Hello. I am at the point of replacing the floor and transom in my 79 Skeeter. I have uncovered the foam. I was wondering do you normally replace the foam or not. It seems to get to some of the stringers I will need to get into the foam some. If foam is removed what do you replace it with?
Thanks.
You can purchase floatation foam online. It is expensive, but you really need to replace it. If you don't, and the boat ever gets swamped, it may not have enough left in it to keep the boat floating as it was designed to.
One thing you MUST do, is once you get the floor installed, don't fiberglass it down yet. Take a two inch hole saw, and take a plug out of the floor, every 10-12 inches apart. When you mix the foam, pour it in in smaller amounts (like one quart at a time). That way you dont waste very much of it.
But if you don't put enough holes in the floor, when the foam starts to expand and it doesn't have the proper holes to vent itself and releave the pressure, it can actually expand too much and blow your boat apart. The top cap and/or floor can be severely damaged.
Be careful when using foam. As mentioned, you can cause extensive and very expensive damage to repair.
I think 2 inch holes is overkill,you can drill 3/4" or 1" holes and take a piece of fiberglass mat when your done and make a little patch with resin to seal the holes.
if you have large places you don't need to drill a million holes in the floor.... it will come out the other holes you want it to look like a mushroom head when it rises out the hole.....we use a foam gun and the floor is all glassed in the foam is the last thing to go in then it pulls from the mold....... on a typical layup
Use 4lb foam. US Composites is a good source for it.
What I learned from using this stuff:
a) It is very messy. GOD it is MESSY!
b) The wamer the environment, the better the expansion
c) This is hard to describe in words, but if it can push against itself while it is expanding, you get more yield.
d) It's almost impossible to accurately estimate the yield because of b & c
e) You can also waste a lot with small batches, because it sticks to everything and gets everywhere. It is messy.
Youd be crazy not to install flotation/structural foam though.
PS If you ever wanted to get revenge on someone, like SERIOUS revenge, you could mix up a full 2 gallon batch when it's 90 degrees outside, and pour it inside their car and shut the door. And RUN.
Here's one more thought-injecting foam requires equipment most of us dont have access to and is usually done in a mold where it is less likely to bulge to bottom under pressure.It is also possible to bulge the bottom hand pouring if not done slowly (small amounts).I recomend starting at rear and lay 1 section of flooring at a time with front of hull raised slightly and allow foam to expand forward.It may require some holes for pouring,but you will be able to see under floor to decide where and how much.OH!!! If it is in the way of properly repairing the rot or if the foam is wet-----REPLACE IT ----Your already this far! Good Luck!
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