What to cover wood floors with?

[markbc]

Hi,

I have a 14' Achilles that has the wood floors and they have rotted out. I'm going to use the old one as a template and make new ones. It looks like the old ones had a varnish finish, but wanted to check see if that was what was protecting the wood or something else. Or is there something better to cover them with that would have some non-skid as well.

Thanks,
Mark

[jyasaki]

Later ones were simply painted (or might be thinking about Zodiac.)

I'd guess a couple or three coats of a good marine varnish would do better than most.

There are some garage floor paints that would probably suit as well.

Use a good marine plywood, as the normal glues are water soluble (which doesn't mix with seawater too well. Or rather, it does. You get the point.

Luck;

jky

[m chappelow]

Try get hardwood faced plywood it's just about the same as the old resin bonded marine ply ,

For coating as said earlier yacht / marine varnish or floor paints ok but make sure when you varnish it's dry no moisture and lightly rub down between each coat and brush on lightly,

I have painted over bare woodwork oars transpms just using clear glass fibre resin from the car accessory shop with the hardner (you don't need the glass matting) you have be to be fast though as it hardens within a couple of mins but can give a varnish like finish .

Be wary of the non slip floor paints that can be very abrasive if the tubes can come into contact or it wears a hole in your plastic fuel tank ,
it can be beneficial if used where it's needed on boats but in a small boat like a sib it stops you from sliding about and bedding your self into the boat also its hard on bare skin hands /elbows /knees
it's heavy too ,,but you could try normal boat topside paint with a hand full of sand mixed in if you feel you do need non slip in a certain area .

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

I have painted over bare woodwork oars transpms just using clear glass fibre resin from the car accessory shop with the hardner (you don't need the glass matting) you have be to be fast though as it hardens within a couple of mins but can give a varnish like finish .

Sounds like a project I did with surfboard resin. Probably the same stuff.

For Mark, in California, Tap Plastics would be a good place to check out this option (assuming there's one nearby.)

jky

[markbc]

Thanks for the reply's, Yea there is a Tap Plastic on my way home in Richmond.

[Hightower]

How about some nice carpet. Nicer on the knees

[Anchorhandler]

Originally Posted by Hightower

How about some nice carpet. Nicer on the knees

Lol, or maybe astro-turf.... Dont see enough ribs with astro-turf.. Could be a quite the niche market....

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

[markbc]

Originally Posted by Anchorhandler

Lol, or maybe astro-turf.... Dont see enough ribs with astro-turf.. Could be a quite the niche market....

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

Asto-turf is a good Idea over the wood. How is the endurance on that stuff, for my tanks and gear that would work about pretty good if it is tough enough.

[m chappelow]

Great for some boating applications but if your operating off sandy beaches regular the piles of some Carpets and Astro turf can clog up with sand , grit , seaweed unless it's cleared out .
I did see some lightweight foam interlocking floor tiles that would make a good floor covering .

Also be wary of permanently sticking Anything to wood floors , I bought a Humber 16ft work boat once and it had a thin rubber( similar to large shop door mats ) sheet stuck to the one piece wooden floor , where holes had been from dropping heavy sharp objects on the deck and piercing the rubber unseen rot had started to develop in the wood floor where water had become trapped.

[markbc]

I've tried those light weight floor covering, not very impressed by them, the rubber ones with holes in them work pretty good, but they are pretty expensive.

[Ross Champion]

I hate being the new guy who just jumps in to blatantly promote his products...but we make a soft non skid that solves some of the problems you guys mentioned.







All our consumer facing products are glue in. But if anyone is interested in removable pieces, let me know and we can sort you out.

Soft-Deck.com

[Searider]

To protect the plywood either several coats of varnish - with the first being thinned down 75% and the second thinned about 50% - this allows better penetration of the varnish.

Or

West System epoxy. They will do epoxy for coating and also non slip granules.

I quite like the soft non slip as above, once the underlying timber is protected.