rebuilding cock pit floor

[sonic]

I have a older DN in great shape except for the floor in the cockpit floor was planning on a spring start 2 fix the problem. lots of soft spots just seems weak wanted 2 know the best way 2 get the old floor out n from some research looks like aircraft foam is a good idea? What kind of flooring material are most of the newer boats using?

[wnethercote]

There is no magic to removing the cockpit floor: just sweat and aggravation.  You could set a router or skill saw to 3mm projection and chop away at it, or use a chisel.  You will probably finish with a wood chisel in any event.  Changing from listings to foam is not going to be pleasant either, unless you are prepared for the possible need to replace the bottom skin as well.  Hmmm .... maybe the easy way is to cut out the whole cockpit bottom and do new cockpit floor, listings and bottom skin in one go.

When I repaired a damaged cockpit bottom I restricted myself to replacing the damaged areas only, with scarf-jointed Dutchmen, but I managed to find some 3mm 5-ply birch which was much tougher than the usual 3-ply Okume (spelling?).  Some builders put a thin layer of GRP over the Okume cockpit bottom to reduce spike damage.

[sonic]

Thanks for the info i figured it would be no easy task!Almost wondering if i leave it and lay a thin layer of epoxy where the soft spots are?

[wnethercote]

Epoxy on it's own won't do much for you.  I single layer of 6 oz glass cloth (with epoxy) would be a better 'quick and nasty' approach and it wouldn't add too much weight. Fill the existing spike wounds with thickened epoxy before you lay down the glass.