# Replacing floor of boat



## shomethacrappies (Mar 26, 2009)

How easy or hard is this to do, I have a 19ft Grumman, floor isn't horrible but will like to do it this year or pay someone to do it. Not trying to break the bank to do it, so if this is a hobby of yours p.m me thanks. Damon


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## shomethacrappies (Mar 26, 2009)

Lot of lookers but no-one to help


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## partlyable (Mar 2, 2005)

shomethacrappies said:


> How easy or hard is this to do, I have a 19ft Grumman, floor isn't horrible but will like to do it this year or pay someone to do it. Not trying to break the bank to do it, so if this is a hobby of yours p.m me thanks. Damon


I did it in a 14 foot Jon boat 2 winters ago and overall it was not to hard at all, with a 19 foot I am sure it will take quite a bit more materials and time. Maybe post a picture of the layout of your boat so others can see what you would be working with.


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## shomethacrappies (Mar 26, 2009)

partlyable said:


> I did it in a 14 foot Jon boat 2 winters ago and overall it was not to hard at all, with a 19 foot I am sure it will take quite a bit more materials and time. Maybe post a picture of the layout of your boat so others can see what you would be working with.


Ok thanks for the reply


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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

Do a search here on OGF. There were some good posts about this a few years ago. Likewise, search The Hull Truth forums...


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## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

It's not that hard, just time consuming. Just use your old wood for the pattern.

iboats forums are what you want. Step by step/pictures/explanations, it's pretty much all there. Chances are good you can find somebody that either has done or is doing one just like yours.


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## Petermkerling (Sep 22, 2014)

How's the transom????????


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## DHower08 (Nov 20, 2015)

Where are you located


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

I did mine in a 21' cobia by myself about 10 yrs ago and I'm in bad health and didn't think it was that hard. you can use marine plywood and have a smoother surface. but you can also use exterior grade plywood. just be sure and seal either one real good before installing in boat. for me the carpet was worse than the floor.
sherman


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## teacher (Dec 3, 2011)

shomethacrappies said:


> How easy or hard is this to do, I have a 19ft Grumman, floor isn't horrible but will like to do it this year or pay someone to do it. Not trying to break the bank to do it, so if this is a hobby of yours p.m me thanks. Damon


My dad just got a couple quotes from to replace the carpet on his boat. He has an 18 foot Smokercraft. The cost comes in the labor. Both quotes were north of $2000 to replace just the surfaces that you walk on. Add the cost of wood floor and you are looking at $2500 or more.

Bob


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## spectrum (Feb 12, 2013)

Not too hard to do, unless it's like mine where the old floor comes off in pieces as big as your hand. Cost me 300 bucks, 4 days and 2 cases of beer (so I wasn't working too hard). Do yourself a favor and get the wood from lowe's or some other good place, as in not home depot. In my opinion plywood should be flat, not concave..... The carpet glue I used was the standard cabelas stuff and it says it needs to be 65 degrees out and no rain for 4 days. Plywood was exterior stuff. DO NOT get treated plywood, bad for aluminum, not sure about fiberglass. As you can see in the last pic I screwed up cutting the carpet in front of the live well, so I improvised. Just take accurate measurements and your good.


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## shomethacrappies (Mar 26, 2009)

DHower08 said:


> Where are you located


Akron


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## shomethacrappies (Mar 26, 2009)

spectrum said:


> Not too hard to do, unless it's like mine where the old floor comes off in pieces as big as your hand. Cost me 300 bucks, 4 days and 2 cases of beer (so I wasn't working too hard). Do yourself a favor and get the wood from lowe's or some other good place, as in not home depot. In my opinion plywood should be flat, not concave..... The carpet glue I used was the standard cabelas stuff and it says it needs to be 65 degrees out and no rain for 4 days. Plywood was exterior stuff. DO NOT get treated plywood, bad for aluminum, not sure about fiberglass. As you can see in the last pic I screwed up cutting the carpet in front of the live well, so I improvised. Just take accurate measurements and your good.
> View attachment 202043
> View attachment 202044
> View attachment 202045


Thanks for the pic's, looks good


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## DHower08 (Nov 20, 2015)

Dont know how fast of turn around time you need or when you need it done. Pm me if youd like me to look at it. May be able to help you or take on the whole job for you.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

spectrum said:


> Not too hard to do, unless it's like mine where the old floor comes off in pieces as big as your hand. Cost me 300 bucks, 4 days and 2 cases of beer (so I wasn't working too hard). Do yourself a favor and get the wood from lowe's or some other good place, as in not home depot. In my opinion plywood should be flat, not concave..... The carpet glue I used was the standard cabelas stuff and it says it needs to be 65 degrees out and no rain for 4 days. Plywood was exterior stuff. DO NOT get treated plywood, bad for aluminum, not sure about fiberglass. As you can see in the last pic I screwed up cutting the carpet in front of the live well, so I improvised. Just take accurate measurements and your good.
> View attachment 202043
> View attachment 202044
> View attachment 202045


that's a great looking job. I used marine plywood but found out later that exterior grade is just as good but has a rougher finish. don't use treated plywood! and the plywood should be sealed with a good sealer. when I did mine I didn't know what to seal it with, so I used the brush on truck bed liner to seal mine. (there is better sealers out there) I'm kinda surprised some one hasn't recommend a good sealer



. I coated it good and sealed the edges very heavy. then after installing the wood I sealed all the seams and edges with cheese cloth and fiber glass resin. then I bought cabelas premium carpet and glue and installed it. the worst thing for me was the fumes from the fiber glass and glue.

when I did the carpet I bought a tool to spread the glue, but I didn't like the results. so I just spread the glue with my hand, it worked much better than the tool I bought. doing the floor was an easy job. my old floor came out in big pieces so I used them to get a rough cut on the new plywood then had to trim a little off the edges for a perfect fit. its been about 8 to 10 yrs since I did mine and its still like new.

if you decide to use marine grade plywood I think menards and lowes can order it for you. much cheaper than a big lumber yard.
sherman


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## fishingful (Apr 5, 2004)

I used exterior grade plywood and covered it with vynal flooring. I will never put carpet in a boat again easy to clean, no hooks in it and does not hold water. Most of the reason a floor goes bad in the first place.

If you can get the pieces out whole use them for a pattern. Harder to do without one because it's curved. Check the transom really good while you have it out. It's easier to replace that too while you have it torn appart.

Takes me a while to do them but I am pickey. I am about to move the decks and storage around in mine. I may have to do the floor. Had some seat mounts pull out last year.


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## lawrence p (Sep 3, 2015)

I got slammed on another site for my opinion but I'll tell you this I've built a few wood / fiberglass boats and they are all still around. Buy some epoxy from raka they buy it in bulk so they can charge less. Put a coat on when it tacks up put another coat on and so on till it stops soaking in and I'll tell you this you will never need to do it again. Alittle money now saves headaches later. I def don't claim to know it all but I have learned a lot about plywood and epoxy.


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## chasmo (Jun 17, 2012)

There is a lot of information on the iboats forums. All kinds of detail regarding materials and their correct usage. A lot of step by step info also.


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## humpty dumpty (Nov 30, 2013)

chasmo said:


> There is a lot of information on the iboats forums. All kinds of detail regarding materials and their correct usage. A lot of step by step info also.


I did my boat a 19ft starcraft superfisherman.. It was the first time I ever tackled anything like this.. I did a search and found someone that posted pics of a boat like mine.. There are a lot of interlocking panels consoles and floor pieces..I had pieces in my garage from here to next week,, My wife walked in, looked and asked if I would ever get it back together again,, I said only with the help of all the kings men,, such my boat's name of Humpty Dumpty.. But I took pictures..recorded different disassembly procedures. used marine plywood, stainless screws, and heavy duty rivets.
I sealed and painted the floor with a rubberized floor paint so now I just wash the floor down when I get fish slime and such on the floor.. no more smelly carpet. Just take your time. mark sides where seams meet and where floor braces are so when you go to reinstall you know where to fasten your floor, sides, console and such. Good luck.. if I did it you can too....


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## chasmo (Jun 17, 2012)

humpty dumpty said:


> I did my boat a 19ft starcraft superfisherman.. It was the first time I ever tackled anything like this.. I did a search and found someone that posted pics of a boat like mine.. There are a lot of interlocking panels consoles and floor pieces..I had pieces in my garage from here to next week,, My wife walked in, looked and asked if I would ever get it back together again,, I said only with the help of all the kings men,, such my boat's name of Humpty Dumpty.. But I took pictures..recorded different disassembly procedures. used marine plywood, stainless screws, and heavy duty rivets.
> I sealed and painted the floor with a rubberized floor paint so now I just wash the floor down when I get fish slime and such on the floor.. no more smelly carpet. Just take your time. mark sides where seams meet and where floor braces are so when you go to reinstall you know where to fasten your floor, sides, console and such. Good luck.. if I did it you can too....


Might I ask brand of floor paint? I have considered Rust garage floor paint. I'm re modeling 2 1988 Bluefin boats and considered vynil but paint would be easier on the consoles and gunwales.


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## humpty dumpty (Nov 30, 2013)

chasmo said:


> Might I ask brand of floor paint? I have considered Rust garage floor paint. I'm re modeling 2 1988 Bluefin boats and considered vynil but paint would be easier on the consoles and gunwales.


It was EVEROAT 853 SKID NO MORE. It is pricey, I had a friend paint it with a spray gun,,, must have a large orfice to spray,, but you can roll it, brush it,, key is to keep stirring it as you use to keep rubber particals mixed up in the paint,, treat edges of wood with epoxy resin to seal,, floor doesn't get slippery like vinyl sometimes does. I painted sides closed in back by splashwell, and floor. somewhere around 5 gals. I roughed up floor just a little just to give paint best chance to bite into wood. Three years so far and holding up real good. I had thought about a rubberized spray similar to rhino liner.. has rubber like texture and non slip..they use it on truck beds. get a light color or it will get so hot you can't walk on your floor...I had to remove EVERYTHING out of the boat.. including wiring. foam (which was water logged) fuel tank, everything.. wire brushed inside floor,, painted seams with gluvit, reset any rivets after putting some 3m 5200 sealant around rivet..replaced any rivets that were loose, sealing them also,,, when rewiring boat,, I ran most of my wires inside 1/2" and 3/4" pvc pipe separating electronics for distortion,wearing rubbing. getting a hook stuck in them, running a mounting screw through wires ect. it was a job,, but enjoying the boat now...


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