Replace floor or not?

[Geoff_Jubb]

Hi everyone,
I have taken the floor out of my Sib (Avon S460). It has probably not been out for years.
I found some damage, and was wondering what you guys thought, should I replace it with a one piece ply floor, or will it be ok?
Also, should the triangular thrust board be thinner than the main boards? It is on mine.
I was going to sand and paint it all, but if it needs replacing I would rather do it sooner rather than later.
I have also been thinking of changing it anyway, before I noticed this damage.
Many thanks for all help,
Geoff

[walruz]

If it was mine I'd probably replace the whole lot but definitely the section in the first photo.

Ian

[Seabay]

I am interested in the replies to this,
My Avon S340 has some damage to the floor also and I was thinking .... Do I change or repair.

[Sonar]

Originally Posted by Geoff_Jubb

Hi everyone,
I have taken the floor out of my Sib (Avon S460). It has probably not been out for years.
I found some damage, and was wondering what you guys thought, should I replace it with a one piece ply floor, or will it be ok?
Also, should the triangular thrust board be thinner than the main boards? It is on mine.
I was going to sand and paint it all, but if it needs replacing I would rather do it sooner rather than later.
I have also been thinking of changing it anyway, before I noticed this damage.
Many thanks for all help,
Geoff

What are the boards made of ?

[thornbackflound]

Looks like marine ply?dam expensive stuff aswell,i have made flooring with ply ,sealed it stained and varnished it at a cheaper price.as said mate the first one could do with replacing ,i would say

[markg]

measure it and see if you can cut them from 8x4 sheets of ply, i did a single piece floor in ours but it was a bit bigger boat and i had to use a 10x5 sheet @ £75
you can get away with wbp if you seal it and look after it a bit, wbp is cheaper than marine ply

[m chappelow]

our local marine ply supplier stopped selling marine ply years ago as it was too expensive and they recon that now all Exterior plywood is now resin bonded as marine ply was only difference is a eastern hardwood face on the marine stuff , i have made floorboard out of exterier ply and then coated it with glass fibre resin ,,resin and hardener only .i also coat my transoms and oars with it too much easier for me than traditional varnish .any how i dont think inflatable boat makers use varnish but use resin instead .

[wiLlfish]

Originally Posted by Geoff_Jubb

should I replace it

arsk de scotty dawg. hee luks lyke hee noes wot heez doin.

'wot doo yew fink de condishun ov dis wud iz scotty dawg'

'ruff'

wilF

[C-NUMB]

That might pend on what is the condition of the boat otherwise? Sanding and painting old ones is in my opinion not worth time and money envolved. If boat is otherwise ok, would replace with marine ply, starting with the first section. I would just copy the existing pieces one by one. 2K epoxy primer will give a long lasting protection but 1k paint might be enough fo marine ply. In my own experience ply in bad condition is noth worth the effort to repair, would You anyway trust it if things get rough? But for easy use, maybe You can keep them as it is?

[m chappelow]

as we are on about ply just had some small samples of materiels that modern lifeboats are made from,grp,carbon fibre ,e glass ,ect loaned to me by the rnli for use in some talks that i am doing, and the replacement for plywood flooboards as now used in the latest d class inshore boats is something called HEXALITE with an aluminium honeycombe core , half the weight of plywood but stronger,pity you cant get a sheet of that.