New plywood or original?

bshillam

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Aug 21, 2007
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C Dory Year
1981
Vessel Name
Heaven To Me
So I was working on restoring our 1990 and found the entire interior fabric and bases needed to be stripped from the boat. The original fabric and foam has an overwhelming amount of mold. So much that the interior smells like gas.. :disgust so my plan was to keep the original bases use bleach with a 8 to 1 ratio really saturate the wood then pressure wash it and finally seal it with helsmen. Well after hours of pulling staples a blister and inhaling God only knows I am thinking it might be better to start with fresh plywood. I just don't want to reintroduce any mold back into the Dory again. Maybe I'm being a bit parinoid suffering from psds from the countless hours of scrubbing, wiping and throwing away. Thoughts Brats?
Yeah, a few leaks in the V birth, sitting stale water in the chain locker, six inches with no drain???? Will lead to really bad mold. However we are so looking to pulling it back together and enjoying the summer with her.
 
I would go with the new wood. No reason to spend time on it when ply wood is so cheap. How big a piece are we talking about? A sheet 8x4 of marine ply is $100. Thats for the really good stuff. I would spend my time sealing the new wood with glass or resin.
 
I agree; go with new wood (not sure what helsmen treatment is, but there are several anti mold preservative such as Cuprinol.
 
I'm the tri-fecta. Remove the old wood and use it as patterns if possible. Do it right the first time and you won't regret it. Remove anything smelly, rotten, infested, contaminated etc.
 
I would also go with new, good-quality wood. I find that by the time I finish all the work/time of a project, spending a bit more on quality materials would have been relatively trivial, so I try to use them.

Since in my experience smooth surfaces are much better at resisting mold (and easier to clean if they do mold), I would varnish or paint (at least semi-gloss) bare/porous wood surfaces. To my mind the more heavy duty coatings would not be needed in this particular area.

Of course keeping the boat dry and the air moving will help to prevent the problem recurring, but it sounds like you'll be on top of that.
 
Agreed, after pulling and pulling staples I am convinced new marine grade is in order. I will begin the process of sourcing 3/4 tomorrow. If anyone has a good source near Baltimore please share.
 
I was mentally prepared to drive to Maryland (the closest source I found) to purchase rather expensive marine plywood for my boat project because that's the only material referred to in my boatbuilding books and the boatbuilder Internet forums. Then I pulled up the fiberglass in the cockpit; construction-grade CDX with more than two-inch, unfilled voids in the inner plys. This is a 1984 model. I opted for something in the middle; an A/B cabinet-grade plywood. The few voids I found were less than 1/32". Before any glass was applied, I soaked the plywood with three coats of thin epoxy (not thinned, just thin).

The CDX lasted 26 years. Ideal? No. But functional for a long time. The balsa transom was rotted; the fir plywood sole core was soaked, but wasn't rotten or even moldy. As about two thirds of the extended boat has the original CDX core I decided not to get too excited about going with marine ply. Would marine ply be better? Sure. But at four times the price per sheet, AND having to drive to and from a coast to get it didn't add up for me. Any penetration into the sole will be handled properly by overdrilling and filling with epoxy to ensure a water-tight seal.

Otherwise I agree with all the other posters; install new core material.

I can't remember who the MD dealer was.

My two-cents.
 
When you go to put upholstery back in be sure and use monel staples, not SS.
 
Question: Have we established whether the Decragard covered marine plywood that makes up the interior cabinet panels has been setting in dampness with the mold all around, including the production of new spores from the above mentioned episode, and should it therefore be treated with a mold inhibitor and or sealant to help prevent re-establishment of the mold problem?

Sounds like it would be a logical preventative step to include to me.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
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