Rotten floor repair

[ketch22]

Hi all, let me introduce you to Sea Woolf! She's a 1987 (same as me!) CP-16 who's been in our care for the 9 months or so. We bought her in fairly decent shape, but have been working hard to get her back into what we consider to be excellent condition.

[/URL]

I'm not sure if it was the previous owner or a manufacturer thing, but about half of the interior was carpeted.

[/URL]

Either way, we decided to yank the carpet out and check the integrity of the wood below. We found some pretty serious wood rot, which we cut out, revealing a few gallons of water pooled up behind the foam. Somehow, we need to figure out how to get all of the water out before we even think about repairing the plywood/fiberglass otherwise we're just going to wind up with more rot.

[/URL]

My questions for you all are as follows: 1) are there other places on similar aged CP-16s that are prone to soft spots 2) what would be the best way to make sure there is no more water between the floor and the hull before we glass it back over and 3) any suggestions on how to prevent moisture buildup in the cabin in general (it's pretty much always humid where we are)?

We just want to be back out there sailing as soon as possible!
[/URL]

[Chris D]

There are a few posts on the 16 forum about replacing the berth wood. It does seem that that wood is pretty susceptible to rot from water. The posts go from removing the deck from the hull to crawling back in the berth space to repair. It seems water can get in anywhere from the hull/deck joint, to any through deck attachments. Sea Woolf looks really nice on the outside. Epic 1969 had issues with wet cabin floor here, http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=8781.0. Keyskid is another who did some major interior work that can be seen here, http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=5837.msg41184#msg41184. And here, http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=4970.0, Jordan did a nice job of replacing his berth wood. But all that aside, any penetrations through the deck or hull could be suspect after 30 years. Someone mentioned that 3m 5200 adhesive has a useful life of about 10 years, after that who knows. Hope this helps.
Chris

[capt_nemo]

Whatever you do, seriously consider allowing some ACCESS to those areas involved to check periodically for future water intrusion.

Otherwise, you won't have any idea what is going on down below.

capt_nemo

[ketch22]

That's a great idea! Would you recommend some kind of a hatch or just a cut-out that can be removed for inspection?

[capt_nemo]

A simple cut-out (with finger hole in center) that rests on small cleats fastened to the underside of top surface will do nicely. It is flush with surrounding surface, easy to fabricate, and most importantly is INEXPENSIVE.

Another alternative would be a screw-in plastic port with frame that comes in several shapes and sizes. Although fairly thin, these do rise above the surface.

capt_nemo

[JTMeissner]

I'm one of the CP-16 owners who have replaced their berths (process still ongoing).  I am amazed at the amount of water you had under the berth, and the fact that it wasn't leaking out somewhere else.  In my boat, I would think it would have leaked through the bulkhead up front and you'd be getting water in the compartment under the compression post.  Water remaining under the seat would seem to indicate the space was sealed up, and besides water leaching in (through the top?) it had no where else to go. After using a shop-vac to get the water out, fans and heat to dry it our would be the method I'd go with unless you want to go through the process below.

I fully accept there was probably water under my berths, but by the time I removed them, they were completely dried out.  To get the access to remove them completely, you'd need to pop the deck off.


The bulkheads were replaced, and the area cleaned up, and original foam replaced.


There isn't much space left over under the berth to really do much with, so I added new expanding foam to fill the voids and am doing my best to just seal off the areas completely and attempt to keep water from ever penetrating again (sealed with fiberglass tape and resin sealed across the surface).  My berths were not flush against the stringers that run along the concrete keel, so if a lot of water got in the keel footwell, it could go over the stringer into the berth void, and then stay since it would be trapped when the boat was level.  You have an access port on your front decking that would be similar to one if you wanted to be able to check underneath in the future.


Could it happen again, I suppose.  While under my care, I don't expect water to be sitting on the surface for long spells that could get underneath. 

-Justin

[ketch22]

JTMeissner, I was shocked at the amount of water under the bunks as well; I'd pump it out and more would just seep back in (presumably from the space over the keel). I wound up taking the simple course of just removing all the rotten wood, cutting out matching plywood (treated) shapes, and fiberglassing it over. I then painted the cabin with a few coats of rustoleum's topside paint, and am pretty pleased with the appearance.
[/URL]
The thing I'm worried about now is whether the rest of the bunks will just rot out over the next year or so, meaning I'll have to do what you did and yank the top off to completely replace the bunks. Do you think the original bunks are made with treated wood? If they aren't, it's amazing everyone's cabin aren't rotted out after 20 years!

Did you use 2 part polyurethane foam, or some other kind of household expanding foam (great stuff, etc)? I'm considering beefing up the floatation in the bow and under the bunks too..

PS, your renovation looks great! If I have to do the same thing later on, I'll know where to look for advice!

[JTMeissner]

Ketch, your repair looks pretty good, and way quicker than me to get back on the water. Looks like there have been a few mods done on your boat, not sure that's the original compression post and the extra berth connector just aft of the post is definitely not original.  My guess is the wood is not treated.

The foam I used was two-part expanding polyurethane foam, 2 lbs density.  Ordered a gallon mixture online, used under the berths and in a new bulkhead cavity I built in the bow.  The kit would have been enough to do the whole thing without using the original foam, but for now I have a good amount left over (though one of the bottles seems to have a small leak).  I did use some Great Stuff insulating foam/gap filler, you can see some loose tendrils in one of the photos.  I basically only used that to secure the original foam in place while I was messing around with the new foam surrounding it.  There's no comparison, the two-part is way better.  You can mix the batches in the size you want versus the spray can (use all at once or it clogs up), and the foam is so much stronger.

-Justin