balsa wood for floor support

[e514jet]

Has anyone condemplated this idea? I have been researching floor repair and have been looking at reducing as much weight as possible.
another idea i have thought about was creating 2 closed chambers in my sanger floor. forward of the bulkhead under the dash i would glass in any drainage holes and fill it with expandible foam. next glass in the main floor area completely. The only area water could be is in the engine box of course with a couple drain back holes back by the rear of the engine box stringers for drainage. :)

[Squirtcha?]

Can't answer the balsa wood floor question. General consensus on expandable foam is not a good one. Do a search on "Expandable foam" and you'll see what I mean.
Here's a quote from someone who knows.......
Never, ever install that expandable foam under the floor. Under there, the boat is always damp, no matter how well you seal it up, and the foam acts like a big sponge soaking all that moisture up and worse, retains it accelerating dry rot. Infact I always install some kind of access hole hidden under the bow somewhere, or in a seat base, where I can pop the cap on it, and then at the other end, in the well, install a drain plug and sleve. When the boats at rest, I remove both and let that area breath, removing any moisture in the process. ;)
That foam's a bad idea, and many boats come from the factory like that.
Here's another from the same post.....
NO FOAM!!!!!! I am replacing my floor because it will wick water and destroyed the wood. Not to mention the extra LB's ive been haulin. It was the weight that led me to "peek" under the floor... WAS SOAKED In theory foam seems ok.. but in a marine environment it can cause alot of damage if ever wet. Im with Old Rigger.....
There are more horror stories if you do the search.