Pilot House Delamination Fixes

[Jay Knoll]

I think Don has nailed it, but I would add get a bunch of acid brushes and use them to wet out the core/skin as much as possible before pouring/clamping.

I would put clear packing tape on the cauls to stop them from being glued to the cabin sides

[rnummi]

So..... there I was in my garage this AM before going over to boat to pour when I saw a couple of spare 4" pressure treated pickets from a fence I just had installed...
Trick Question: What is pressure treated, not "plywood", and the perfect thickness to slide between balsa core sandwich (all that remains of the rotted balsa core), and exactly the right length/width to slide from aft end of pilot house to front without cutting or planing. If you guessed the home depot 4" picket you would have guessed right. Hidden benefit #2, guess how high the two front screws that you cant get to without removing lining that secure the handholds to the side of the pilothouse are? Yep, exactly 4 and 1/8 inch from pilothouse base. It slipped right in from aft of pilot house to fore creating an instant base. I smugly said to self... it couldn't work for the next picket could it? You guessed right again.... remember the 1/8 gap wherein the aforementioned screws were located? Picket slid right in on top of the handhold screws like it was made for it. Stuck out a bit aft, but a quick sawzall slice and I had a perfect core filler. Guess what came precisely up to bottom of sliding window cavity.... yep. One sawzall cut to get the aft angle and the whole thing looks like it was made for the boat. A coat of epoxy on both pickets, a slide in, and a pour into the remaining/voids cavity(s) and voila. Instant pressure treated solid wood core perfectly sandwiched between fiberglass core skins. A pour into the void between core skins and house laminate and complete port side fix is at hand.

I need to go buy a lottery ticket.. life and luck just doesn't work that way on boats.

[Jay Knoll]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPQlXNH36mI

[rnummi]

Starboard side finished.... Moving to port side...

[Sprig1]

Looks like you are coming a long. Keep up the good work. I have been doing other projects right now putting heat in the house putting a clutch in the car and last but not least work. Good luck and as you say it is fun. Chris

[Vic K]

Chris,
Reading these posts takes me back to the good old days.
Vic

[rnummi]

I was stressing about the port and starboard pilot house corners. I was overly cautious mask taping before my pour(s) of the walls. I had both corners taped up like the mummy to form a cofferdam to prevent the bulkhead pour becoming the foredeck pour. This AM I de-taped. No more corner voids. Perfectly filled and shaped epoxy (because of the tape). Truly, God takes care of idiots and fools. On to the front of the pilot house (which so far has eaten a gallon of epoxy but taps like Fort Knox).

[Sprig1]

Hi Vic yes it does been there done that and hopefully not again. At least now there is nothing I want tackle on the boat. Only thing left to rip out is aft cabin port lights headliner in bow. Trying to bed all the hardware including handrails. Have to take off bow pulpit off and fix leak and rooted core. Sounds easy when you just type it. Finding time is hard for me. Just thought of some more things not even worth typing about basically fix everything on boat. I will have a new used boat when done and hopefully no water leaks.
Are you getting to enjoy your boat this winter? I get to go cruising through you. How did you like your engine mounts did it quite it down?
Mummi keep working. My problem is where do you stop you know it needs to be fixed or looked at or up dated. A chain is only as strong as it weakest link. You do all this work and you hate to be lazy. Because you pay double when you are lazy and things have a way of coming back to bite you. Luckily I have a patient wife. Chris

[Beta Don]

I was stressing about the port and starboard pilot house corners. I was overly cautious mask taping before my pour(s) of the walls. I had both corners taped up like the mummy to form a cofferdam to prevent the bulkhead pour becoming the foredeck pour. This AM I de-taped. No more corner voids. Perfectly filled and shaped epoxy (because of the tape).

None of that would have happened if you had been pouring polyester resin - It would have set up long before it had a chance to soak all the way through and bond your pilot house to the deck. It *is* more expensive, but it's much easier to work with (because of the extended cure time) and the results are much stronger

You could buy a gallon of the cheap stuff and screw up a pour or two - Then you'd realize that the extra $$$ was money well spent

Don

[rnummi]

Now finished w both sides. On to the front. Question: So far I've used wax paper to keep the panels off the deck (to mimic the factory install where the teak rail holds the panel centered). Hoe bout the front? Is there a reason to keep the pilot house seperate or should I just cofferdam the front and pour resulting in a join forever of the two.

[rnummi]

As I was pouring the epoxy into the bottomless pit of the forward pilot house, the following occurred to me.... Is the reason the pilot house is removable to change the engine? Literally, the pilot house is removable. You can lift the port and starboard aft panels by pressing up on aft pilot house overhead. You can lift the front by using a lever on foredeck. The only thing holding it down at this point is the first two screws of the exterior pilot house hand holds. The only reason I didn't remove the handhold bolts is they were behind the headliner.

I opted to go the wax paper route. You can slide wax paper anywhere under the pilot house so the epoxy doesn't run out bottom. i really liked Don's idea though of through drilling the ph base but opted to keep the factory "bolt the PH to the deck" route in case I do need to take it off someday.

[rnummi]

Moving right along.....had a little hiccup with forgetting to tape 2 holes. Luckily it was still jell.

[rnummi]

Don: note in the pics that the two forward screws of the pilothouse exterior hand rails weren't removed (cuz they were under the headliner). Also note the location of the taped wax paper.... It goes under all the way around... Port starboard and forward..... This pilothouse is only held on by four handhold screws (portside front two and stbd front two) and the wire run on stbd side by throttle. That's it!

[Jay Knoll]

Damage.JPG

And you think you've got it bad.

Friend just bought a boat, through (he thought) survey. After closing he removed the bolted down couch in the salon. Terrible rot situation hidden in cabinet blocked by the couch, underlayment, joists etc all rotted out. MAJOR repair job in store for him, I just spend the morning helping pull out the stuff to see where the leak is coming from.

[rnummi]

That makes me feel better.....