How bad are soft spots on a foredeck? Should I walk away?

[Misterhelms]

Simple fix would be to drill into the coring and inject West Systems epoxy to drive the water out and solidify the core. When complete, SeaDek the platform.

I like it....

 

[Creekwood]

Simple fix would be to drill into the coring and inject West Systems epoxy to drive the water out and solidify the core. When complete, SeaDek the platform.

Read his post again. It’s two spots and almost 20 square feet of deck. No way epoxy injection can fix that. You would need gallons and gallons and it would still not work.

 

[firecadet613]

Read his post again. It’s two spots and almost 20 square feet of deck. No way epoxy injection can fix that. You would need gallons and gallons and it would still not work.

I was replying to the swim platform on the '07 340... I'll go back and quote his post....

 

[firecadet613]

I like it....

I wish I'd of thought of that before I spent $5k on a new engine hatch on my last big boat! A friend did this repair with great success last year....and if you add SeaDek, its like it never happened...

 

[fwebster]

It is not only the size of the area to be injected but the notion that "epoxy can drive the moisture out and solidify the core". A 15sq ft are that began as a leaking hatch is going to be very wet. You won't permanently fix that until you remove the wet/rotted core and replace it with new coring material or pump enough epoxy into the void that you essentially turn it into solid FRP. Solid epoxy would turn the deck solid and create a problem with different expansion coefficients between the solid mass of epoxy and the fiberglass polyester resin in the rest of the deck and an endless stress crack farm on the deck.

I think the size of this spot moved it from a "short-cut do-it-yourself project over the winter" way past that and into the "let the pro's handle it" department.

 

[firecadet613]

It is not only the size of the area to be injected but the notion that "epoxy can drive the moisture out and solidify the core". A 15sq ft are that began as a leaking hatch is going to be very wet. You won't permanently fix that until you remove the wet/rotted core and replace it with new coring material or pump enough epoxy into the void that you essentially turn it into solid FRP. Solid epoxy would turn the deck solid and create a problem with different expansion coefficients between the solid mass of epoxy and the fiberglass polyester resin in the rest of the deck and an endless stress crack farm on the deck.

I think the size of this spot moved it from a "short-cut do-it-yourself project over the winter" way past that and into the "let the pro's handle it" department.

Agree 100%. But on a small spot due to improperly sealed davits, it should work just fine provided it's just the small area around the davits.

 

[Golfman25]

Agree 100%. But on a small spot due to improperly sealed davits, it should work just fine provided it's just the small area around the davits.

Yeah. All depends on the area we are talking about. With the davit mounts, if I am keeping them, I may think of grinding out the area and replacing any wood with resin. Remount the davits and cover with faux teak. Stop it cold, never to return.

 

[fwebster]

Was this thread about soft decks or swim platforms......or am I in the wrong pew again?

On a Sea Ray, there is one primary difference between the construction in decks and swim platforms: Most swim platforms and fairly large flat level areas and decks are slopped, have radiuses edges and are long and narrow vs. big flat areas. That lends the Sea Ray designers to favor using marine plywood in swim platforms, however, the designers have never had to repair one either. If the davit mounts have been leaking, it gets to be a big but relatively simple repair quickly because you cannot dry a plywood structure like you can a balsa one. You pretty much dig out the plywood and replace it....a pretty easy repair if the wet/soft spot is small, but one larger than a couple of inches and you are into the matching non-skid territory again.

If you can handle the non-skid issue, the easy fix is to drill down into the swim platform with a hole saw almost thru the platform then remove the plywood or core material whatever it is, and cut a replacement plug out of a piece of mahogany cut to fill the hole, then epoxy the plug into the hole almost to the surface. Depending upon how you plan to finish off the non-skid, or not, West Systems makes a white tinting paste that you could use in the last mix pot to fill the hole. Next, sand it and spray it with Arctic White gelcoat (if it is a Sea Ray), wet sand and buff the gelcoat and the repair will look like just a plain round ladder mount.

 

[Golfman25]

Was this thread about soft decks or swim platforms......or am I in the wrong pew again?

It changed a few posts ago.

 

[Mig22]

Gibco Flex Mold is a company that has molds to match non-skid surfaces. Here’s a link to their site:
https://gibcoflexmold.com/patterns/

 

[firecadet613]

Gibco Flex Mold is a company that has molds to match non-skid surfaces. Here’s a link to their site:
https://gibcoflexmold.com/patterns/

Super easy to use this with a Spectrum Color patch paste kit - I covered up some snaps I removed, earlier this year. Couldn't be happier with it.

 

[dtfeld]

As far as the OP is concerned.

You had better have a huge budget. Budget items for the first year include:

1) What it costs to purchase and finance the boat. Thats $15K for a finance or cash for the boat.
2) Taxes, Sales or Use tax. this could be 5-10% of the boats value (not sales price).
3) Slip Fees and deposits - Gas, grass or ass...slips are not free.
4) Insurance $1000+/-
5) The $30K to fix WHAT YOU THINK IS WRONG (wet deck)...maybe...If there is one leak...
5) Another $10k to fix what you don't know is broken but really is.
6) Normal Maintenance on all the systems...engines x2, generator, bottom, canvas etc.
7) Outfitting the boat with sheets, dishes as henry boyd pointed out
8) Gas - it could be hundreds every week-end if your running the boat. Figure 30-35 gallons/hour x local price.

This is no upgrades...


As others have pointed out, It adds up fast and it adds up BIG $$$. With that repair, you could be in $50k-$75k easily.

 

[fwebster]

Super easy to use this with a Spectrum Color patch paste kit - I covered up some snaps I removed, earlier this year. Couldn't be happier with it.

Perhaps easy to use on a spot the size of your little finger nail........but matching the non-skid on the perimeter of a 15 sq.ft. area is far from easy.

 

[Sea Joy]

I am new as well as you can see by my number of posts.

Not sure if you've made your decision yet. It is a difficult one. I just went through this same thing with my survey. The small list of the mechanical issues which were minor were fixed, as I had that in the agreement. The one "major thing" was the delam up on the deck. This is my first boat and I have no clue what is good/bad or what I am getting myself into. The surveyor said it was approximately 10 ft. I got two quotes, one was in the 20k range and the other was 5k range. Big difference! I was on here and other forums looking for answers as to what to do. I also called random brokers to ask their opinion.

Of course you read mixed reviews. Funny looking at this thread I see everyone saying run lol. Had you posted this a few weeks back it I might've run. There was a lot of going back and forth (in my head). After talking to the brokers I came to the conclusion to move forward. Every one of the brokers said that this is a problem Sea Ray's have and there are going to be many boats that have this issue. Of course some worse than others. My understanding is that people don't re-bed all the areas water can get in so eventually it will happen. I was worried about the problem getting worse and resale. They said to get the areas on the deck re-bedded and I should be fine. They also said these boats will sell! People know this is an issues.

It really depends on how bad it is and if you feel your getting a deal. The boat I am now days away from closing on is not "that bad". You can't tell because it's not spongy at all and I wouldn't had known without the survey. I asked for a decent amount of money off and the sellers agreed to the amount; so I feel I got a good deal. Had they not come off of the price I was going to run.

Make the best informed decision you can and hope it was a good one. Good Luck!

 

[firecadet613]

I am new as well as you can see by my number of posts.

Not sure if you've made your decision yet. It is a difficult one. I just went through this same thing with my survey. The small list of the mechanical issues which were minor were fixed, as I had that in the agreement. The one "major thing" was the delam up on the deck. This is my first boat and I have no clue what is good/bad or what I am getting myself into. The surveyor said it was approximately 10 ft. I got two quotes, one was in the 20k range and the other was 5k range. Big difference! I was on here and other forums looking for answers as to what to do. I also called random brokers to ask their opinion.

Of course you read mixed reviews. Funny looking at this thread I see everyone saying run lol. Had you posted this a few weeks back it I might've run. There was a lot of going back and forth (in my head). After talking to the brokers I came to the conclusion to move forward. Every one of the brokers said that this is a problem Sea Ray's have and there are going to be many boats that have this issue. Of course some worse than others. My understanding is that people don't re-bed all the areas water can get in so eventually it will happen. I was worried about the problem getting worse and resale. They said to get the areas on the deck re-bedded and I should be fine. They also said these boats will sell! People know this is an issues.

It really depends on how bad it is and if you feel your getting a deal. The boat I am now days away from closing on is not "that bad". You can't tell because it's not spongy at all and I wouldn't had known without the survey. I asked for a decent amount of money off and the sellers agreed to the amount; so I feel I got a good deal. Had they not come off of the price I was going to run.

Make the best informed decision you can and hope it was a good one. Good Luck!

What's not spongy today could easily be spongy tomorrow. Once it's wet, resealing the screws won't help. You'll have to do the proper repair and fix it.

Myself and many friends will not buy a "wet" boat - I'll move right along. Two friends recently bought Cruisers 3870 and both found many of them to be wet. They kept looking until they found a dry boat - they are out there.

 

[Golfman25]

"Wet" boats take a hit, no question about it. I was looking at one online, talked to the broker and he had sold it the day before. A week later it's listed again, at $7000 less. I knew exactly what happened. Called the broker to see. In this case, the boat had deck issues, but they where "fixed." They did the $3000 fix -- drilled holes, dried out, and injected epoxy. But two things happened. There where still elevated moisture readings around the repair and the repair was visible as it was in the non-skid area. Seller did not get full value for his boat. If you move forward, you must buy these "wet" boats right.

 

[Sea Joy]

What's not spongy today could easily be spongy tomorrow.
Myself and many friends will not buy a "wet" boat - I'll move right along. Two friends recently bought Cruisers 3870 and both found many of them to be wet. They kept looking until they found a dry boat - they are out there.

This is true. Who knows how long it will take for it to get real bad.

If you find out before spending over $1,000 every time you look at a boat then I get it. If not then you could spend a few thousand to find a boat that has no delam but has other issues. Which most (All) boats 20 years old will have. I think you have to just know there will be something wrong with each of them and you have to decide what is a deal breaker.

Again, I'm new to all of this so in a few years I will have a better understanding and may change my thoughts.

 

[Soulshine]

This notion that epoxy will drive the water out couldn’t be farther from the truth.

If the core is wet and somehow made totally dry the epoxy will wick into the core material through capillary action but this would require a continuous application. One the epoxy cures, more won’t penetrate past that point.

You’d have no idea when you were done in a large area if you were injecting it and working blind.

Another consideration is that on a sloped deck the epoxy would run down hill and possible away from the strike zone during its long cure time. Again no way to know how fast or how far.

Thickening it to prevent this would prevent it from wicking into the core and negate the entire effort.

A dock neighbor of mine insists that the heat generated by the epoxy curing will dry out the core.

Uh, right.

I had a 10” x 10” hatch leaking last year and found wet but not rotten core about 1” deep on the downhill side. After removing the hatch I Gorilla taped a piece of heavy plastic over the hole in the deck leaving the opening exposed to the cool and dry air of the cabin for a week.

I painted the edge of that opening with numerous wet coats of epoxy until it stopped wicking in, replaced the hatch and a tragedy was averted in a few hours.

If the area is big cut it out or walk away.

 

[Golfman25]

This notion that epoxy will drive the water out couldn’t be farther from the truth.

If the core is wet and somehow made totally dry the epoxy will wick into the core material through capillary action but this would require a continuous application. One the epoxy cures, more won’t penetrate past that point.

You’d have no idea when you were done in a large area if you were injecting it and working blind.

Another consideration is that on a sloped deck the epoxy would run down hill and possible away from the strike zone during its long cure time. Again no way to know how fast or how far.

Thickening it to prevent this would prevent it from wicking into the core and negate the entire effort.

A dock neighbor of mine insists that the heat generated by the epoxy curing will dry out the core.

Uh, right.

I had a 10” x 10” hatch leaking last year and found wet but not rotten core about 1” deep on the downhill side. After removing the hatch I Gorilla taped a piece of heavy plastic over the hole in the deck leaving the opening exposed to the cool and dry air of the cabin for a week.

I painted the edge of that opening with numerous wet coats of epoxy until it stopped wicking in, replaced the hatch and a tragedy was averted in a few hours.

If the area is big cut it out or walk away.

I did similar when I bot my boat. Replaced the hatch and hit the core with epoxy to prevent a future issue. 20 years later, the water came the other way from some deck fittings. All the way to the treated hatch core -- where it stops cold.

 

[douglee25]

OP - I think we would all benefit by understanding how your surveyor determined the deck was wet.

Was it by using a moisture meter? Was it by using a thermal camera? Was it a sounding hammer? Was it by the surveyor bouncing on the deck?

I've seen all methods used before and all methods can produce different and somewhat varying results. In fact the moisture meter which is used by most surveyors seemingly produces the most inaccurate results. I like to use them as a gauge to get pointed in the right direction, but not as a 'one source of truth'. I would possibly go back and invest in another method to confirm your original findings to make a more informed decision. I do agree with Frank that if you're going to purchase it, get it addressed immediately. Don't wait.