Fixing a soft spot in the floor

[BASS_fisherman]

I have an 84 Hydra sport bass boat, but it has a couple soft spots in the floor. I was thinking about getting a piece of treated wood, cutting it to size, then recarpeting it and placing it onto the floor. I would cut holes in the wood to allow for the floor drains, and then figure out a way to connect the holes to the existing drains so that water doesn't leak under the board.

What would it take to fix the hole properly? Or would it be easier to do it the way I described?

Here is a picture of the soft spot it is the brownish thing to the left of the trolling motor.

[cart7]

Hmmm.. out of curiousity, what's that compartment in front of the console? Is it a livewell or cooler?

You really don't want to lay a new floor on top of that old rotting one. Besides mold and mildew you're still going to have a situation where water can get trapped. You're better off cutting out the bad section and seeing what youv'e got, especially if you've got a stringer bad underneath.

First I'd start by ripping out all that astroturf carpet, assessing how large the soft spot is and maybe take a few more pictures and post them.

[BASS_fisherman]

To be honest with you cart7, I have no clue what that compartment is specifically for. It does not have a drain and it is not carpeted. I am thinking it is just for storage.

Isn't the astroturf bad? I can't believe anyone would use that for a boat.

Im not sure what a stringer is, but as soon as I get the floor opened up to access the problem, Ill take some pics and post them. It will probably be a little while because I need some other stuff to get the boat ready for the water first. Then comes repairs like the floor. Which isn't too bad, but I still want to fix it.

[cart7]

The reason I ask about the compartment is that the soft spot in the pix looks like it's extending up under deck/floor wall. that kind of thing can happen if there's a LW or cooler that might be leaking water internally.

Astro turf isn't bad, it's just someone's cheap attempt to put a floor covering on the boat.

Really, you need to get that carpeting on the floor ripped up, take of close up pictures to see exactly what you've got to work with.

Another thing you might want to think about with that boat is building a deck insert which spans across the opening in the floor. Put a hatch on it and you've got covered tackled storage and you've automatically increased your front deck space by tons. I'll be doing that to my boat this coming spring.

[ProcraftMike]

The stringers are the main support beams that run the length of the boat, from up towards the bow to the back of the boat. Most are tied into the transom in the back. The floor normally sits on the stringers. If the stringers are rotted, they should be repaired or replaced.

Based on the condition of the boat and floor from the photos, I am guessing that you will find the floor is getting bad in more than one spot. The only way to tell, is to probe around.

Keep us posted!!