rot in J B wilds Caribbean

[raga]

Hi anyone available to advise me on repairing rotting wood in hull on 39 foot Caribbean?

thank you

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Raga,

Welcome to the forum from Tan & myself.

With regards to the repairs on your boat I suggest you have a look in the services section on the forum in the following location

http://www.thenorfolkbroads.net/forum/index.php/forum/87-services/

There are a number of companies on the Broads that specialise on the repairs of wooden boats, some of which are forum members.

Regards

Alan

[Soundings]

I did not know there were wooden Carribeans. Something new every day eh

[Oddfellow]

Perhaps you mean rotting floor bearers?

 

It's not uncommon for this to happen but it can be difficult to repair as so much needs to be removed to get at it.

[MBA Marine]

the bulkheads often rot low down, could we be there.

[raga]

hi all

thanks for replies. yes i mean floor supports and maybe stringers.

i,m about to take floors up and face demons down there. I know there is a lot of rot. i wonder does anyone have pics or info on previous works . i,m doing the work myself as i cant afford professiol job! the boats on dry land now.

 

[C.Ricko]

Good luck down there, the floors are probably fiberglass, with rotten supports, there are ways of doing this job, some more satisfactory than others,

I suspect the fiberglass floors have broken down leaving bouncy areas.

[therealist]

Uhoh sounds a long and painful Job to me!

[raga]

Hi anyone available to advise me on repairing rotting floor supports  on 39 foot Caribbean?

thank you

 

thanks again for replies

I domt know a lot bout boats and i was hoping some one might point me in right direction as to pics of work been done on caribbean of similar.

Should i be concerned about stringers? if wood inside stringers has rotted?

[Oddfellow]

This isn't a job I'd want to do with it out of the water.

 

If the boat is supported on props, it's likely that there will be some twist in the hull which may have an effect (perhaps not much) on the levels.

 

If you find that doors are no longer fitting properly when on land, there will certainly be some twist.

 

Clive probably knows more about this than anyone else here.

[C.Ricko]

plenty of ways to do a job, some better than others, you could cut it all out looking for rotten bearers and replacing where needed, if it is just the fiberglass gone soft you could lay a plywood floor over the whole lot, I have seen this done, obviously you loose headroom. I have also seen stainless steel throughout the boat under the lino, this Is only a temp measure but does work, you will probably find bearers under the shower tray and door thresholds need attention.

[raga]

thanks again all.

 so its OK to remove floors while boat is out of water?  that was my orignal intention, but thought maybe not a good idea.

surveyor has said boat could be damaged if moved in present condition. I should add the hull is in sound condition. no problems there.

Since he said that, I have cut access holes in floor...10 in total, and the floor supports, though wet and damaged still have plenty of strenght. the orignal plywood, on which the fiberglass was laid has completely rotted away.  the last owner laid new plywood on top of the fiberglass floor.

would it be ok to dry it out and treat wood? I will take floors up if I must, but i dread the fiberglassing in the new floor.

If I cut out the fiberglass floor in large sections, could i lay that back down and bond it Or is that a dumb idea?

[Soundings]

Wonder why the surveyor feels the boat will be damaged if moved in present condition?

[raga]

Wonder why the surveyor feels the boat will be damaged if moved in present condition?

i believe he thinks the floor could collaspe. I think he thinks the rot is worse than it is. he hasnt examined it to the extent that i have. (Though he is an experianced surveyor) he did say "could".  he cant be cetain.

[Oddfellow]

The floor bearers provide some ridigity to the whole structure. Rotten bearers will allow more twist, so lifting might not be a good thing.

 

You will never be able to reintroduce strength into the rotten surfaces with any form of resin or hardnerer. Rot needs to be removed.

 

How would you dry it out? The drying procress will introduce shrinkage of wood in any case. AND, cruically, if you have soaking wood, you probably also have dry or wet rot. Dry rot is a nasty fungus that lives in damp conditions. It needs just to things to thrive: food (wood) and damp. Dark areas are nice for it too. Dry rot needs ripping out and ALL replacement wood should be treated with a suitable fungacide as the spores are probably present anyway.

 

For the future, you need to ensure that deck drains remain clear, bilge pumps work properly, your stern gland and rudder glands aren't letting too much by and keep a clean bilge. These things will help keep any other rot at bay.

[C.Ricko]

I would be inclined not to replace the bearers in the current positions, the main issue with these boats is that the water cannot drain into the bilge for it to be pumped out, if you build in limber holes make sure the internals are treated.

It would be a good idea to make sure the boat is level before you start..

[raga]

I would be inclined not to replace the bearers in the current positions, the main issue with these boats is that the water cannot drain into the bilge for it to be pumped out, if you build in limber holes make sure the internals are treated.

It would be a good idea to make sure the boat is level before you start..

 

thanks again people.

i have removed bedroom floor and , yes it was mucky down there!

strange type of worms! will upload a photo of one soon.

Every thing will have to come out.

there was plenty of strenght in the bearers, though and floor was not going to collaspe any time soon,

 so much damp it would have teken years to dry out! i was in denial.

the caribbean is tilted , on bearers, to starboard. (water tended tp pool to this side) 

i,m blocked in at present and yard lifting gear cannot gain access to caribbean be cause of an other boat  is having hull repaired, i cannot have caribbean leveled.

 the boat have not moved for 8 or 9 yr. yes it has been on prop for that long!

 

 shoould i replace bearers with marine grade plywood? or just plain treated pine?

also, some  have suggested in dont bother to replace foam in picture, good advice?

 thanks again

[Oddfellow]

It's difficult to establish exactly what we're looking at in the pictures. One's out of focus and the other needs rotating, I think.

 

Marine Ply should be the way to go, but there are many different grades of marine ply and the cheap stuff can be rendered useless in a few years if it gets damp.

 

I've never tried to use tannilised timbers in the bilge. I would imagine that it would work well (and be cheaper) but the quality of the wood is generally very low; often it's fast grown stuff without good strength.

 

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

[MBA Marine]

It's difficult to establish exactly what we're looking at in the pictures. One's out of focus and the other needs rotating, I think.

 

Marine Ply should be the way to go, but there are many different grades of marine ply and the cheap stuff can be rendered useless in a few years if it gets damp.

 

I've never tried to use tannilised timbers in the bilge. I would imagine that it would work well (and be cheaper) but the quality of the wood is generally very low; often it's fast grown stuff without good strength.

 

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

I would not use the likes of pressure treated CLS from builders merchants it is light as a feather and is good for what its made for being Stud walls and the like in houses.

but go to your local timber yard and you can get good real heavy close grained treated Douglas fer, used for exterior wood buildings, fence aris rails ect, this will only harden over time, the down side is it is often a bit banana shaped, but in the short lengths that would be needed in a boat its easily rectified.  You should also find it a lot cheaper than a builders merchant timber.

[MBA Marine]

 

Also if you can store your timber in a dry area, as you don't want to build in more damp!

Replacing your floors is not as difficult as may first seem. make sure the bulkhead bottoms are sound and still bonded to the hull, if not remove the old GRP and re-glass them in (replace bulkhead if its rotten) then work out from there 

you will have fairly small stringers running fore & aft rather than drilling holes in them to let water through them, fill up the outboard edge so that water runs over them, then you will most likely only have the off centre companionway bulkhead to limber through, and as Clive has said, seal around the holes.

[raga]

 

thanks again people.

i have removed bedroom floor and , yes it was mucky down there!

strange type of worms! will upload a photo of one soon.

Every thing will have to come out.

there was plenty of strenght in the bearers, though and floor was not going to collaspe any time soon,

 so much damp it would have teken years to dry out! i was in denial.

the caribbean is tilted , on bearers, to starboard. (water tended tp pool to this side) 

i,m blocked in at present and yard lifting gear cannot gain access to caribbean be cause of an other boat  is having hull repaired, i cannot have caribbean leveled.

 the boat have not moved for 8 or 9 yr. yes it has been on prop for that long!

 

 shoould i replace bearers with marine grade plywood? or just plain treated pine?

also, some  have suggested in dont bother to replace foam in picture, good advice?

 thanks again

here is another photo might be clearer.

sorry dont know why they load  upside down. they are fine on laptop!

 thank you

 

[MBA Marine]

 

It must be a Australian model as everything seems upside down to us! 

[raga]

 

 

Also if you can store your timber in a dry area, as you don't want to build in more damp!

Replacing your floors is not as difficult as may first seem. make sure the bulkhead bottoms are sound and still bonded to the hull, if not remove the old GRP and re-glass them in (replace bulkhead if its rotten) then work out from there 

you will have fairly small stringers running fore & aft rather than drilling holes in them to let water through them, fill up the outboard edge so that water runs over them, then you will most likely only have the off centre companionway bulkhead to limber through, and as Clive has said, seal around the holes.

 

hi mark

 i,m puzzled as to your advice about "fill up the outboard edge" sorry i dont understand. I was just going to fiberglass in the floor supports and lay plywood with underside painted with epoxy paint? need i do more?

[raga]

It's difficult to establish exactly what we're looking at in the pictures. One's out of focus and the other needs rotating, I think.

 

Marine Ply should be the way to go, but there are many different grades of marine ply and the cheap stuff can be rendered useless in a few years if it gets damp.

 

I've never tried to use tannilised timbers in the bilge. I would imagine that it would work well (and be cheaper) but the quality of the wood is generally very low; often it's fast grown stuff without good strength.

 

Anyone else got any thoughts on this?

Hi

thank you for your advice.

should i use 2  18mm bonded together, to form floor supports? then fiberglassed to hull.

[Guest]

Quite convoluted turning the photo up the right way after they've been posted. (The forum software handling of images doesn't allow copy to clipboard or save. )

 

 

Thank God for fibreglass hulls though. Despite the decay in the internal floor, the boat hull itself is quite sound, and still very practical to restore.

 

 

I wouldn't double up on the 18mm ply myself, I would rather glass in additional new bulkheads halfway between the existing ones.  Cheaper and much more rigid....