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Flowtation foam

P

propeye

New member
Hi folks , new to the forum and in the process of restoring a 86 16' Exciter. All the wood for the back seat and in the bilage area was rotted to the max , so removed everything right to the glass. The foam balast was squeezable wet so went to the trash. Is it advisable to use the "Great Stuff " spray foam to replace this ? I rebuilt all the wood platforms and epoxy coated all sides and are ready to cap the open ends. Thanx for any input.
 
No, not spray foam. For flotation foam use 2 part pourable foam such as the 2 pound density foam here:

http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html

Also, given the condition of the wood in your boat I'd be very suspicious of the stringers and transom as well. (Been there and done that twice.)
 
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Thanx for the info, and stringers and floor is on the list, transom is solid. I'm sure i'll be looking for more help in the future, Thanx again.
 
With the rot that you describe, I would consider your transom as suspect as groundloop mentioned. I'd recommend a core test to be on the safe side. Drill into the inside of the transom between 1/2" to 1" and check the wood shavings for moisture, rot, etc. Do this in serveral areas. If it's alright, then come back with some resin mixed with cabosil (thickener) and milled fibers to fill your holes.

Another red flag is if you have any rusty bolts or rust stains from holes. Unless you're an expert, I find many people who do the "tap" test have subjective hearing and live in denial.
 
The tap method with a tiny ball peen will tell you if it is saturated.
If it doesn't sound like you're hittin a countertop, it's junk. You will find
your worst areas around the bolt holes and work out from there
 
Thanx again for all the feedback folks, I'll be doing a closer look at the transom at this point seeing how i am down to the shell with everything else. Have a great day all.
 
bigredinohio said:
With the rot that you describe, I would consider your transom as suspect as groundloop mentioned. I'd recommend a core test to be on the safe side. Drill into the inside of the transom between 1/2" to 1" and check the wood shavings for moisture, rot, etc. Do this in serveral areas. If it's alright, then come back with some resin mixed with cabosil (thickener) and milled fibers to fill your holes.

Another red flag is if you have any rusty bolts or rust stains from holes. Unless you're an expert, I find many people who do the "tap" test have subjective hearing and live in denial.
Click to expand...
The tap test...:rof:Yeah living in denial!!! Drill that sucker...I tapped on mine all day..sounds great huh!!! Rotten!!!!
 
I dont know if its bad or good...I didnt put any floatation back in my boat!! There was very little in mine when I ripped it apart...only in the front!!
 
I am at the end of my resto and have removed all the original
foam. But I will definatly be installing foam under the rear deck, under the gunwales and front deck. After all this work I don't want to lose
the investment now.
 
Fastcheckmate175 said:
The tap test...:rof:Yeah living in denial!!! Drill that sucker...I tapped on mine all day..sounds great huh!!! Rotten!!!!
Click to expand...
I didn't think much of it till I had Kevin Brown demonstrate it... I'm a believer in it now.

Its easy to hear/ feel the difference when you have two boats right there- one rotten and one solid. I thought it was pretty cool.
 
ndaniels said:
I didn't think much of it till I had Kevin Brown demonstrate it... I'm a believer in it now.

Its easy to hear/ feel the difference when you have two boats right there- one rotten and one solid. I thought it was pretty cool.
Click to expand...


In all fairness,,,,The outside of my transom wasnt rotten it was starting to rot inside!!
 
I mean feel the difference in the hammer bounce off of a dry transom vs a wet one.. sounds different too. Fastcheckmate175, how did the water get into your transom? (don't mean to hijack this thread)

With my Checkmate (my 1st boat) I got luckey it was in good shape and free of rot, cause I didn't really know what to look for when I bought it... I hope that the supers are just as good, cause I tried my best to look for any signs of rot... so far so good.



I really don't think I'd bother reinstalling foam in anything after getting it all out... I'd rather keep it as light as possible and eliminate any kind of spots for water to lay/ get asorbed. Either way, all you guys that are doing the resto/repair work- its awesome! Thanks for sharing your projects with the rest of us! If the time ever comes for me to tackle similar projects, I know that I can count on the board members for usefull advice.
 
ndaniels said:
Either way, all you guys that are doing the resto/repair work- its awesome! Thanks for sharing your projects with the rest of us! If the time ever comes for me to tackle similar projects, I know that I can count on the board members for usefull advice.
Click to expand...

Advise, Lets see------- Yeh, DON'T DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol::lol::lol::lol:
JK. It has been a good learning experiance for me. It is surprising how it
guides you to respect what you own and how well you treat it and use it.

Jim
 
Fastcheckmate175 said:
The tap test...:rof:Yeah living in denial!!! Drill that sucker...I tapped on mine all day..sounds great huh!!! Rotten!!!!
Click to expand...

I'm pretty much in agreement. Real hard to tell by the "tap method" what your dealing with. Rotten floor and stringers then I'd bet 9 times out of 10 there is rot in the transom.
I lived in denial using the tap method (briefly) and only until I pulled out the transom eyes on my 96 retoration and did some drill coring did I know what I was dealing with. The result was a transom in the process of rot....
 
possibly wet, but not rotten transom
I see a lot of floors/transoms and can tell. Pest controllers drill until they find bugs, then do their treatment. Just tear it out in the first place. I have seen a lot of repairs done and the moisture problem would have been better off let go. You can use a simple ohm meter to find moisture, but not rot.
 
Kary said:
possibly wet, but not rotten transom
I see a lot of floors/transoms and can tell. Pest controllers drill until they find bugs, then do their treatment. Just tear it out in the first place. I have seen a lot of repairs done and the moisture problem would have been better off let go. You can use a simple ohm meter to find moisture, but not rot.
Click to expand...
If its wet...its gonna rot!!! Bottom line!!!!! Its not supposed to be wet!!
 
Fastcheckmate175 said:
If its wet...its gonna rot!!! Bottom line!!!!! Its not supposed to be wet!!
Click to expand...

I agree. My Starflite was not rotted but was wet enough to make the
2 layers of 3/4 and 1 layer of 1/4 plywood delaminated. That is a severe
loss of transom strength. It smelled like a sewer when I took it apart.
Basically you are at the start of trouble if you don't remove and replace.
 
The point was totally missed.
Every boat is wet If you reseal it when new, it shouldn't get wet.
Most damage occurs inside out. Carpet soaks rain up and hold it in until
I saturated the wood
 
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