Replacing Floor in a 1993 Seacat...Need Some Help

[777 in SC]

I am starting the process of replacing the floor in my 21' 1993 Seacat. The current floor is 1/2 " plywood. Isn't that kinda thin? Anyway, I don't want to increase the weight if at all possible. I have been looking at the marine plywoods and the composites trying to compare and getting very confused.

What core would you use? What thickness would you use? Why?

[ggibby]

Hi,

There is an excellent "textbook" out there on the internet that you buy for about $15 that tells how to replace a floor.
Briefly, you cut the old one out. The text recommends a chain saw!! I found that a dremel tool with a disk cutting instrument worked much better, but it took a while. The wood in my floor was in pieces....

1/2" is fine. You will put about two layers of woven roving fiberglass on the top and 1 or 2 on the bottom also, and with all that fiberglas, the floor is SOLID. If you were able to get a treated plywood, that would be much better. I was able to find a treated fiberglass at Home Depot that was actually DRY and would take the epoxy glue of the fiberglass resins that I ended up using (careful: expoxy resins don't take gelcoat, so I ended up painting rather than gelcoating....). When I was finished (I had to do stringers also) I had a floor that I could JUMP on (and i'm heavy!). But it was a LOT of work. a LOT. did I mention it was a LOT of work? Our family will never forget it. A great learning experience for my three kids. I think we went through about $700 in fiberglass supplies.....

gordon

[BigShrimpin]

1/2" is plenty thick . . . you need at least 2/3 layers of glass for each skin.