Replacing Floor in a 1980 Sylvan Boat

In about 1999, I loaned the boat to Roger Clay to take to Tennessee Trek. They used it every day for two weeks for water skiing. So, lots of water got drug in. Also, before Roger left, he had it at home and it rained hard for a whole day, so it got thoroughly soaked.

Even before all of that happened, the floor was already getting punky, so with all the additional water exposure, the floor was shot.

So in about 2000, I decided to replace as much of the rotten floor as possible. It was quite a job, as the boat isn't designed to allow easy access to the floor.

Above shows part of the rotten floor

The photos below shows the amount of wood that I removed



Once all the old wood was removed, I had to find wood to put back. I wanted marine plywood. That's not easy to find, but I did eventually get it from Charles Mill Marina who bought it especially for me. Total cost for two sheets of marine plywood, one 1/2" and one 1/4 ", about $100.

In addition to putting new floor in, I coated the new floor and the old floor with a couple of coats of epoxy resin. I also drilled holes in the section of floor right behind the well, with the idea being that the water drug in by skiers would drain more readily. I don't think the holes helped much though. I did epoxy that piece of wood on both side after drilling the holes so the whole thing was sealed up good.

The new floor had to be riveted to the ribs of the boat, like the original was, as the floor is actually a structural member of the boat - it hold the gunwales from coming in.

And here's the finished product. At least the wood is replaced at this stage. I still had to put the carpet back down and put the seats in, etc. I don't know what the spots are on this picture - maybe dust on the lens.