Building a deck,too much weight?

[rodknee1231]

Hi I have a statecraft 14 ft v hull Its a 3 seat I built a small deck from the front seat forward flush with the seat. But I wanna put a floor deck in too you guys think it will be too much ? It's not gonna be high it will be level with the line that runs along the water level for lack of better terms, pretty much right on top of the floor it where it will sit [attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1403896781661.jpg[/attachment][attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1403896801991.jpg[/attachment]

 

[onthewater102]

How much is too much?

Too much for 2 people to lift & launch - probably, definitely if you're using plywood. Though, if you use plywood you could make it removable in which case...

Too much for the boat to handle nicely on the water? No - you're keeping it low so any added weight will be low and won't add to the instability of the boat.

Too much work? Hell no - everyone on this forum is as crazy as you for messing around with these things!!

 

[Ranchero50]

Keep it low, keep it simple, keep it light.

Loading is simply a factor of use and duty. Small pond or creek, should be fine. River, lake or bay with wake board boats, probably not so much fun.

 

[smackdaddy53]

Aluminum

 

[rodknee1231]

Thought about aluminum but I wouldn't know how to do that what thickness aluminum would I use

 

[richg99]

Ha ha.."I wouldn't know how to do that" is just a starting point for most every new project. This site is a school book on How To Do It. Good luck. richg99

 

[rodknee1231]

Haha good point my projects start with 2 words , I wonder,

 

[onthewater102]

usually people use a either a 1/8" or 0.10" thickness aluminum for decking

 

[PSG-1]

.090" to .100" is stiff enough for most decking without foam board support.

If you use foam board underneath, you can use .062" That's what is in the floor of my jet boat, and it's been there for 9 years.

 

[smackdaddy53]

I would go .125"

 

[Tanzini]

If it's any help at all. My hull (which seems pretty similar to yours) sits about 2 inches lower in the water at the transom after the build. This is after I regrettably built the decking with 3/4 ply, added 3 agm batteries (approximately 130 total), and a newer trolling motor which weighs about 35 lbs more than the old one, not to mention a whole plethora of other odds and ends. My top speed also went from 24ish down to 19.

 

[rodknee1231]

Not worried bout speed as much as stability and fishability for lack of a better term

 

[onthewater102]

rodknee1231 » 29 Jun 2014, 22:05[/url]"]Not worried bout speed as much as stability and fishability for lack of a better term

Dunno how well it will work on a V-hull - but I used FRP backed by expanding foam on my jon and it's very light, strong, and the foam eliminates that metalic thunk you get when anything falls to the floor and strikes the aluminum. Carpeted wood would probably have the same effect but would weigh a ton.

You can certainly use foam boards cut to fit to support a thinner decking material - if you do I would definitely recommend the FRP over the .062 aluminum:

1 - Both will require foam support @ ~$.75/sq ft. using 1" foam https://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-C...-Insulation-Board-86BG/100320343?N=5yc1vZbaxx but you'll also have to paint it with an outdoor latex to seal it from gasoline so that adds to the cost - but it's really a non-issue as you need it for either aluminum or FRP.

2 - Either one can be manipulated into shape using a simple hacksaw or jigsaw if you have one.

3 - Both have comparable mechanical properties in terms of the load they can bear before failure measured in PSI.

FRP - $1/sq ft. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbrand...ard-MFTF12IXA480009600/100389836#.Ul3LUVCkoas
- 0.62 lbs/ sq. ft (same data source)

Aluminum - ~$6/sq ft. https://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=1242&step=4&showunits=inches&id=76&top_cat=60
- 0.92 lbs/ sq. ft. (same data source)

For those of you keeping score at home aluminum weighs 50% more and costs 6x as much...it was pretty simple decision making from that point for me.

And I can say the FRP backed by expanding foam in my boat is rock solid - no flex at all even when standing on 1 foot & I weigh 240 lbs.

 

[rodknee1231]

Onthewater102 do you have a write up or pics I'm extremely curious about this

 

[onthewater102]

Yup - there is a link to my boat build in my signature - just click on the "2002 Alumacraft 1436". I went hog-wild with the aluminum framing - turned out to be a total waste of time & $$$ if you can get the foam to back all the FRP. Anywhere the FRP had expanding foam behind it was rock-hard.

I have channels stamped into the bottom of my boat that run lengthwise under the support ribs so I was able to set a piece of hose down there and run it the length of the boat so my front compartment can drain even with the foam expanded and otherwise clogging the drainage channels. I haven't posted pictures of the section between the mid and rear bench seats - but I set drains in the floor tied into the hosing as well as T'ing off to the sides so each ribbed section could drain should water come over (I'll get pics to illustrate this hopefully this weekend.)

With a v-hull bottom you might not have these grooves - and you don't want to go foaming the whole bottom of the boat and leave it with no drainage. Using the extruded foam boards would solve this for you - as they won't be bonded to the bottom of the boat. You'll just have to cut the lowest one to fit the contour of the bottom of the boat is all - probably run a set of contoured boards perpendicular to the center-line of the boat with a 2nd layer of square cut foam running lengthwise.

Somewhere on here there's a build post from someone who used the FRP backed by foam board and it's held up for over a year + .... here it ishttps://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25694&p=316287&hilit=frp#p316287

 

[rodknee1231]

Could you carpet that board ?

 

[onthewater102]

sure - it's just fiberglass. before applying an adhesive to it just hit it with a coarse sand paper.

I glued it down to the aluminum so I didn't have any rivets in it.