Sealing ply?

[Scope]

Just wondering what everyone uses for sealing plywood for their tinny decks. I've gone through a fair few old threads and have a couple of answers.

Also got some good advice from Rob (zim man) already, I'm just interested to know some alternatives.

Also - what's best for gluing marine carpet down

Cheers - Jono

[Funfisher]

when i had to replace my floor last year i used a paint on marine lacquer i forget the exact brand but any of the big paint companies stuff should be good. Just make sure you give it at least a few coats and ample time to dry. I cant recall the name of the self adhesive i used either but i will see if i can dig it out i think there is some left over somewere i got it from bunnings flooring secion anyhow and it has held up well.

[Derrilex]

I just used a oil based varish on mine and gave it about 3 coats paying attention to really soak the edges as this is where the rot will start. As for the glue, synthetic turf glue is the go. Bunnings sell it in a large tin pretty cheap. Put it on the ply with a notched trowel ( $ 0.50c Bunnings) lay the carpet down, pull the carpet off so the glue forms string, wait a few seconds for the glue to become tacky, then put the carpet back down - smooth it out and wrap the edges securing with a staple gun. Pull the staples out when dry.

[Gad]

What I did when I put the floor in my tinny 3.5 years ago I used estapol. I thinned the 1st x 2 coats down…75 estapol to 25% turps, I rolled this mix on each time but brushed it on the edges to work it into the edges well.

I poured excess mix in the middle of the ply sheets and just kept rolling out until all had soaked in.

For the next 2 coats I used straight estapol and sanded between the coats. With the 2nd coat, just before it was touch dry I applied a 3rd coat, by rolling this 3rd coat on this way,I caused air bubbles on the top finish of the 3rd coat,when it dried I did a light sandpaper on it to open the surface air bubbles.

I had allowed an extra 50cm edge of carpet to tuck under , right around the underside of the ply floor.

By this time my ply was completely sealed with a rough topping for the adhesive to bind to. I bought can of Kwik Grip for the adhesive.

This I poured on the ply and used cheap roller sleeves to roll it out over the ply and edges, I spread the adhesive on the bottom of the carpet with an old paint scrapper.

,waited for both surfaces to get to the tacky stage,

then worked the carpet onto the ply from 1 edge in a straight line down the length of the ply, I then used a roller all over the carpet to get rid of any possible air bubbles between the ply and carpet.

I left the creation for a week before fitting into the boat.

It`s been on for 3.5yrs and the carpet doesn`t look like lifting and the ply is as solid as the day it was put in….I`ve used this method on previous boat floors and not had any problems…I`m sure others will have their ways of doing it.

[Keen-as-fisho]

Resined both top and bottom then put a coat of gelcoat on the underside. This is how they did the haines/signature boats back in the 80's. And used kwik grip for the carpet same as metioned above.

[nadders]

have you considered not glueing the carpet down at all mate, and using velcro or press studs to fasten it?

that way you can take the carpet off to wash things down well every now and then, soak the carpet to get rid of sand etc that will never just wash out with the hose

lots of people on both sides of that fence but at the end of the day its your choice, just offering another alternative

[ozskippy]

mate i did exactly what you are doing now a year ago got advice off the forum and then went for it. In the end i went to the boat shop bought a 2 part epoxy resin and sealed it that way with 2 solid coats. i decided i only wanted to do it once and with the money i spent on ply, carpet etc i figured the extra $80 for the good quality 2 part epoxy was worth the money. To fit the carpet i bought a 4l tin of 3m contact adhesive and sprayed it on with a spray gun. I am really happy with the results probably no better but for me it was peace of mind i would have been pissed if i spent all that time and money only to not seal the stuff right plus my tolerances on joints and doors were pretty tight so i could not afford the timber to swell. So far so good!!!!Probably no better than varnish but better for my sanity as i tend to over engineer most things i build

[aussie123]

The majority of ply floors fail because of the screw holes when fitting them.

People spend a lot of time and money sealing the ply and carpeting but then after all that hard work they drill holes in it and screw it down.

Its these screw holes that cause most rot issues.

Best way is to get a syringe and when you drill a hole squirt some sealer into it and then whack the screw in.

This will help the new floor last many years.

[fishingnut]

bondcrete

[Master Sardines]

If you wanna do it right, Evedure

/>http://www.biasboating.com.au/p-768-international-everdure.aspx

[Travis]

i used form ply, never had to seal it, and just used normal contact adgesive, do it right and shes apples

[maxi]

a good quality acrylic (water based) primer sealer undercoat will do the job fine, much better than any clear coating. at least 2 coats with a quick sand of the edges in between. or contact dusky and get some of his paint, tree wound dressing, sticks to anything and the best sealer going, comparable in price to any exterior acrylic...

[haines490slc]

Doing my front and side pockets at the moment, I went with Epiglass from BCF, two part epoxy sealer. Just put my first coat on. Will let you know how it goes