Stringer/Floor replacement |
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backfoot100
Platinum Member Joined: January-03-2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1897 |
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Posted: February-01-2007 at 7:53pm |
Ok, since I've done gragidated from newbie to groupie and reading a ton of posts regarding this subject, I have a few questions and comments. First off, a little history.....
As most of you now know, I'm not a CC owner but I have replaced the floor in my '86 American Skier. When I did that, I looked at the stringers and just the front 2' were wet. I removed the foam and then drilled holes in the stringers (from top down) on the damp portions and burned out four hair driers in three weeks making sure they were dry. I also drilled holes in the rest of the stringers. Then I used Rot Doctors epoxy treatment to pour in the holes to prevent them from getting wet again and then filled the holes with Rot Doctors epoxy putty. I also treated the 1/2" marine plywood floor before I installed it. The stuff is awesome but kinda pricey. My stringers were gla$$ wrapped from the factory which I truly believe prevented me from having to completely replace them in the first place. My question is this...Other than the fact that it's a real pain in the a$$, why don't you guys gla$$ wrap the stringers when you replace them? At the very least, I would highly recommend treating the new stringers with that Rot Doctor stuff before you replace them. If you're not familiar with Rot Doctor, they have a lot of different products that prevent future rotting. The stuff I'm referring to is an epoxy mix that is thin as water. It's called CPES (Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer). You put it on the wood after you have it cut to shape and it soaks in like a sponge to completely turn a dry piece of wood into a composite board. They have epoxy putty that I used to seal all seams and the edges of the floor to the hull, and an epoxy bedding compound that I used to put on top of the stringers before I placed the floor on them. I wanted to try and prevent any water from getting to the stringers or into the foam filled cavities in any way that I could think of. Then, when I screwed the floor to the stringers, I drilled pilot holes, put the screws in and then removed them and squirted the CPES into the holes before I replaced the screws again. Same thing with any hole that I put in the floor when I rea$$embled the whole thing (seat pedestals, etc.). After the floor was in, I put in two layers of gla$$ before the carpet was installed. Maybe I went overboard, but feel really confident that I'll never have to do that again. I understand that the construction of a CC is a bit different but I haven't heard of anyone using any kind of product to prevent having to do this crap over again in ten or fiftenn years. I apoligize for the long post but now you can fire away and enlighten me!!!!! |
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David F
Platinum Member Joined: June-11-2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1770 |
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Well, just go over to the maintenance section and take a look at SkiBum's work in replacing the stringers on his BFN. He is wrapping the stringers with fibergla$$ composite which I agree with him and you should be done. In fact, the general concensous (sp?) is that the stringers must be sealed and/or encased in composite. Rot Doctor is fine stuff, but pricey. You get virtually the same product by thinning epoxy resin with acetone, but much cheaper to make your own.
SkiBum installed his new floor as the factory did (i.e. no wood). If you use a new wood floor, I suggest using thickened epoxy to glue it to the top of the stringers but also use screws to hold if fast. The screws should be countersunk and then covered in epoxy composite to prevent water from penetrating the wood via the screw holes. As far as the repair you did, it is fine for limited soft spots in the stringer...especially when not around the engine mounts. |
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