Home Grown Foam/Plywood Flooring

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jdret

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Desoto County, MS
Been kicking around an idea (not at all original, I'm sure) about laminating 2" pink foam between two layers of 1/4" birch ply to use as my flooring deck in my 12' V Duracraft. One, for added weight savings, two, to redistribute my neutral buoyancy foam and three, I can detach and lift my entire floor assembly, foam and all, in a few minutes to address any hull problems.

A 4X8 sheet of 3/4" ply is roughly 75-80 lbs depending on grade vs a 4X8 sheet of the laminate at about 52 lbs. I figure my overall weight savings to be around 40lbs.

I have not removed the bench seat tops, but my measuring them, I figure I currently have about 6 cubic feet of flotation. If I'm figuring it right, one 4X8 sheet of pink foam is about 5.2 cubic feet of flotation. In the end, I would end up with more flotation than I began with, which is fine with me.

I'm a aircraft mech by trade and I've knocked it around with some of my buds who have quite a bit of composite experience. They seem to agree it would work as long as it's properly supported and I don't wear any of my wife's high heels fishing. One of them is going to check the densities, do some higher math, and give me a reasonable span between the supports. The laminate construction would be vacuum bagged as I can get my hands on the basic equipment. I'll have to do a bit of testing with "foam friendly" adhesives and coatings.

The exposed foam edges and plywood surfaces would be all sealed against water intrusion. Carpet installed on top.

After I get some numbers from my composit friend, I plan to layer some ply I've already got at home and do a little testing.

I know, like a lot of trouble for a little gain. The way I see it, it may kill two birds with one stone and make a couple of other tasks a bit easier. I've searched the data base and haven't seen anyone else try this.....maybe I'll find out why.
 
I like the idea. Another factor to think about for those who are removing their middle benches. Definitely wanna see pics of the process and the results.
 
I am interested in your findings as well. I've got a Sea Nymph 14A that I want to slightly modify with a removable floor in the front and rear in place of the middle bench. I want to keep things as light as possible to maintain stability and your idea would be the ticket if it works. Please keep us updated!
 
It still seems like it would flex, bend, or break in the middle if not supported by something. I used foam in between the ribs on my flatbottom with thin ply on top and its fine but its supported by the ribs every 14 inches or so. If it was spanning a 4' gap like on your V bottom it migh just snap the foam board in between and bend the ply.

What if you ran a 2x2 right down the middle of the hull lengthwise to help support the ply/foam/ply deck you are going to build.

An even better question???? what if you sandwiched the foam between 2 layers of thin aluminum with a length of square aluminum tubing ran through the center and along the two sides for rigidity and added strength? After gluing it all together run a couple screws or rivets through the aluminum skin into the square tubing and then Vacum seal it. Super strong, super light and it would never rot or corrode.
 
reedjj said:
It still seems like it would flex, bend, or break in the middle if not supported by something. I used foam in between the ribs on my flatbottom with thin ply on top and its fine but its supported by the ribs every 14 inches or so. If it was spanning a 4' gap like on your V bottom it migh just snap the foam board in between and bend the ply.

What if you ran a 2x2 right down the middle of the hull lengthwise to help support the ply/foam/ply deck you are going to build.

An even better question???? what if you sandwiched the foam between 2 layers of thin aluminum with a length of square aluminum tubing ran through the center and along the two sides for rigidity and added strength? After gluing it all together run a couple screws or rivets through the aluminum skin into the square tubing and then Vacum seal it. Super strong, super light and it would never rot or corrode.

My boat doesn't have as much ribbing along the bottom as some boats, and there is not channels running below the ribs, so the foam has to be above them. It will definitely be braced at the bottom, but some internal bracing is a good idea I'll have to look at. I'll post of any test pieces. If looks like it will work out, I'll post some pics of the process.
 

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