Boat deck rebuild and extension.

[roadrunner]

I don't know if paint is necessary as I will be carpeting over it.

Have you thought about using something like a bed liner spray like line x it is easy to clean and would do a good job sealing the plywood

[Basshunter82]

Bedliner would be to expensive for my taste. Thought about Spar varnish but it is still fairly expensive

[Wishin i was fishin]

I woudnt use marine grade plywood, way to heavy and seams to be rather wet and tends to require lots of extra bracing. Not to mension, for the cost of marine grade wood you can get aluminum.

Option 1: regular plywood, If you seal your regular plywood with thompsons water seal it will last a life time.

Aluminum sheet. Aluminum sheets are easy to cut, they are light and can be glued to or painted and will never ever rot.

I use aluminum tubing for the structure, after the extension or deck is built i use aluminium welding rods from harborfreight with map gas and lock it all in resulting in a rigid base. The other perk of aluminum tubing is that it can be easily bent with a bender alowing you to really customize your build.

Sea deck is a nice way to top it all off. It looks good and so far pretty rugged.

[Basshunter82]

I woudnt use marine grade plywood, way to heavy and seams to be rather wet and tends to require lots of extra bracing. Not to mension, for the cost of marine grade wood you can get aluminum.

Option 1: regular plywood, If you seal your regular plywood with thompsons water seal it will last a life time.

Aluminum sheet. Aluminum sheets are easy to cut, they are light and can be glued to or painted and will never ever rot.

I use aluminum tubing for the structure, after the extension or deck is built i use aluminium welding rods from harborfreight with map gas and lock it all in resulting in a rigid base. The other perk of aluminum tubing is that it can be easily bent with a bender alowing you to really customize your build.

Sea deck is a nice way to top it all off. It looks good and so far pretty rugged.

To late on the ply wood. Not sure if it's considered marine grade. It's sever weather max pressure treated I bought at lowes. Feels just as heavy as the original front deck piece. Should I still seal it with Thompsons?

[GeoFisher]

To late on the ply wood. Not sure if it's considered marine grade. It's sever weather max pressure treated I bought at lowes. Feels just as heavy as the original front deck piece. Should I still seal it with Thompsons?

There were issues with pressure treated wood and the way they treat it. It caused severe reactions with aluminum, which would EAT holes in the boat.

I believe Peter had this problem.

I believe your best best is a non wood solution or wood with lots, and lots of oil based paint or epoxy or something that would really seal it.

Then every screw you put in should also be sealed with something..........

Later,

Geo

[Shellkat]

painted my new decks in my tracker with 3 coats of oil base machinery paint from porter,been on going on 3 years,it stays inside when not in use,used ac plywood,no knots in surface and its just like new.

[Shellkat]

only painted one side,I think it lets it dry out and not trap moisture

[peter]

There were issues with pressure treated wood and the way they treat it. It caused severe reactions with aluminum, which would EAT holes in the boat.

I believe Peter had this problem.

I believe your best best is a non wood solution or wood with lots, and lots of oil based paint or epoxy or something that would really seal it.

Then every screw you put in should also be sealed with something..........

Later,

Geo

Right. Don't use treated wood. It can distroy your boat. The formula for
The treatment changed in about 2006. Decks are a pain to put in so you only want to do it once.

If I were puting a deck in I would use real marine grade plywood.
Not sure if it can be found locally. There might be some that claim to me marine plywood. Real marine grad has no voids in the wood/layers to trap moisture.

I would call a boat manufacturer like Lund and see if they will tell you the brand and where to get it. I would imagine they would sell it to you.

[Basshunter82]

I have already purchased treated wood for both deck and extension framing. Wife would kill me if I just throw it away. From what I have read it would work if I coated it with fiber glass resin and oil based paint or a bed liner. I like the bed liner option as marine carpet is expensive. I'm doing this on a very minimum budget.

[otis44]

I have already purchased treated wood for both deck and extension framing. Wife would kill me if I just throw it away. From what I have read it would work if I coated it with fiber glass resin and oil based paint or a bed liner. I like the bed liner option as marine carpet is expensive. I'm doing this on a very minimum budget.

Can you not return the wood you have purchased? Treated wood imo would be about the worst option you could go with. The possible reaction with aluminum has been mentioned above and it is debatable how well resin or any other coating will adhere to it, due to its high moisture content. Marine ply would be the best, if I was on a budget and was set on coating it with resin or some other coating, plain sheeting grade plywood would be preferable to the treated and would be cheaper as well.

Advantech plywood is another option and not much more expensive than regular plywood. It is used mainly to sheet floors with and uses an exterior glue. It will take a lot of water with no issues. It is readily available, but may only come in 3/4 or 5/8 thickness which may be too heavy for your application. I have read on the internet where people are using it for transom's with no issues. I also saw where a guy left a cut piece submerged in water for about a year and there was little to no swelling or separation.

I understand being on a budget, but for a few dollars more do something right and most importantly once.

[smashdn]

Truck bed liner is not a good option in a boat imo. It is hot in the summer and is rough on fishing rods and reels as well as barefeet and dogs paws.

[luvtohunt]

I'll second the advantec sheeting. Their whole advertisement campaign was related to water shedding. I extended a deck on a small fiberglass boat one time using it. It was a little thick but felt very sturdy after construction. I covered mine in outdoor carpet and used really good glue from the carpet place. Cant remember the name of it but u brushed it on both surfaces, allowed to get tacky, then put on. I carpeted my deck before I put it into my boat then wiggled it in place. Might not work for ur purposes but the fit and finish looked as god as factory IMO. When I sold it the guy that bought it jumped up and down on the deck to test it and said "not only does it look great, its strong"