Replacing/Repairing Soft Deck - Here we go again...

[randyp]

After putting this off for the past few years I'm determined to repair/replace the soft core and deck on the mighty Blue Heron. I'd like to replace just that portion that's soft. It hasn't spread and the area in question is the starboard bow deck, where the original anchor chocks were mounted when the boat was new (and never caulked). It's an area of about 6 sf. Ideally I'd like to be able to cut into the top with as fine a saw as possible, remove this and the soft balsa core and then repair/replace the core, glass over it and then replace the original deck with the original anti-skid pattern. Was thinking I could then fill in the seams made by the saw with epoxy tinted to match.

My reasoning is that by doing this smaller area I'll gain some experience for the day I might replace the whole foredeck, and by replacing only the area in question I might avoid total replacement because I'm getting older and lazier.

Does my plan sound plausible? What types of tools (especially saw) to use and what have others done? I want to avoid the hassle of doing the repairs from inside the cabin. That just doesn't even hit my radar - again - old, fat and lazy...

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

[ready123]

Small circular saw hand tool with thin blade or jigsaw to cut deck 1/4" depth setting.

Yes your plan can work... that is how I fixed my bridge floor in patches. Only thing I would say is use gel for the final fill of the cut grooves around the patches.
Bear in mind that the deck, I believe may be double thickness, it is on F32 i.e. two layers of 3/4" balsa with a 3/16" layer of glass between them.
To test I drilled 1/4" holes to depth of 1 1/2" to see if single or double layer was wet. If dry filled with epoxy and capped with gel.

Other tools:
flexible threaded rod with bent end to pull wet balsa out away from the access hole 1 ft. diameter hole allows one to get quite far from hole. I used 3/4" thick 1 1/2" sq blocks marine ply dipped in resin and just slid them into the cavity... again made a pusher bar out of 1/8" plate with U end to push the blocks into position in the channels that were out of sight from the opening. I chose to use ply as I felt that the balsa would not travel well down the cleaned out channels (some of mine were 3 feet long from opening).
In your case I would use balsa and open the hole so that the cavities to the side were close, less than 6 inches.... I don't expect your damage to be as extensive as mine was.
Rubber mallet test on your deck should tell you how big the wet spot is.

[g36]

can you get to the bad area from underneath? if you could you could repair it from there and not disturb the deck and have to worry about patching it. more messy maybe, but repaired area wont not seen from the deck either

[ready123]

IMO underneath repair is never a saving and certainly a poor choice for a shortcut.... fighting against gravity is messy, slow and can create voids above.... next step is delamination in that area just under the surface glass and then one is faced with attacking that from above! Why not just start from the top and make the repair 100%??

Why the worry with repairing gel on a non skid area? That is the easiest surface to work with to hide the patch..... yes smooth gelcoat does require some skill to make the patch less obvious. After some exposure to the elements it will all look the same.
Just how it looks from here.... I am not aware of any professional who approaches it from below.

[MattSC]

Randy,
I had a similar soft patch on my F-26, only about 1' 6" x 1' 6". I repaired it by drilling 1/8" holes, several inches apart in the depressions in the non-skid. Let them air out over the winter and before I uncovered the boat injected resin into the holes using a syringe. To close the holes, I mixed west system 404 microlight fiber, with resin and white pigment. Used the syringe to fill and with rag and solvent wiped the non-skid. Very hard to find my holes and the deck is rock solid.

I'm probably going to redo the foredeck and cabin top at some point to get rid of my various stress cracks, but those are cosmetic and the topside is solid.

[Rich Schwochow]

About 10 yrs. ago I replaced the core on the port side of the rear deck. I used a dremmel tool with a 1/8" carbide bit and used an adapter that holds the tool at 90 degrees. I secured a straight edge fence board on the deck and ran the tool along that. Also, I ran the tool along smooth trim edge where it meets the non skid. I bought the core from Defender. It was balsa core with screen like fabric on the back. It was exactly the same thickness as the original. I used all West System products for the laying in of the new core using their guide lines. I filled in the 1/8" cut following their directions and coloring. After a year or so you would never know in was removed.

[willietrojan]

Here is a post I made on this subject.

http://www.trojanboats.net/wforum/viewt ... t=core+rot

[trepka2001]

I replaced my whole foredeck on my F32 and it came out great!!! I used marine grade ply in place of balsa and tackled the job from above.

I cut the ply to fit, waterproofed the pieces with epoxy, put them in place (had 3 seperate pieces because of job size) and built up area to outer beveled edge with fiberglass. Then used fairing compound to fill in low spots and painted with kiwigrip non-skid and you would NEVER be able to tell it was replaced.

I also repaired various soft spots in the gunnels with the drill hole, clear out wet rotten balsa core with clothes hanger (very tedious), let dry and inject hole with a mix of epoxy/silica.....solid as a rock!!

The hardest part of the project was cleaning the old balsa core from the inner skin of the foredeck and trying to keep my dust from landing on my storage neighbors boats.

I am a novice at best and was told I was crazy when I tackled this job but it really was worth it!!!

[g36]

ready thats your opinon and i'll disagree and leave it at that
sorry randy didnt read your whole post,

[randyp]

Thanks for the advice and quick replies. I have a Dremel tool and might just try that approach to removing the area. I like the idea of spot repair at this point, too. Again, thanks for the tips and experience. It's what makes this forum so great.

[Paul]

I had an area around the hauspipe on the front deck that was soft. I repaired it from underneath the deck in the anchor locker. This was a small area, only about 1 1/2 ft sq, but it was repaired without damaging the top deck. Cutting it out was a very dusty job in such a confined area and as stated in an earlier post, "gravity was not my friend". To help overcome the gravity issue, I used a little silica filler in the West System resin to thicken it up so that it would not sag or drip.

Hope this helps