600 lbs of ROT!!!!!

[bag'em]

I just gutted my boat and am not sure if I should put foam back in. of the 5 stringer system The main stringer is going to be replaced and the middle 2 are about 30 %
I would like to cut them down to good wood glass over again. The system will be 70 % complete and hoping the closed cell foam will make up the difference.

 

[Justfish]

I just gutted my boat and am not sure if I should put foam back in. of the 5 stringer system The main stringer is going to be replaced and the middle 2 are about 30 %
I would like to cut them down to good wood glass over again. The system will be 70 % complete and hoping the closed cell foam will make up the difference.

Do not take chances with the stringers, they were that thickness for a reason.

 

[Lipripper]

X15.....

If you go through all this trouble now...... I would make it a little better then new then slap it together. You have opened a can o'worms at least sort em out.

A little extra work, wood, and fiberglass will make a world of difference.
Since you have it apart... I would change all five stringers. If you think the outsides ones are that good.... leave em.
At least do the center and the two middle ones... Rot is like rust, rust is like cancer... once it starts its hard to stop.


Unless you are gunna sell it in a year or two.....

My .25

 

[reelfast]

i assume the stringers were wood, not a good thing in a boat. i would look into 'penske board' and see if you can purchase this composite product. backing up your current stringers, to the original width and height is a good thing. water has a way of migrating into the smallest spaces and doing the damage you just discovered, sorry. why new boats are still constructed with wood stringers is a mystery to me as there are products available that do not rot.

 

[chris73]

Stringers are the main structural parts in a boat hull. They were designed for the loads. So by downgrading to 70% you set your boat up for failure. Would'nt tamper with the original design. You can get 30 years plus out of wood structures in boats if you treat it right - meaning treating it with epoxy. That completely seals and waterproofs the wood. Dont confuse this with polyesther resin treatment. Covering wood with polyesther or fibreglassing the wood with polyesther resin DOES NOT protect the wood from moisture getting to it.

 

[Fish-Hunter]

If you like the boat and want to keep it and use it and be able to rely on it, you have gone this far, you may as well fix her right. Or,,, strip it and burn it

 

[Drewski Canuck]

Oh the Horror!!!

I rebuilt the top deck on a Sylvan, and kept digging to the bottom. No wood stringers, but green garbage bags of flooded foam that would rip the bags apart.

There is no easy way around it. the wood rotted for a reason, and the foam is likely flooded as well. I DO like the design of the hulls like Century that use composite for the transom and stringers. Most boats aren't built that way. This is a fact of life. Gel coat breaks down, stainless corrodes, foam floods ... .

However, now is your chance to fix the design and layout like the manufacturer never dreamed of, and upgrade the wiring to accommodate all the great stuff they sell on the new boats these days.

Drewski