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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on December 11, 2011 at 10:29am

Coating with epoxy without glass would serve the purpose of making the area easier to clean and more rot resistant until water gets into a part of the plywood that is not impregnated with the epoxy.  End grain is your biggest enemy.  Your epoxy will not penetrate deeper than the first layer of veneer.

You cannot assume that the epoxy will seal a floor.  I have a twenty year old boat with bed liner on the bottom.  It will still power wash to look as good as new.  The liner has not failed anywhere; however, the wood layers of the plywood have failed in a number of places and water can be trapped under the liner. 

Oil allows the wood to breath if as it gets wet but I don't like oil on the bottom of my boat because it collects dirt and dust. I'm a lazy butt and prefer to hose out a boat rather than scrub and re-oil.  There is no perfect answer, just pick your poison and keep your boat dry and out of the sun when you are not using it. 

At our shop we now cover the inside bottoms of our boats with Durabak's UV coating without cloth.  It is tough, easy to clean, and seals the top layer of the plywood for years of great looking use.  It is easy to patch so staying on top of any potential leak is pretty easy. 

I believe that the fastest damage will come from screws that are exposed to the water or leaks that allow water to reach the end grain of the plywood rather than from the flat surface on the floor or deck.

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Permalink Reply by Roger Rippy on December 11, 2011 at 2:29pm

Thanks again Randy for the timely advice. Durabak UV 18 it is! Most of inside floor (deck) has paint remaining; the top coat has a non-skid feel and may just be Durabak. Like I said, there is one spot under the stern seat that is bare rough wood; would you do anything special with this area or just sand it down and paint it? Roger

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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on December 12, 2011 at 9:42pm

I always recommend one of these two techniques. 1. Oil raw wood and repeat often.  2. Soak it up with epoxy and then coat the epoxy with either varnish or some other UV barrier.  

If you use epoxy you can glass areas that need strength.  People building with Douglas-Fir plywood should epoxy and cloth with a 4 or 6oz cloth to prevent checking on a fine finish.  With a thick finish like Durabak you don't need to use cloth unless you want the added strength.

It sounds like you already have paint so give it a soak coat of epoxy.  After that has dried give it a light sand and then paint.

Post photos, we all love them. Best of luck.

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