Ok so I have a soft spot about 4x4 in my floor. It is fiberglass. It's a 89 stratos bass boat if that helps any.

I was thinking to simply cut out the damaged area, epoxy the cut edges, get treated plywood for a "scab" and put resin on it, cut out patch the same size out of treated plywood, apply the fiberglass resin all over the piece for the patch, screw it all together, epoxy all the screw holes and gaps and that would fix it..

Does anyone know If that is a good fix??? I thought by using the resin and epoxy it would be ok and make it last for a long time...

Any of u guys know if this will be a long lasting fix.. if not do any of u guys know how I can fix this hole??? Thanks guys..

A fix from the outside looking in is never a good fix. I would try to take out a compartment to get to the under side. You shouldn't have to use plywood. Just keep laying on the sheets on the bottom side then lay on the sheet on the top to level the floor, extending your sheets past the week spot at least 6 inches. You probably want even have to cut it out if you can get to the bottom side to start your repair.

There is no way to get to the bottom.. not unless o cut out a spot to get under there..

Exactly where is this spot? Could you lay something over the spot, to mark the exact spot, and take a couple of pictures so we have a better idea?

At wrk now but I will take a pic tonight and post it..

Do you know what caused the soft spot? Are you taking in water? Cause it will not help if you fix the floor, cause it will rot too if the leak is not fixed. There is a guy that advertises floor repair for about $750. I would advise you to bite the bullet and pay someone that knows how to fix these problems cause a patch will not last. You have to check the stringers and the bottom. not just the floor. I can find his number, just shot me a pm and i will get it for you.

I did something similar to an old family ski boat. Once I cut out the soft spot on the floor, I saw how rotten the stringers were. The cost of replacing the stringers was more than the total value of the boat, outboard and trailer. I cut out a new floor from plywood, sealed it and dropped it on top of the old floor. It added more weight but I got another couple of years use out of it before I traded it in on a new boat.

The boat is vry solid. The stringers and transom have been checked.. they are five. The floor was solid when I bought it 3 months ago. The soft spot was caused by something being dropped in the boat that weighed a "boat" load.. lol.. the boat is a 89 and has been covered 90% of its life. I keep it covered as well. It does not leak water. It can sit in the lake for days and not take on water..

the soft spot is more annoying than anything. The guy I bought the boat from is going to help me fix it the "correct" way...

Thank you guys for everything though.

Look in the Bass Boat Restoration part of this forum.http://www.bbcboards.net/zeroforum?id=19

You have the right idea...
Call me when you get a chance and i'll give you some pointers...


940-382-3656

I'm no expert so take this for what it's worth. Since your floor is broken and not rotted, rather than cutting and patching I would just lay new glass over the broken spot. Your OP said that the spot was 4x4 and by reading your later posts I'm assuming that's 4 inches square and not 4 feet square. For a repair as small as 4 inches square I'd just glass over it and leave the plywood out.

if there are no leaks and just a repair then i would suggest a piece of aluminum. you can have a piece cut at any fab shop and its lighter and will not ROT.

I HAVE AN OLD PRO CRAFT, 1986, SAME PROBLEM. USE MARINE GRADE PLYWOOD 1/2 INCH. CUT TO FIT, SCREW DOUN, AND COVER WITH RESIN. ADDS A LITTLE WEIGHT TO BOAT. BUT WORKS FINE.

Use marine grade plywood, it's expensive but well worth it. I've made custom flooring and decking aluminium/fiberglass boats sort of my hobby and now I do it for some spare change on the side. Eventually I'd like to do it full time, it's just something I really like to do, lol.

I've pulled 15 year old marine grade wood, out of old boats and it is still in great shape. As far as coating it with resin, I would lay a thin layer of fiber glass over the wood first. Resin is like concrete and fiber glass like re-bar. The resin will crack if it flexes, the fiber glass will reinforce the wood and keep to from flexing/sagging.

In cool weather you made need to add more hardner, that or use a floor heater, or wait for a warm day. Remember resin doesn't dry it reacts, so temp plays a big effect on it. Reason I am saying this is some peps try and use a fan to dry it and it only makes it cooler and takes longer to get hard. If it is below 55 I'd wait for another day.