (just drilling out rivets and cutting/fitting new plywood). If you don't want to do the work yourself, there are a number of good (and not so good) places that can do it for you. Including the factory.
Click to expand...

That's what I was afraid of, but I already have "22ft Fever" so I was going to do the plywood fix, and hope that it holds for the summer.

Then start shopping for a new one this winter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top