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Floor Drain

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tminihan
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Floor Drain

Post by tminihan » Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:28 pm

I'm finishing up the replacement of the floor in my 71 XK19. The original floor was three piece plywood, over a wood frame. I've replaced the framing and glassed to the two side pieces of flooring to the hull. The original floor was covered in vinyl, each section wrapped so there was a seam on each side of the center floor section. What I didn't like about this setup is that seam is right over each floor beam that runs fore/aft and is the only conduit for water to drain from the top of the vinyl floor into the bilge. Should I go with that original setup or would that contribute to the rotting of the floor beams? If I eliminate the seams either by caulk or single piece of marine carpet/vinyl, I still need to deal with drainage, maybe cut a drain hole in towards the back of the cockpit so water can flow into the bilge. Thoughts? Thanks, Tom

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Chad Durren
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Re: Floor Drain

Post by Chad Durren » Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:50 pm

I've got the same flooring set-up in the '69 Commander Super Sport that I'm restoring.

What type of wood did you use for the framing under your floor? If you used mahogany, then you should be OK with keeping the floor seams as they were originally. My frames were in good shape. I coated the pieces in a couple coats of CPES and then allowed them to dry before I painted them with Interlux BilgeKote. As long as water can drain from the floor, into the bilge, back to the drain smoothly, you should have to worry about future rot. I may add an additional holes at the base of the aft end of the stringers to help with draining from the outer bilge compartments. A buddy of mine epoxied PVC pipe into the holes so there would be no water access to the stringer core.
1952 CC 18' Sportsman
1969 CC 19' Commander Super Sport

tminihan
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Re: Floor Drain

Post by tminihan » Tue Jun 21, 2016 11:42 am

HI Chad, thanks for the response. I used douglas fir for the main floor frames running fore/aft, with mahongany crossmembers. I applied several coats of an oil base paint to the framing. My fiberglass stringers had good size holes molded in near the transom for draining the outer bilge compartments.

The fir/mahogany combo may raise some eyebrows: douglas fir was readily available locally in the 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 14' for the main frames. The previous owners of my house put in a deck with mahogany planks and skirting - which I am in the process of deconstructing. When I removed the original floor framing, the crosspieces were mahogany and held up well. I don't know what the main frames were, definitely a lighter wood and not mahogany - unpainted, and were rotted through. So I used the mahogany where I could.

I'm having trouble convincing myself that the original drain method wouldn't keep water trapped on top of the main frame members and between the frame/plywood floor - seems like it needs to run along the top of the frames to the rear until the center floor piece ends under the rear seats, then just a free fall into the bilge. I guess since it lasted this long, probably not a big deal to go back with it. I didn't pay attention to the gap of the center board before I ripped out the original floor, I was planning to snug it up against the outer floor sections after applying the vinyl, but this may trap water even more.

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Chad Durren
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Re: Floor Drain

Post by Chad Durren » Tue Jun 21, 2016 12:26 pm

The Doug Fir and mahogany combo should work great, especially if sealed well. Some of my framing was fir as well. They were dry but not rotten. I snugged up all flooring seams tight when I cut the new flooring, trying to make the seams split the thickness of the frame below. As long as I can get a screw into every foot or so to secure it down to the frames. I have yet to buy the vinyl flooring material. What are you using?
B0C0C4F7-EAEF-40C1-B67F-A2E7C4C902AB_zps4dgynpwj.JPG
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1952 CC 18' Sportsman
1969 CC 19' Commander Super Sport

tminihan
Posts: 51
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:38 am
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Re: Floor Drain

Post by tminihan » Tue Jun 21, 2016 2:11 pm

When I purchased the boat from dustoff135 on this forum, Patrick had replaced the original vinyl with this nautolex product, here's the link from Patrick's thread: http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?pa ... 2&id=23612. Sandstone was the color used in mine, a good match to the original material. The nautolex vinyl was about the only thing that survived five years of storage. The vinyl was stapled/glued (staples along the edge of the plywood on the frame seam for the two side sections of flooring). For the center section the vinyl wrapped to the underside and was stapled/glued. I've already cut my center floor board to be snug but after adding staples and vinyl it may be too tight and may require sanding the edge a little. I haven't purchased the vinyl yet. I want to get the boat in the water and make sure it's still usable before I sink money into things like vinyl and upholstery.

You wouldn't have a picture of your rear seat framing? Mine crumbled - I have a rough idea of framing under the seat cushions but would prefer pics of what it should look like.

Thanks, Tom

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Chad Durren
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Re: Floor Drain

Post by Chad Durren » Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:16 am

It appears we are in the same boat regarding rear seat framing. Mine were shot and will need to be rebuilt.

My boat is in current in the bodywork phase of restoration. Once that's complete, I'll start putting it all back together.

I can share a few pics of seats from other's boats that I have been collecting.
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1952 CC 18' Sportsman
1969 CC 19' Commander Super Sport

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