sealing plywood

[thereheis]

i need to replace the floor in the sallon under the dinette.would it help to roll a couple of coats of west on to seal it before i paint it ?or just prime and paint .will the coats of west by itself add any strenght to the wood???gonna put the new vinyl teak an hollydown.
phil

[CaptPatrick]

Phil,

Since it's an interior deck and you're going to laminate vinyl over it, just seal it well with sanding sealer. Maybe three or four coats on the under side and edges, a couple of coats on the top. Epoxy won't give much more advantage over this and would be far more costly and time consuming.

Epoxy alone adds next to zero strength...

Br,

Patrick

[Rosky17]

Capt Patrick,

I have a 25 Bertram and am looking to replace the panels under the gunwale as they have rotted. It appears to me that they had no protective barrier on the backside and the cause of the rotting probably related to rodholders on the gunwale.

I was looking to replace and thought of epoxying with west on the backside, was wondering if sanding sealer would be better for this? The cockpit side was formica I believe and I will be replacing that also. I would like to be able to paint the interior of the boat(panels) . Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Rosky

[Dave Kosh R.I.P.]

Rosky,
Just a thought . On my old 25 B I used the Home Depot fiberglass product panels (white) and they held up fine for years. For the money not a bad choice and easy. No painting, no nothing just cut and use. Dave K

[Rosky17]

Dave
Thanks for the idea, The problem that i have is that the panels were painted as was the panel/mold that is on the transom where the engine box mounts up to, so when i put the pannels up it going to be three tone in the cockpit,gray antiskid floor, cream gunnel and transom and then white panels, I want this rehab to look like it belongs, and I have a gallon of the awlgrip that was used. These fiberglass panels that you got from Home Depot, how thick were they and what part of the store did you find it in? I have been in looking at plywood and mazinite, but didnt see any fiberglass type panel.

Thanks

Brian