Replacing wooden dinghy floor

[sb in gp]

I just bought a 9' Avon hypalon dinghy. The floor needs repainting, and it has a couple of small areas of rot. I am thinking of just making new floor boards. It appears to be 1/4 inch marine plywood, in 3 pieces.

Where is a good place to buy this type of wood? West marine? Home Depot?

What type of paint would you recommend?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Rondevue]

I replaced mine about three years ago with a grey plastic imatation wood. I bought it from this company, http://plasteak.com/, they sold me a 4 x 8 x 1/2" sheet and cut it into 4 - 2 x 4 pieces for shipping.

The stuff I got has a nice nonskid surface, worked out great, better than the original floor. It will never rot or need painting.

 

[390pi]

Where is a good place to buy this type of wood? West marine? Home Depot?

I had an old Avon, also, and did the same thing.

Neither of those places carry marine plywood. Might be hard to find in some areas. Maybe that plastic stuff in the previous post is the way to go.

Look for a specialty lumberyard that carries exotic wood for those in the woodworking hobby. A place like that would have it.

Make sure you check that the seams and valves are all okay before you start any of this floorboard work.

 

[ghuskin]

sb in gp,

There is a place called Nautical Lumber, located in Warren, MI. they do all sorts of work for old b-whalers, etc. I'm having them make a couple of new hatches (one w/teak veneer, two w/starboard). they will have the lumber, and can reproduce new floor boards.

pm me if you need more details.

Gregg

 

[sb in gp]

I had an old Avon, also, and did the same thing.

Neither of those places carry marine plywood. Might be hard to find in some areas. Maybe that plastic stuff in the previous post is the way to go.

Look for a specialty lumberyard that carries exotic wood for those in the woodworking hobby. A place like that would have it.

Make sure you check that the seams and valves are all okay before you start any of this floorboard work.

it does have a slow leak in the rear chamber. are these difficult/costly to fix. I can still return it.

 

[Rondevue]

it does have a slow leak in the rear chamber. are these difficult/costly to fix. I can still return it.

As far as the leak goes, it can be easy, but it depends on if you can actually find the leak and where the leak is located.

Small leaks can be very difficult to find and If the leak is down in a corner or in a tight spot, it can be very difficult to repair.

 

[390pi]

Again, check the valves for leaks.

Easy fix if that is the source of the leak; but... I had a bad valve crack the housing it was in as I was removing it.

Sorry to say, that was the end of the project. That was when I figured it was not worth the savings of trying to fix something I got cheap. Plus over time, some seams will need to be reglued on Hypalon boats and that was one more thing I didn't consider.

At least the floorboards were nice...