We recently restored a
boat with a small area (7 inch circle) of
deck rot by removing the bad area from below and replacing with new
wood. This was pretty simple and straight-forward.
A
used boat just came to my attention that was surveyed and is known to have wet decks from bow to
cockpit. It's a shame, because the rest of the
boat is very clean and nice, and the
price has dropped accordingly.
Now, I've seen the application of Git-Rot before-- the pattern of small holes, the drying out, the application of the two-part fluid until absorption stops. Now, even in a perfect application I know that some of the strength properties of the original
wood are
lost, but it supposedly prevents further
rot. Also, I've not too concerend about filling the holes and painting the decks afterwards (having prepped and painted decks before).
Alternatively, we could use the "work from below" method again and remove the bad
core and replace it with new
plywood. The boat in question is a
Cal 2-25, and I've read about this being done with a
Cal 2-29:
http://pages.sssnet.com/go2erie/qa3.htm
So, what's the board wisdom on this? Should we run away from wet decks, or are there straight-forward (though time consuming) solutions that are worth while?
Jim H