Boat floor options

J

James Tully

Member
I just pulled home a newly built Garvey built off the bateau gf18 plans and am going about finishing it up. The first order of business is going to be replacing the floor. There is a removable floor built of 1x6 cca decking. Way to much weight for what I'm looking to do with this boat. My original though was to just cut out some plywood floors and drop them in instead but I'm wondering what other options are out there? Figured this is the best place to ask.

Here's what I'm dealing with presently:
5958445B-5E57-4877-9C59-8013F69A328D.jpg


Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
 
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Whats the spaceing between floor braceing . Always wanted to try 5/4" synthetic deck board ripped in half myself, but probably need about 12" centers on floor braceing to get stiffness desired. Would be rot proof. Aluminum sheeting also comes to mind depending on area your covering
 
Beam is 7' and support is the 2 stringers and 2 end blocks. So ~28" spacing. Trex or similar crossed my mind but not sure the weight savings would be appreciable and I know structurally it needs more support. That said it wouldn't be too hard to add additional stringers in an open boat.
 
You could use light weight decking similar to trek, but it moves a lot with temp change and will burn your feet off in the summer sun...definitely need more support. A sheet of 3/4 marine plywood weighs about 75 pounds dry. Would really need to seal it well to keeps it from absorbing water and rotting.
 
Expanded PVC board has replaced plywood in the sign industry and also in the upholstered boat seat industry. In the Chesapeake bay a lot of people are starting to build work boats with this stuff. National fisherman did an article about it. Home depot has it in stock, check it out. Rich
 
Interesting. A friend suggested nida core but I wasn't ready to swallow the price tag. I wonder what the strength of this extruded pvc board material is. I can see its lighter and cheaper than ply, would be a home run if it could work for this application. I'll look into it.
 
if you check out that pvc board at home depot also check out the restaurant mats made of rubber with holes thru them. They have them in black usually located in outdoor mat section. Best thing ever on a boat floor to deal with heat, cold, water and ice. Lot easier on a dog during winter also than sitting on cold floor. Have used them in all my boats For years and their great. Lock together on edges and can be cut to irregular sizes.
 
James~

I agree that the treated lumber is way too heavy. I have used Cypress for floorboards - here in an O'Day Ospray.


Guthrie%20Ospray%20-%20interior_zpswo9139io.jpg


To solve the span problem, I would fasten the boards to stringers/cleats placed half-way between the existing hull stringers - so the spans would be 14" on centers. The floorboard stringers can be light stock - just make them as "tall" as the hull stringers.

BTW: I finished these with just a deck finish. It protected the wood but retained the "grippy" texture of the Cypress underfoot.


All the best,

SJS
 
Thanks Steve. Sounds like a feasible solution. Would you say cypress is best suited or anything else work? I toyed with the idea of cedar because it's easy to get but not sure it'd be well suited.

Am I understanding correctly that you fastened supports to the floorboards and had them just rest against the hull floor? That's much easier than what I was thinking.
 
Ok, you may not want to hear this, but... if that is a newly built custom floor for a newly built boat and it looks like that - I would have some concerns about the quality of the build. If you are not well versed in boat building, I would at least take it to someone who is and have them look at the boat.
 
Tod
I understand your concern but it's not what you think. It's a bit of story but the boat was built for something that never came about and sold. The second owner installed the floor from what he had laying around. Boat was never finished or launched and I came along and liberated it. I am now in the process of undoing the few bubbas that were done and finishing the rigging for the summer.

Boats been gone over and is very solid and serviceable.
 
Tod
I understand your concern but it's not what you think. It's a bit of story but the boat was built for something that never came about and sold. The second owner installed the floor from what he had laying around. Boat was never finished or launched and I came along and liberated it. I am now in the process of undoing the few bubbas that were done and finishing the rigging for the summer.

Boats been gone over and is very solid and serviceable.
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Great to hear that the floor craftsman was not the boat builder!
 
Great to hear that the floor craftsman was not the boat builder!
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There's a reason it's being pulled out first thing and replaced. But all said and done I'm into a well built boat for considerably less than what it would have cost me to build. I have been toying with building a Garvey a while and am familiar. The floor is poor but luckily it lifts out and I can finish it correctly. I did my homework before pulling this one home. Had it been built for me and that was how it showed up I'd be writing a whole different post.

My main reason for throwing this out there was to weight the benefits of a plank floor vs a plywood floor. And also a permanent floor vs a removable floor.
 
James~

I think any cedar - at least reasonably clear - would work. My Dad made a set like this from western red cedar once.

SJS
 
If the option existed and you didn,t lose any hull strenght with a removeable floor thats the way to go. If you use it a lot duck hunting it makes it a lot easier to get the junk out from under floor that will eventually work its way under it. And undersides of floors ,paticularly plywood are notorious for getting soft spots in them from condensation forming without proper venting or storage. Our fiberglass chincoteague scows (same basic hull as your garvey) all eventually end up with that problem from sealed floor.
 



Here is how I picked her up. Nothing fancy, just a solid work boat. I will eventually get to cutting out the middle seat (keeping the ribs as per plans) and making it an open boat, but for now it'll be fine for cruising and fishing with the kids. First order of business is getting rid of that sea foam green, just haven't had a day where free time and weather have lined up.
 
If the option existed and you didn,t lose any hull strenght with a removeable floor thats the way to go. If you use it a lot duck hunting it makes it a lot easier to get the junk out from under floor that will eventually work its way under it. And undersides of floors ,paticularly plywood are notorious for getting soft spots in them from condensation forming without proper venting or storage. Our fiberglass chincoteague scows (same basic hull as your garvey) all eventually end up with that problem from sealed floor.
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Exactly what I was looking to hear. The floor is optional in plans, not structural, so I'm not worried about using it to tie anything together. I think I am settled on making a removable slat floor, now just need to figure best material. This boat isn't getting much power so I am trying to shed any unnecessary weight to help her along.
 
Roy, spent alot of time down your way trying to track down a fiberglass chincoteaque garvey hull. Was a guy that made hulls and aquaculture tanks. Moved to west side of 13 but never could hook up with him. Looking for a 18/19' hull for gunning/fishing. See any around there?
Shot clays at at Pokamoke City...
 
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