PDQ OWNERS FORUM

Well, my flooring is begining to look pretty ratty after eleven years. I have previously light sanded and revarnished it with fairly good results. Now I need to do something about the passage flooring between the two hulls which has suffered some discoloration due to water spillage from my water tank. I have sanded a small patch and discovered that it appears that there is some sort of applied staining to give a grained appearance to the surface of the teak venier, and this is removed as you sand away the discolored surface. How should I proceed? Can I even get a good finish if I sand down to the bare wood? Should I consider removing the sole and replacing it completely? If so, how can this be easily done? There must be someone out there who has tackled this problem, can you offer advice?

David, we replaced our flooring after it rotted away due to water tank leaking. The center was flexing so much that I felt as though we would break though the bridgedeck. I don't know which hull number you have, but the flooring is probably 1/2 inch marine ply with a thin teak/holly veneer. I don't think any amount of sanding will remedy your problem because the damage probably goes all the way through the wood, initiating on the underside. There is most likely a small amount of water still trapped between the floor and the bridgedeck. We removed that cross piece and replaced it with a new 1/2 inch ply with teak/holly veneer. When you remove the floor you'll see where the one-piece mold settee sits on the bridgedeck. First we sealed that area with 5200, allowing any potential water leaks to only drain into the wire chase, where it is easily removed. The 1/2 inch ply we purchased was a 4' x 10' sheet because you need a little over 9 feet to fit the space and we didn't want to seam two pieces. The top & underside were sealed and revarnished, then 5200 was globbed sporadically and the trim screwed down. The outcome was perfect and it obviously looks new. I can send you pictures of the demolishion and install if you'd like to see what it entails. Cost of the 4 x 10 sheet was pricey, and the cut piece, at 9+ feet long is a pain in neck to fit through the door, but it's doable.

Chris,
Did you ever consider an access to the wire chase or would that have been too hard?

Sam

It depends on the condition of the floor, dings, gouges, water stains,etc.. if its worth refinishing or replacing it. One option is if the floor is still structurly sound, prep it and cover it with a sheet of 1/4" teak and holly. This saves ripping up the old floor and a few bucks. Almost all of the 36 and 32's had Flecto varathane on the woodwork and there wasn't any stain applied to the teak and holly. James

Sam,

I never thought about installing an access panel to the wire chase. Before replacing the floor, I placed a wire pull in and felt that was sufficient. Also, as you can see in the photo, another wire can't fit through that chase unless something is removed. The main concern I had with the floor was maintaining rigidity, thinking that the span, combined with the settee one-piece-mold, played an integral part to preventing flexing of the hulls. Although I don't know that for a fact, asking someone more familiar with the original structual engineering thought process like James Powers would probably be a wise move before attempting to cut your floor.

After having completed the replacement, adding an access panel wouldn't be too difficult to accomplish. The marine ply and veneer are 3/4 inch thick. You can see from my photo that the floor came out in pieces. I just set my circular saw to not exceed 3/4 inches deep. Cut yourself a rectangul where you want the access panel, then sand, varnish and trim out the pieces you just cut out (and finish the rough edges of the main floor).

Second Wind came from the factory with an access panel to the wire chase. We also had access panels cut in the flooring under the table. There is an huge amount of storage for canned goods/water/gatorade/beer under that area. Ours has removable lock down panels, so that the structural integrity remain, however I know of several other PDQ's where the entire section of the floorboard is just lifted. It has never caused us a flexing problem and we have no cracks in our bridgedeck.

My floor under the table hasn't been screwed down for years, and there's been no problem. My wiring chase is totally full too, so I'm routing this year's projects through the steps down to the Nav Station. I've spent a ridiculous amount of time building a mold to make a cover to hide the cables from the aft bulkhead to the middle step. Pictures later. somehow.