Risk is always present when you work on anything for a living. Based on the owners willingness to address the host of problems with this boat will determine whether I work on it. This is a very small industry and reputation is everything, I can't afford to have the reputation for shoddy work.
One of the most unpleasant aspects of working on boats is having to tell someone their 25k boat needs 15k's worth of work.
Case in point, I was hired to cut two access hatches in the sole of a Harbormaster fiberglass house boat. Nice clean boat with a fresh interior,new Fritigo refrigerator, Force Ten gas range, Ironstone counters, Electroscan head. A nice Delta boat with gas vdrives. They felt they stole the boat for 25k. When I cut the forward access hatch I exposed the main frame supporting the pilot house. It was totally black with dry rot. These boats were built like the ski boats of the time. They choppered in the stringers and frames while the hull was in the mold and painted the bottom of the 1/2 inch shop plywood cabin sole with polyester resin and nailed the sole down with iron nails to the stringers and frames. Finished off the sole with a layer of mat on the top surface. Sealed tight with no ventilation except penetrations for wiring and plumbing. By the time I finished chasing rot I replaced the 1/3 of keelson five stringers , the frame and about 1/2 of the cabin sole. This means new floor coverings for the cabin sole, new bulkhead paneling in the sleeping cave. When the work is completed the boat is still worth 25k. All of this damage caused by a leaking water heater at some point in the boats life. Once I exposed the dry rotted frame., any marine surveyor would have flagged the dry rot devaluing the boat by an estimated cost of repair. Hopefully the owners get their money back through enjoyment of nice Delta House boat.