Replacing plywood decks on 1975 MT34

I am in the process of replacing some rotted plywood on the decks on my MT there is a fiberglass tray they sit in from the factory and was wondering if I should epoxie the new wood the the under tray. It would stiffin it a lot and stop stray watter from traveling under the plywood and rotting it. any help woul be great Dom

I would coat the plywood with epoxy before installing and then epoxy (bond) the plywood to the tray for strength and water penetration as you said.

Ya that is what I was thinking and it should last longer that I will have the boat Dom

I would not epoxy the ply to the tray, but to make sure there is a good seal around the ply so water moisture can not get under. The Eagle decks as sloped and crowed so all the water drains to the back and sides of the deck. On each side the deck is not sealed so if there is any water it can drain over the side. Is there a way to make/have a drain incase what gets under?

Can you explain what you mean by tray?

Greetings,
Mr Dom61. I agree with Mr anode. A good coating of epoxy in the tray should seal everything up and sufficient layers of core should provide the necessary stiffness. Of course you are going to cap the tray with several layers of cloth I hope.
Keep in mind if using West System you will have to remove the "blush" between coats to get your best bond. Evidently MAS does not develop this blush and IMHO will bond together better.
I don't think P/F grasps the concept. Stick with what you were planning to do.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr Dom61. I agree with Mr anode. A good coating of epoxy in the tray should seal everything up and sufficient layers of core should provide the necessary stiffness. Of course you are going to cap the tray with several layers of cloth I hope.
Keep in mind if using West System you will have to remove the "blush" between coats to get your best bond. Evidently MAS does not develop this blush and IMHO will bond together better.
I don't think P/F grasps the concept. Stick with what you were planning to do.

Click to expand...

Agreed with the exception that you can layup the multiple glass ply covering in one lay (love the sound of that ) so you don't have to worry about blush or sanding.....

I'm doing my flybridge where I had to cut out a 3x7 area of pieced together teak blocks and replace with 1/2 marine ply. Had I done the whole bridge...I would have sealed the ply but wth the patch..the top and sides and much of the bottom where the "attaching epoxy" was spread will be good enough....it would take another 30 years before more than 2-3 ply laminates could rot...but I find that unlikely as the top will now be completely sealed (no teak or other penetrations ...love that too ) so water should be a thing of the past up there...