Hourston floor delaminating

[Fishin]

Hey fellas, noticed my floor had a little give to it and some spider cracks in the gel coat on my 17’ hourston, I feared for the worst (rotten stringers, floor ect.) I took some core samples drilling into the floor, all the foam is bone dry the plywood core is as dry as the day it went in, the floor is very solid underneath However it appears that the boat has a fibreglass skin/tub on top of the plywood Not sure what the right word would be LOL it ends about 2’ before the transom, just curious has anyone tried drilling holes and injecting expoxy into the holes to fill in where it’s starting to de laminate. Just an idea thought someone might be able to point me in the right direction.

 

[Gong Show]

Rip everything out and pod it.

 

[ship happens]

Nothing wrong with injecting epoxy. Just make sure the surface areas are bone dry. Use epoxy not polyester resin. There are different kinds from West Systems and Systems Three. Read about the type before you buy. But really they all work prey nice

 

[ab1752]

Hey fellas, noticed my floor had a little give to it and some spider cracks in the gel coat on my 17’ hourston, I feared for the worst (rotten stringers, floor ect.) I took some core samples drilling into the floor, all the foam is bone dry the plywood core is as dry as the day it went in, the floor is very solid underneath However it appears that the boat has a fibreglass skin/tub on top of the plywood Not sure what the right word would be LOL it ends about 2’ before the transom, just curious has anyone tried drilling holes and injecting expoxy into the holes to fill in where it’s starting to de laminate. Just an idea thought someone might be able to point me in the right direction.

That's exactly how to fix it. Drill holes only deep enough to reach the delam area. Make sure the boat is tilted and inject it with something like smiths penetrating epoxy or west system 405, etc. Inject it until you see it weeping from the downhill holes and weigh the area down with a cinder block overnight that will take care of the delam. Then fill the holes with gelcoat or just skim with epoxy and call it a wrap. Its probably just a void where they went light on epoxy if youre certain its not wet / rotten.

 

[Fishin]

Hey fellas, noticed my floor had a little give to it and some spider cracks in the gel coat on my 17’ hourston, I feared for the worst (rotten stringers, floor ect.) I took some core samples drilling into the floor, all the foam is bone dry the plywood core is as dry as the day it went in, the floor is very solid underneath However it appears that the boat has a fibreglass skin/tub on top of the plywood Not sure what the right word would be LOL it ends about 2’ before the transom, just curious has anyone tried drilling holes and injecting expoxy into the holes to fill in where it’s starting to de laminate. Just an idea thought someone might be able to point me in the right direction. Will add photos shortly

That's exactly how to fix it. Drill holes only deep enough to reach the delam area. Make sure the boat is tilted and inject it with something like smiths penetrating epoxy or west system 405, etc. Inject it until you see it weeping from the downhill holes and weigh the area down with a cinder block overnight that will take care of the delam. Then fill the holes with gelcoat or just skim with epoxy and call it a wrap. Its probably just a void where they went light on epoxy if youre certain its not wet / rotten.

Awesome thanks! I’m positive it’s not rotten I had a really good look at it, drilled a few different core samples from the floor and transom, it had a professional marine survey done in may 2020 as well, I’ll report back when I get around to it!

 

[Fishin]

Rip everything out and pod it.

She’s already an outboard from factory ‍