Quick and dirty soft deck fix
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:29 pm
Yes, I know; there is only 1 right way to fix a soft deck. Well, I would rather sail than do fiberglass work during the good weather. I hated stepping on a soft spot on the deck of my 1976 Bristol 24. It felt like the core was completely gone in a small area. The deck skin had a hollow looking area of about 1 square foot. I've read about drilling holes in the deck and injecting epoxy to fix soft spots, but didn't want to make things much harder when I get around to recoring the deck. I drilled some 1/4" test holes and found the balsa was crumbling and slightly damp. The surrounding area was firm and dry. I thought about what might be used to fill the area, but wouldn't be too hard to remove. I saw a bottle of Gorilla glue at the store. The instructions said to damp the area to be glued. Well, that had already happened! It also said the glue expanded 3-4 times after reacting with moisture. Sounded like just the thing!
I put down several pieces of masking tape to lessen the mess, and drilled holes about 3"-4" apart throughout the soft spot. I squeezed glue into each hole. Some holes took a lot of glue, others not so much. I tried to stop before filling the voids to allow for expansion. Within minutes, glue, foam, and balsa pieces were bubbling out of the holes. After a while the foaming stopped, and in about 1 hour the foam was hard enough to remove the tape and excess foam. It left the 1/4" holes filled with foam. I will re-drill the holes about 1/2" deep. and fill with epoxy putty.
I allowed a day before stepping on the deck. It felt completely firm and no diferent than the rest of the deck. The hollow spot was back to the same level as the surrounding deck, without and bulges or irregularities. I may not even bother with recoring at all!
I put down several pieces of masking tape to lessen the mess, and drilled holes about 3"-4" apart throughout the soft spot. I squeezed glue into each hole. Some holes took a lot of glue, others not so much. I tried to stop before filling the voids to allow for expansion. Within minutes, glue, foam, and balsa pieces were bubbling out of the holes. After a while the foaming stopped, and in about 1 hour the foam was hard enough to remove the tape and excess foam. It left the 1/4" holes filled with foam. I will re-drill the holes about 1/2" deep. and fill with epoxy putty.
I allowed a day before stepping on the deck. It felt completely firm and no diferent than the rest of the deck. The hollow spot was back to the same level as the surrounding deck, without and bulges or irregularities. I may not even bother with recoring at all!