How bad does your floor flex???????????????

[396_WAYS_TO_SPIT]

I took my 18 foot charger jet out sunday and the floor felt like I was in a wave pool. You could feel every wake. If you look back while driving you can see the floor moving up and down. Is this natural? Me and my dad pulled up the floor and it had about 3 gallons of water in it. The wood was soaked and rotten.It has 1 stringer running up from the motor. The motor is sitting on 2 stringers. Me and my dad is replacing the floor tomorrow. We were thinking of running 1 2x4 on each side of the single sringer glassed in. then we are going to put a new piece of 3/4 inch plywood down and glassed in for the floor. Would this make my hull more stable? We will have it done before sunday but do you guys think it will be fine? It also had a small crack in the bottom that was leaking but my dad is going to reglass the shit out of it. What do you guys think?
396--out

[Moomawnster]

My last boat had a liquid floor...... and when I cut it open with a chain saw it let about 50 gallons of water OUT ...all the wood was jelly and the fiberglass was even rotting ...my current boat does not flex at all ...better check your hull unless it's a real light layup like Tims Youngblood [130lbs] eek! Putting more wood in will help but all the wet stuff you leave behind will freeze and thaw till it really makes a mess, this action pulls the glass fibers apart...dry that boat out !
[ August 29, 2002, 05:27 AM: Message edited by: Moomawnster ]

[beached1]

I had the same problem last season. I'm not a big fan of the "Goal Post" stringer setup that is on yours and was on my boat.
http://www.beached1.homestead.com/files/Shit_4_stringer_2.jpg
I tore it all out and glassed everything back in like this.
http://www.beached1.homestead.com/files/Stringers_in.jpg
I really would have liked to glass in the full 2x6's without cutting them down but didn't want to change the geometry too much, which would have meant making all new seats and engine cover. So, I decided to cut the two outside stringers down and run a center one from the bulkhead forward. Pinned it all together using stainless wood screws before glassing it in. Used an angle finder to set my saw angles and a compass to mark all the highs and lows of the hull. Set the new frame down on a thick bead of heavy duty liquid nails before glassing it in with one layer of mat and laminating resin and one layer of cloth. If you can find it, use kiln dried mohogany for your new stringer wood and marine grade plywood for your floor of course. I wouldn't just glass in a couple of 2x4's next to the rotted out center stringer if I were you. If it's not giving you any stiffness, then it's just extra weight you don't need onboard. If it were me, I would bite the bullett and rip it all out and glass in all new stringers and floor (and transom if needed). You are already more then half way there if your floor is out. Then you shouldn't have to worry about it for the next 10+ years. I just realized that I'm starting to sound more and more like my dad everyday. LOL.
"If it's worth doin, it's worth doin right."
oh yeah and,
"Shut the damn door! I'm not trying to heat the whole neighborhood!"

[1HOTGMCJET]

Nice looking work, beached - thought it deserved a "direct" post for reference....
BEFORE:
http://www.beached1.homestead.com/files/Shit_4_stringer_2.jpg
AFTER:
http://www.beached1.homestead.com/files/Stringers_in.jpg
NICE WORK!

[BrendellaJet]

That looks great! My boat has the stringers exposed. Any reason why they do this? They aren't 2x6 either, more like 1x6, glassed in real thick though. From what I can tell they are original. Any reason why a builder would do it this way? The boat is a 77 Brendella Bubble deck.

[79Hawaiian]

Brendella,
My stringers are exposed as well with the floor in between. I did not replace the stringers as I would have had to pull the engine and didnt think they were bad enough to worry about it. I just cleaned the bottom of the hull out real good and glassed a new floor in. It is nice and sturdy now.
http://boener.com/pics/boat/1.jpg
http://boener.com/pics/boat/3.jpg
http://boener.com/pics/boat/4.jpg

[propless]

Thoughts about the type of wood to use for stringers -
Do you lean towards a standard wood, treated, cypress or redwood (both more moisture resistence) if you can find it? Or does it really matter after the glassing?

[Raskal]

i have a 76 waikiki and the guy i bought it from just put new stringers in it he used manufactured lumber.lvl used for rim joist on houses.riped it down to 2*6 and had them glassed in .seems prety strong but now i have to do the floor lifting in corner under back seat

[beached1]

propless:
Thoughts about the type of wood to use for stringers -
Do you lean towards a standard wood, treated, cypress or redwood (both more moisture resistence) if you can find it? Or does it really matter after the glassing?After talking to Old Rigger, who's worked on/for just about every boat builder there is, he said that as long as the wood is kiln dried, you should be fine. It was my choice to go with kiln dried Phillipean Mohagany. If any of you are near the Inland Empire (909) area, try getting a hold of Reel Lumber in Riverside, CA. They not only carry every and any kind of specialty wood, but they give great advice on what kind of application it should be used for. It was their opinion, that no other wood holds up to moisture better than Phillipean Mohogany. It's some pricey shit though. For two 20' 2X6's = $150.00. ouch. It makes sense to me to use Mohogany. It's what they used in surf boards for years.

[Bow Tie Omega]

Just wanted to thank you all for hitting this subject and for the photos. I will be going through the same thing with my 21 ft Omega come winter time.

[396_WAYS_TO_SPIT]

I also wanted to thank all of you guys for the help on the topic. Me and my dad used 3 1/2 gallons of resin and a whole lot of resin. It was some serious work but it was done on saturday. I took the boat out and it was so nice and stiff. Wow what a big difference. Thanks guys,396

[hoolign]

Still scratchin? :p went through it prior to summer,shit job but sure feels good puttin the last seat screw in!

[beached1]

Bow Tie Omega:
Just wanted to thank you all for hitting this subject and for the photos. I will be going through the same thing with my 21 ft Omega come winter time.Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if you have any ?'s on the setup of an Omega. I think we have the same hull. 20'6" Bow Rider?
beached1@op6c.com

[GlastronGuy]

Mine doesn't flex.
http://home.attbi.com/~glastron_carlson/wsb/media/93515/site1006.jpg
http://home.attbi.com/~glastron_carlson/wsb/media/93515/site1007.jpg
http://home.attbi.com/~glastron_carlson/wsb/media/93515/site1008.jpg
http://home.attbi.com/~glastron_carlson/wsb/media/93515/site1009.jpg