Update On Carpet Problems

[straw hat]

Back on August 6th I mentioned that my carpet was falling apart on my boat. First of all Gilly was right about the UV degrading the carpet. The carpet under the protected places was still in good shape. It took me a few weeks to remove everything from my boat, strip the carpet and scrap/sand the glue off the top. Much to my suprise the high grade marine plywood I had used had been eaten up with dry rot. I thought marine plywood was suppose to be waterproof. I guess that just shows how dumb I am!! After talking to two manufacturers I found out that marine plywood is made the same as regular plywood except they use denser layers of wood and compress the wood to minimize the air pockets in the plywood. It is only considered 20% less suscepable to water damage and dry rot. It has no waterproof treatment at all. In fact the manufacturer of the plywood I used last time refused to honor the warrenty. It is what they call a "limited warrenty". The warranty is invalid if you drill any holes of cut the plywood as this increases the risk of water damage. How are you suppose to fasten it down with out drilling holes for bolts/screwws? You also have to mount the live wells and seats as well.

Both manufactures recommended that I use a UV resistant epoxy coating on the surface of the plywood and a deck varnish for the bottom. This would seal the surface against water damage. They recommended a product produced by American Safety Technologies called AS-75. It is simply applied using a textured roller and is sold by Sherwin Williams in Springfield. I also asked about the Herculiner and Rhino Liner that Walleyed Mike had mentioned. They said that it work but the AS-75 was a lot more slip resistant. A couple of local dealers quoted between $2,800 and $3,500 to replace the decking and carpet. The new wood, epoxy and deck varnish will run me around $600! A lot less. All this stuff will be in next week and I will let you guys know what I think of it.

[Zac Seale]

Straw,

I understand your troubles, i have been rebuilding an old 58' Crestliner V-hull and it has been a nightmare. I had the same problems after only a few months of using the boat with the rot. If you go to iboats.com and check out their forums you will find MOUNTAINS of information and pictures of what people have done and they are very helpful and give advice freely, much like OA forums. What i did was get some outdoor carpet glue and some rubber backed outdoor carpet from lowes. Much cheaper and essentially the same thing as marine carpet. Also instead of wood sealers I used fiberglass resin and coated the plywood and it really stiffend it up and completely water sealed it. Just a thought. Let me know how it goes for you!

Good luck!

Zac

[Gilly]

[

Straw i have been rebuilding an old 58' Crestliner.....

Zac]

Good lord, Zac, are you building an Ark?

[Zac Seale]

Yes, it is ancient for sure! I got it and a 62' Johnson 28 hp motor from a guy for free if I would haul it out of his yard! It was full of water and a wide variety of plants and animals when i hauled it home. But it has actually turned out to be a pretty nice little boat. Nothing fancy by any means, but it lets me crappie fish and get out on the lake which is where i love to be! Maybe someday i'll be able to afford a nice boat...but probably not. I'll post some photos of the ol' gal when i get a chance.

[straw hat]

Thanks for the info Zac. I will check out their website. I considered the fiberglass but it looked like it would be too slick for my boat deck. It should sure work great though for the sides of your Crestliner. As far as the "ancient" boat... well I understand what you mean. I am pretty ancient too but I am still out there knocking around on the lake getting the job done! lol

[Trav]

A boat is truly a hole in the water to which one pours in money......

[Gilly]

Crappy eyesight I guess but I thought Zac was building a 58 foot boat.....ark if you will. Far be it for me to suggest anyone here is 'ancient'.....I'm anything but a youngster myself.