I know what you’re probably thinking…
“Good Lord! Another floor post? Isn’t this project D.O.N.E. already?”
Alas it’s not. However, we are definitely on the home stretch now. As in, we finally have a level, solid floor for the first time in months. Wait… I take that back. We finally have a level, solid floor for the first time EVER since we’ve bought the boat. Perhaps the previous owners preferred the moon bounce feeling, but we do not. Let me tell you, it feels great to be standing on solid ground – err floor – again!
Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we? After my vigorous scrub of the floor, a damp spot revealed itself (not induced by my wash, mind you!). Matt began to cut out the rotten section of balsa, expanding from a 6? x 8? section to a 12? x 12? section. Sort of like marine gangrene. He dried it with acetone and filled the hole with balsa blocks, sealing it off with a fresh layer of fiberglass.
Once that was fully cured, we began to prep the sub floor for the new marine ply. We used the same process we did to adhere the existing boards to the sub floor – drill, epoxy, repeat. Over and over again. Only this time we had the added step of scoring the fiberglass on the subfloor so the epoxy would stick even better. Can I just say that a Dremmel is our new favorite tool, ever? That little guy can do everything.
Matt came up with an ingenious way to level the marine ply with a simple screw and bolt system. Something about pushing the boards up and pressing down at the same time. I’m not exactly sure what these markings represent, but he was able to get the floor almost completely level with a few twists of a screwdriver. Brilliant.
Next up was mixing the epoxy. Batch after batch after batch. I’m estimating that we probably mixed about 50 batches of epoxy in total. That’s 550 pumps of epoxy, 550 pumps hardener, and about 250 scoops of hi-density filler. Not to mention all of that stirring. I wish I could say that I have some serious guns after all of that mixing, but unfortunately all I had to show for it was an achy lower back. Whomp whomp.
Final product – a level, solid floor. And let me tell you, it feels SO good! Set a rug on it and squint a bit, and it looks like we have a normal floor! We just need to pick a floor do go ontop of the marine ply since we couldn’t match the old design. We’re thinking a vinyl wood plank. And here we thought we had put the home renovation project behind us. HA! Throw in a pair of lounging dogs and some massive food bowls and it looks like we’re living back in the ‘burbs!
