Gas tank deck cap

[mmiela]

My seafarer 226 deck cap is sagging and feels like a sponge the rest of the deck is solid. I have to have it repaired, how hard a job is this and can I do it
myself(no experience) or have a pro do it. Not knowing what it entails to do this has anyone had this done or done it themselves? What kind of costs am I looking at and how long did or does it take?

Does anyone know anyone in Connecticut that does this? I can bring the cap to them.

 

[TonyD]

Are you talking about the hard plastic deck cap? Or the whole floor board?

 

[DennisG01]

I assume you mean the removable section of floor above the gas tank? At first, I thought you were talking about the actual gas cap - the thing that covers the hole where you fillup the tank!

There's a number of threads on here about doing this repair from various people, including myself. If you search around, you can find some threads. There's also plenty of this information out there on the interweb thingy. If you're handy, it's not a hard job. Especially when you have the ability to remove the floor piece. Typical replacement core material is marine plywood, Coosa board, Divinycell. For the heck of it, I used that hard, purple insulation board that you can get at Home Depot. I wanted to experiment and, worst case, I re-do it - but it's a pretty quick job so I wasn't worried about that. It's been three seasons, so far, and all is well.

ANY fiberglass shop should be able to do this since they don't even have to worry about making it look good since it's all on the underside.

 

[TonyD]

mmiela, at one point a few years ago, Dennis walked me through an entire thread of how to do mine - you can do a search off of either one of us and find all the details. Dennis did a much nicer aesthetic job than I did (because I made a few rookie mistakes) but he floor panel is rock solid now, so, if you follow the threads you'll be able to decide whether or not this is a DIY for yourself or not.

Good luck!!

Tony D.

 

[mmiela]

Yes the removable section of the floor. So what I have been reading and not knowing much it looks like there is a layer of glass on the skin then plywood and another layer of glass and all that has to come off first?

 

[DennisG01]

Think of the floor piece as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The pieces of bread are the top and bottom fiberglass layers, the PB&J is the wood core. You fix this by removing the BOTTOM piece of bread. The topside never gets touched.

 

[mmiela]

The fiberglass basically came off in one piece. Some of the boards were not even glued anymore and some where. Now to get ply wood or foam and then have some one who knows fiberglass do just.

 

[TonyD]

The fiberglass basically came off in one piece. Some of the boards were not even glued anymore and some where. Now to get ply wood or foam and then have some one who knows fiberglass do just.

I'd go with the foam - I used Divinycell

 

[mmiela]

OK, so I have the fiberglass and the core removed and I am ready to start this because no one calls you back. I guess they are all busy yes I know this is a winter project but.....

Get plywood (don't have time to wait for foam.)
scuff up the surface for the core to adhere to.
Cut the squares and use epoxy to bond to the under side of the flooring.
Once that cures use the fiberglass mentioned in other threads and let it cure.
Install and caulk the deck to the boat.

Missing anything?

 

[DennisG01]

You don't need to cut it in squares. You should (best practice), though, pre-coat the wood a few times with resin till it stops soaking in after about 10 minutes of letting it set.

 

[mmiela]

Two questions.

1) what is the best to use to glue the plywood to the decking

and

2) should I put the resin on all sides of the plywood?

 

[DennisG01]

"Glue" the wood to the hatch with the epoxy.

Start by painting the epoxy resin onto ONLY the side of the ply that will contact the hatch. Give it about 10 minutes to soak in (the ply will no longer look shiny/wet) and then paint some more on. Do this at least three times. I like to use a piece of cloth or mat between the ply and the hatch to take up any irregularities between the two mating surfaces. Now, put weight on the ply and let it kick. BE SURE... that the hatch is on a TOTALLY level surface while it dries.

When you're ready for the 1708 to lay over the ply, again paint the ply a few times (and now also do the edges a bunch of times) and then lay on the cloth. You've cut the plywood to have 45* edges, right? It makes it easier to lay the cloth down tight against the ply. You've also dry-fitted everything before starting with the resin, right? :mrgreen:

 

[mmiela]

So I went to West marine and bought all the materials I needed, I then received a call from a fiberglass pro and for a little more money from what I already spent he is going to do the job. Would rather have it done right and wait a week or two for it to get done than me do it and mess it up.

Thanks for the suggestions and help.