Another Cabin Sole Replacement Post

[AnchorJockey]

I removed my C-27 cabin sole today and thought I would share some observations.  My sole was badly worn and splintering, so it was time for it to go.  I started at a corner with a wide flat blade screwdriver and gently pried until I got enough of an area or pieces removed that I could get under the sole with a Wonderbar.  I used the Wonderbar and a hammer, gently tapping to break the wood free.  The first 10% or so was a slow go, with small pieces breaking free at a time.  Then I was able to get the longer end of the Wonderbar working under the wood and got about 25% up in one piece.  Some more small pieces followed, then fortunately, the then remaining half all came up in one piece.  My findings were similar to others, big pancake-size gobs of adhesive were used to glue the sole in place, no screws or other mechanical fasteners.  The green marks are where they ground small areas of gel coat away and created divots, I presume to give the adhesive something to latch on to.  There were also holes drilled, presumably for the same reason.  I used a wood chisel to pop loose the adhesive from the gel coat.  I switched back and forth between using a jammer on the chisel and just using the palm of my hand.  A lot of the gel coat broke clean from the gel coat, but it vs brittle and broke into very small chunks as it came up.  Very messy with all the wood splinters and bits of gel coat.  But I did not need to sand away any adhesive.

When I purchased my boat, the prior owner had a brand new sole purchased from Hutchins that he gave me, so no need for my to buy or make one.  I am going to use some type of underlay to level the new piece, and will screw it down.  I worry though that water might collect underneath and cause rot.  I have to think on this before I decide on the exact underlay method.

The pan where the sole site is very shallow.  I am almost tempted to just get a piece of carpet or rubberized pad cust to size and use that instead - it would certainly work if I did not have the new sole piece.

I will try to post a few pics.

[wes]

You've probably read my previous post on this. Whatever you use to shim the new sole should be waterproof since there's no way to avoid some moisture in that area. I bought a couple of 12x12 self-sticky vinyl tiles from the Home Depot flooring department, and cut them into 2"x2" pieces. They make good leveling shims - impervious to water, thin, stackable as needed, and the adhesive holds them in place.

Also recommend coating the back side and edges of the new sole with epoxy for water protection. I opted to varnish the top side.

Wes

[AnchorJockey]

I did see the earlier post, but when I had trouble getting my reply to load there, so I did a new thread.  Thanks your the suggestions.

Here are some pics of the removal.

[AnchorJockey]

Uh...I think I need more practice on postings pics