Wet balsa core repair options?

[prof_mariner]

Originally Posted by Time2Go

Check out “Sail Life” on YouTube
The gent just did a complete recore
You can get a good idea of what your in for
Cheers
Neil

Good videos, thanks. But if this project requires replacing the entire deck I don't think I'll buy the boat. I'm hoping that I'll only have to replace smaller sections (at the chainplates, some deck fittings, etc.). Unfortunately since I don't own the boat I'll have to rely on what a moisture meter tells me and can't drill holes to verify that the core is dry.

[NYSail]

My last boat was a 1986 Pearson 36-2 with very wet decks. I got a good price and proceeded to recore from cockpit to fordeck on both sides. Used a circular saw and cut the top skin off, ripped Old balsa out and recored with nidacore. Had solid glass under all stanchions. Then had the top reglassed. Guy who did the job then did a reverse mold of the original non skid and epoxied it down. Looked great and was solid....... had a few cosmetic issues with the non skid however overall was a great job and well worth it. There are now more options for new decking that I would consider if doing it again. When I sold the boat it was a selling point as you never had to worry about decks again. Also going from the top was in my opinion the way to go as I had an interior molded headliner I did not want to destroy plus with all the cabinets and bulkheads it would have been too difficult to get it all out.... then you have to deal with gravity as you put it back together.....

Get a good price and take your time.
Good luck!
Greg

[sailor_ed]

Prof_mariner,

Sorry I didn't make that clear. The deck was weighted with sand bags while curing. Polyester was used not epoxy. Maybe these days epoxy would be used but the workers at Bristol knew polyester "to a T" so it was their material of choice.

[Scaramanga F25]

Ever try and do glass work from the interior defying the laws of gravity??
Do it from the top. Deck needs work anyway. Remove everyting and paint whole deck.

[Cheechako]

It depends. How extensive? Where? I recored the whole V berth overhead from inside on my 44 footer. It wasnt really hard just messy. Wear a paper overalls and cover the entire V berth with old flat cardboard. But that cored deck was nearly 3/8 thick glass on the outside layer anyway. ("Taiwan engineering": lay it up thick!)
I believe that many of the boats out there have some moisture in the deck core and it may not be very detrimental , depending on where it is. It may depend on the boat too. For instance, some boats have thin layup in the cored areas, some other boats never carried thru with laying up less glass where cored. Communication out to the dizzy, fume infested, chemical hungover layup guy never was much good at many boat places.
So if the core is a bit damp, the thick layup is as good as the old days when decks weren't cored at all. So should you worry about replacing the core? The best way is to drill a hole inside maybe 3/16 diameter thru the bottom glass layer. Take the balsa dust out of the drill twist and squeeze it between your thumb and finger. If water comes out it's wet.
I bet over half of fiberglass boats out there have water saturated rudders too. It's kind of a "dont ask dont tell" thing with rudders. Over 50% of the boats I had were wet inside the rudder when I drilled a hole. The TPI vacuum infused catamaran I had was 6 years old and one of the two rudders was saturated.
Anyway, so I guess I'm saying it's all about the details.

[Scout 30]

Injectadeck | The soft boat deck repair.

[Terra Nova]

S--boat rebuild in a can.

[Old Engineer]

The repair methods as described are sound. However do not forget that you must find the source of the moisture, most likely a leaking hatch flange, handrail mounting or winch mounting. Until you resolve these you'll just be facing the same problem again.

[ras1544]

I was wondering about the Injectadeck product also.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

S--boat rebuild in a can.

Do you actually have any experience with Injectadeck? My neighbor just replaced his fuel tanks in his Cape Horn. He foamed them in with 4lb structural foam and that stuff sets up extremely hard. It certainly seems stronger & denser than balsa. If the inside & outside fiberglass layup is sound I think the injectadeck method could be a cost effective way to save a lot of older boats with this problem, especially boats that originally had teak decks.

[Hardhead]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

Injectadeck | The soft boat deck repair.

Anyone have any real life experience with this? Very impressive if it works well.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Fuggetaboutit.

[prof_mariner]

Found this article that I thought was helpful:

https://www.rotdoctor.com/glass/GLrotrepair.html#deck

[ramblinrod]

Very few balsa cored boats over 25 years old have no moisture in the decks.

The life expectancy of most sealants is 15 years +/- 5.

If the owner(s) have never previously pulled all fittings and rebed (prefereably with resin potted mounting holes) then there is likely moisture in the deck some where.

Moisture is not a death sentence and repair may be quite simple.

Balsa core can be wet and as long as it doesn't rot or delaminate, the composite can be sound for 50 years.

A lot of DIYers pull way more deck surface (and end up wrecking boat aesthetics and value), than required to effect a life long repair.

In 90% of cases, if caught early enough, all that is required is to pull and rebed the associated fitting (preferably with resin potted mounting holes).

(If you can spare the time, do all of the other deck fittings while at it.)

If not caught early enough, there may be rot or delamination, but this generally only extends a few inches from the moisture entry point.

For a small amount of rot, say within 3 inches of the fitting mounting holes, it can just be dug out with tools, the mounting hole sealed on the bottom with tape, and the whole thing filled with resin, and mounting holes redrilled.

Even if moisture extends beyond the rot for feet, no biggy, just train a blow dryer into the hole (not sealed on the bottom) for 15 minutes to force the moisture from the internal exposed sdges of the balsa. Flush with Methyl Hydrate a few times before pouring in the resin.

So my advise is, don't bother buying a moisture meter. You can detect rot and delamination by percussion sounding with a hammer you already own. A moisture meter tends to freak a DIYer out, and cause them to lift and repair 10 times more deck area than required.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by ramblinrod

...Even if moisture extends beyond the rot for feet, no biggy, just train a blow dryer into the hole (not sealed on the bottom) for 15 minutes to force the moisture from the internal exposed sdges of the balsa. Flush with Methyl Hydrate a few times before pouring in the resin...

Plenty of misinformation here but this is so wrong. As if you can dry out wet balsa core in 15 minutes using a blow dryer!