Transom Rebuild - The Saga Begins

Pics attached. The bulges are tough to see but they are inside the plastic pieces under the bang plate.
I've shared plans with Grady and they will be involved. They believe if the wood is wet, it can cause the glass to bulge when it freezes but the wood should not rot. Open it up, dry it out and relay it up is their recommendation. We'll have to see what we find when we open it up. The bumps are maybe 1" by 3" on each side. To me it looks like water getting under the bang plate and seal under it.
 

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The sloppy caulk was my handy work before we splashed a couple of years ago in an attempt to mitigate this type of issue.
 

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Fishtales I feel terrible for you. It is frustrating if your boat is professionally maintained and then you have an expensive problem that feels like it shouldn't happen this early in it's life cycle. And between new boaters and many people with older boats, the fiberglass guys IMO are overwhelmed in Ma. I am glad you were able to find a good fiberglass guy to work on it. Hopefully, once the process is done, it will feel like a new boat. Good Luck.
 
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Not happy, but can't stick my head in the sand. Will see how this happened and then talk to GW and dealer. This should not happen on this tier of boats in my opinion. The glass guy is really down on GW from a transom design and workmanship from what he has seen. All I can say at this point is pay attention to your transom. The bad thing is once you notice, it's like being pregnant. The bumps are pretty darn small - the teardown will provide a lot of info and dictate level of work required.
 
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If one were to remove the bang plate, isn't the very top of the transom already fiberglassed and sealed at the factory?
 
Unfortunately the bang plate and the white plastic pieces are there to cover the 2 piece joint (hull and liner) that is sealed not glassed in this area. The white pieces and bang plate are screwed down (through the glass and into the core) which makes little sense given the proximity to water line in this area and the fact that the area will be exposed to water frequently (in any but the calmest sea conditions). One would think the transom would be glassed 100% with zero screws/fastners in this area to mitigate water intrusion, but that isn't the case. Glassing the joint would be more costly and take more time during the build. I'm wondering why are the white plastic pieces and bang plate there at all and even if required why are they not bonded to a 100% glassed joint versus screwed over a caulked joint? I'm being led to believe that the pieces/bang plate are installed more to cover over a poor joint design and workmanship variations/deficiencies versus any performance requirement. There are construction technique questions being raised which include the use of fairing compound (basically bondo) as well from the glass guy based on previous work. This is all new to me, so I'll wait for the teardown to gather data and information as well as share with folks.
 
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Absolutely the weak link in the build, by far, and Grady hasn't done anything about it other than change from aluminum to plastic. It is certainly harder/more expensive/more time consuming to glass it over but the boats aren't cheap and are supposed to be known for their quality. When I took my rotting bang plate off, I was blown away by the lack of caulk underneath. Didn't even have a chance of sealing properly. Extra caulk wouldn't have cost Grady a dollar more. They know of this problem but are reluctant to do much about it. Their idea of participating in the repair is minimal.
 
We'll see. So far, I've been told by GW to open the transom up by removing outer skin and air it out to dry. Then reglass as the core won't rot. All comes down to the findings and how best to proceed.
 
Fishtales, any updates or pics on your repairs would be appreciated. Hoping its not as bad as I'm thinking it could be...
 
Wireline - just sent you a PM with recommendations. I had similar issues on one of my previous Grady’s.
 
Fishtails this was my transom when the outer skin was removed. It was wet no rot because of the green board but delaminated. Grady recommended using the same material when replacing it so it didn’t change anything with the balance of the boat. You also have to cut holes in the decking to remove the i hooks on the transom.
 

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Motors coming off the boat today. I plan on going to the dealer to check the boat and take some pics. Off to the glass shop Friday if all holds.
 
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Stephnic said:
Fishtails this was my transom when the outer skin was removed. It was wet no rot because of the green board but delaminated. Grady recommended using the same material when replacing it so it didn’t change anything with the balance of the boat. You also have to cut holes in the decking to remove the i hooks on the transom.
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Thanks. Scary stuff if you ask me. A top tier builder, I say not.
 
Fishtales,
I too will be diving into this project over the next two months. Thanks to this forum I went into the purchase of my 282 knowing a good bit of what I was getting into. I am hoping that those on the forum that have dealt with this swollen transom issue will share their repair experince with us. I will do the same .Good luck to you Sir. Nothing like a good dog to make you feel better!
laylay.jpg
 
Let me know if you need anything while replacing the transom. I did the one on my 268 two years ago.
 
All I need is the cash! Thanks for offers for advice and feeling my pain.
 
Fishtales said:
I'm told that the XL greenwood core (basically PT) that was used reacts with the aluminum brace in the transom (top engine bolts go through it). If it gets wet you get a jelly substance that forms (water, aluminum and core somehow react) and when it freezes bulges the glass. Otherwise, I'd have no idea. Its' not like I have not been watching this. With all the transom stories you hear, I was careful to inspect and caulked the bang plate, plastic pieces and screw tops a few times. My 2 bulge spots were very small at the top of the transom. Need to see what lies within but once I make the decision to go in, I'm committed and need to address whatever we find. 600HP is sufficient for me re horsepower capacity. It is the upper part of the transom down to the top engine bolts that appears to be the area of concern. We'll see when we open her up.
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Does treated wood corrode aluminum? Yes. Most of the new chemical treatments contain copper and should never come in direct contact with aluminum. Even more so in wet environments. During the building boom in the early to mid 2000's many so called "Flashing Scientist's" as I like to call them, were wrapping treated posts on decking structures and ledger boards with powder coated aluminum... Definitely a "no-no"
 
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