New foredeck cost?

'81 42' Formosa trawler needs the entire foredeck replaced. What would a professional job cost??

No one can really tell you as there might be an issue that crops up, not visible. Why do you need a foredeck replaced?

Soft spots have grown rapidly recently..

If the deck is just soft in areas, but there are no internal leaks, which is quite rare, fortunately, as the water intrusion seldom gets right through both layers of the fibreglass sandwich, then the dampness is essentially trapped between the layers and can't go anywhere, nor do any harm.

It is therefore feasible to stiffen the deck by removing the teak, then laying a layer of marine ply over the upper fibreglass layer where the teak was, then fibreglassing over all that, yielding it all watertight, with a non-skid finish. Leaving the stiffening layer just say 2' short of the full width when fibreglassed over then actually creates a drainage channel to the scuppers, and then the problem is solved at a much lower cost that full re-coring.

That's how the previous owner solved the same issue on my boat, and it was still fine 18 years later. Ok, yes, most go to all the trouble removing the teak, lifting the upper fibreglass layer, ripping out the damp core, then just replacing it with similar material and then re-glassing the deck. Some even replace the teak. Looks good, but in terms of how it functions, no better than the original deck and not much better than what I described above, but at over double the cost. I doubt you would recover the extra cost come resale time either, just saying'...

$10,000+ as a WAG.

David

For my OA Mk 1 it was $17k in 2012.

Pete suggested not replacing core. Well, it depends. If the core is balsa you have no choice as it will stay wet, rot and turn to mush to the point you would feel unsafe walking on the deck! If its ply or wooden blocks in the core it will not be as big a disaster.

But I for one take the view that if you are going to do a repair, then do it properly! It will pay off when it comes time to sell, if not in price then is terms of ease of sale.

Depending on the builder many of the "cores" are simple house ply with layer of GRP over, and teak stuck on that.

The teak is not structure , nor is the GRP it was to keep the plywood dry.

By pealing the teak overlay and sanding the glass layers of glass can be added .

Remember the first fiberglass boats had no core , just a single (thick & heavy) glass layup.

The deck may not be heavier than the teak overlay was , it will be 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick.

When finished a surface like Treadmaster wont be as pretty as teal, but its far better no skid.

If the core is far enough gone, it might be possible to drill some holes from under, vacuum out a lot of the wet mush, then pull dry air through for a while. Once it's dry, fill the void with either foam or epoxy to stiffen things up. It's not a perfect fix, but it's probably the cheapest fix.

You are going to have to take it to a yard (or have their specialist come look)or two for a complete inspection to get anything close to an accurate idea. An alternative is to have a good surveyor evaluate it and give their opinion. Besides the work needed to remediate the problem, the root causes(s) must be determined and fixed. The mushy deck is a symptom, not the disease.

We put an offer on a Krogen 42 that had it’s foredeck replaced, but the survey found that the upper deck had similar issues, and if I remember correctly we were told between $20-30k to repair the upper deck depending on what they found when they started tearing it out. We passed and bought the boat we have now, which turns out had a soft foredeck. I didn’t have $30k so I ended up doing the repair myself last fall. Depending on what I am worth per hour, my repair easily exceeded $10k, and was probably closer to $20k. An experienced yard would take less time but charge more per hour.

Insequent said:

For my OA Mk 1 it was $17k in 2012.

Pete suggested not replacing core. Well, it depends. If the core is balsa you have no choice as it will stay wet, rot and turn to mush to the point you would feel unsafe walking on the deck! If its ply or wooden blocks in the core it will not be as big a disaster.

But I for one take the view that if you are going to do a repair, then do it properly! It will pay off when it comes time to sell, if not in price then is terms of ease of sale.

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I hear what you're saying Brian, but as the above posts, and your own, confirm, doing it properly is damned expensive. The solution I suggested is very effective, because the layer of marine ply laid down over the top fibreglass layer, after the teak is removed, then that sealed with a layer of glass, such as FF describes, does give a strong firm deck, and the only downside is the dampness is trapped between the glass layers, but in there it's not going anywhere, as long as further water ingress is prevented by a good glass and non-slip layer. You could then think of it as more insulation from heat and sound. In my boat that being done to the main deck was totally effective.

Unfortunately, the top flybridge deck where the PO didn't bother doing that, remained a bit spongey, but no-one ever went through it. I guess it's really a matter of how much money one is prepared to spend on a cheap boat - or walk away and spend a lot more on one without those issues - or at least appears to not have those issues. Sometimes the devil you know - and deal with - might be a safer course..?

PS. They seldom used balsa for these cores, so the timber used is not generally completely mush. However, real tragedy, if you could call it that, is that a bit more money was not spent on these decks earlier, by using a synthetic core, and not screwing the teak down, but gluing it, as in later models. Think what problems that small extra step and cost could have saved down the track.

Almost all soft rotten deck , pilot house or fly bridge damage comes from leaks.

Catch the leak early and there won't be spongy boat later.

As longs a there is any moisture left, the rot will continue to spread to adjacent core.

Our complete foredeck was removed then new sandwich of ply rigid foam and FRP was installed . A big job. Exterior surface left ruff for vinyl teak product overlay. Super outcome. It was done about 5 years ago in Cape Coral . As I recall it cost around 5k. Key is to find guys who have done several. Good luck. BTW if wood not rotted just wet may dry out and reseal. Look into Smith's penetrating epoxy sealer known as CPES. Well know widely used antique and classic wooden boat owners . Great product.

caltexflanc said:

As longs a there is any moisture left, the rot will continue to spread to adjacent core.

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This. You have to get it dry.

The RIGHT way is to remove the outside glass layer in pieces until you find dry core. Replace the bad core, re-glass the top. If the problem is large work in sections so the deck maintains its shape. (You don't want a large floppy area).

As to cost..... depends on how large and how many curves and corners, and what they charge. Five digits, for sure. That said, see if you can find a yard that will work with you where they asses, get it started and let you to a hundred hours of grunt work scraping, then they close it in and finish it.....