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Dry rot now what

1stboat

Regular Contributor
"i was doing some tinkering ar

"i was doing some tinkering around my boat to get her ready for the spring and noticed some wood not doing so good. The wook back to some of the panel throughout the boat and on the base of a few seats is flaking off and needs to be replaced. the upholstery itself is fine. i was planning on keeping most of it and only replacing what i have to. i would like to do it all myself. i am sure with some direction, from those of you who have done this before, i can do it. i do plan to do one piece at a time and expect to take at least a few weekends dedicated to doing it.

what i'm thinking is:
*to just take whatever piece of panel/seat i want to replace
*remove the staples/nails/screws
*take the cushion off
*trace the new piece by laying the old piece on top and marking all holes
*assemble the pieces in reverse order

now for the questions, how feasible is this? any tips on how to accomplish this?"
 
"1st boat, I think you are o

"1st boat, I think you are on the right track. The only thing I would add is that you might consider treating the new wood pieces (and any old wood you may be concerned about but cannot remove) with a product I have had great luck with... Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer or CPES. It is a deep penetrating 2 part epoxy that wood (healthy as well as rotting)loves to soak up. It even works well on damp wood too! Its about the consistency of diesel fuel and soaks in far and fast. When it hardens it encapsulates the wood fibers and any active rot. I have used it to treat new and old standard grade plywood (non-marine ply) on several projects and it works well. Seems to keep the wood from deteriorating or even soaking up any water. The source is a web site called rotdoctor.com and they have a good discussion of when and how to use the stuff. I usually avoid endorsing any particular product on a forum like this, but as far as I can tell there are no real competitors for this product that have the same properties capabilities and applications. Once you get the new wood pieces cut out, shaped, sanded, and pre drilled you would apply the stuff liberally to the wood and let it soak in and cure. I think you wouold need to be careful about using this stuff on any wood still attached to vinyl or plastic. It has some serious solvents in it that might attack plastic or paint or foam padding, or vinyl.... not sure. In any case, once it's cured it should be OK with contact with any of these other materials. After it's cured you can paint or glue etc. The wood will look normal but the wood fibers will be encapsulated in epoxy resin... very strong.

Good Luck."
 
"Do yourself a favor and rip o

"Do yourself a favor and rip out any wood that has that dry rot smell. If not, more wood will be destroyed.

Jeff"
 
i do plan to get all the rotte

i do plan to get all the rotten/damp wood out and start from scratch. i also plan on getting marine grade wood. just looking to see if it was project too big to handle or not.
 
"WE HAVE RE-DONE SEVERAL BOATS

"WE HAVE RE-DONE SEVERAL BOATS, AND THRU TRIAL AND ERROR HAVE FOUND THAT:
1) USE MONEL STAPLES TO RE-ATTACH VINYL
2) SEATS SHOULD HAVE SEVERAL SMALL (1' DIA)HOLES FOR VENTILATION
3) MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS A BUFFER FABRIC BETWEEN THE FOAM AND VINYL AND USE A SRAY ADHESIVE TO ATTACH FOAM TO WOOD
THIS IS AN EXCELLENT/INFORMATIVE FORUM,THANKS"
 
"Just FYI, marine grade plywoo

"Just FYI, marine grade plywood is NOT treated to prevent rot. All that "marine grade" means is that it has fully repaired facesheets (knots are replaced by "football" patches) and no voids in interior plys. If you want marine grade plywood which is treated, you're going to have to track down some XL Panel plywood:

http://www.greenwoodproducts.com/xlpanels.htm

You can mail order it from Overton's, but I was able to order it for about half their price through a local independent lumberyard."
 
"Looking at your original post

"Looking at your original post date you're probably done this by now, but for anyone else looking to do the same project, why not forget the plywood altogether. It's only going to rot again. All high end boat and seat manufacturers are using starboard. It costs more, but it's forever. It has billions of uses, is easy to work with, comes in a variety of colors, looks nice, won't leave stain marks down your upholstery, and again, never rots.

http://www.buckwoodcraft.com/king_starboard.htm

Here's one link but I think West Marine and Boaters World sell it as well.

Rick"
 
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