Trojan Boat Forum

I'm currently fixing some rot on the hull of my boat. It is double hulled with planks then plywood. Can anyone tell me if I should replace the plywood with marine or pressure treated The plywood will then be covered with planks then caulked. Thanks for all of the help Billy Swafford

Billy...Marine plywood 4 sure! All plywood in a boat should be marine. It's expensive I know...but that's all you can use. Better yet, don't buy the stuff from Home Depot if you can help it. If you can order from a marine supply house, it may be much better stuff. Some marine plywood is made so well, it can stay wet for decades without falling apart.

for example:
http://www.marine-plywood.us/mahogany_meranti.htm

Have you looked around http://www.woodenboat.com forums for ideas and info of local sources of marine ply?

Marine plywood

Another factor that separates marine plywood from other types is there are no voids in the inner plys. Each sheet of wood is perfectly butted to the piece next to it in the inner plys. You end up with a sheet of pylwood with a solid core. There are no channels for water to flow through.

Trojan sprayed the inside of their wood hulls with Copinol. This is a fungicide and preservative. ( My spelling of Copinol is probably not correct.) It was some very potent stuff and is now band. You may want to treat the plywood with today’s preservatives before you install it, pay particular attention to the edges. That’s where the rot will start.

Use Smith's CPES (clear penatrating epoxy sealer) to seal the wood. I have used it on all my wood boat projects. The product is quite volatile and smelly (expensive too) but works very will It is used extensivly by wood boat restorers and builders. Google "Smiths clear penatrating epoxy sealer" for lots of info.Jimbo36