Replacing Carpet But Need to Fix Wet Spot First!

[JMF]

Hi everyone. Got a 1994 2000SC last summer and just love it. I want to replace the carpeting and found a soft, squishy spot under the rear seat, as shown in pic below. I have removed a bit of the carpet and thin fiberglass which then had some soaked plywood. I removed that and now am looking at the foam material which is also wet. No idea where the water was coming from. When the shop did my winterizing they checked it out and saw nothing unusual from running the inboard/outboard.
Not sure what I should do next to get this repaired...
Maybe just remove all the foam material and get it back in the water and check it that way?
Any advice is greatly appreciated!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/139701...5/26072969756/

[shrew]

Welcome aboard JMF. Does the wet decking radiate out from around the seat mount? Water ingresses though a hole (screw, bolt, throughull, etc).

screwed and bolted items need to be periodically rebedded.

At this point, i would take a long hard think on this one. The most frequent next step is to pull more decking to find it has made its way into one of the stringers.

If it's in a stringer then the fix will cost more than the value of the boat.

[mmwjr]

Welcome aboard.

I agree with shrew, probably rain water plus from over the years. Remove the floatation foam to inspect the stringers. Replace any rotten wood, refoam, new decking.

[JMF]

Hey guys, thanks for your insights. I explored a little more today and cut out some of the foam. The stringers (at least the one I uncovered) are solid with a thick coat of what appears to be fiberglass, or a gel coat.

This coating is also on the flooring beneath the foam. I cut more of the fiberglass and plywood top layer back another foot or so and ran into dry solid plywood. So that is almost adjacent to where the engine compartment ends, actually a bit before that.

Hey Shrew, not sure about any seat mounts because there are no seats in this area. As for screws and bolt, do you mean in engine compartment?

I'll dig some more tomorrow and maybe take another pic, hopefully tell more of the story.

thanks again
John

[mmwjr]

That fiberglass under the foam is the inside of the boats bottom, don't cut through it.

[shrew]

Originally Posted by JMF

. I want to replace the carpeting and found a soft, squishy spot under the rear seat....

https://www.flickr.com/photos/139701...5/26072969756/

How was the seat affixed to the boat? I mistakenly assumed is was screwed down to the deck. Water is getting in there somehow and sitting stagnant.

[JMF]

The seat is just a seat cushion basically that slips onto a couple ridges on either side, so when they come off that whole area is open.

So today I cut out all the wet stuff, here is a photo:



The worst spot was towards the very back, you can see the dark water still sitting there. There was no water sitting between the 2 stringers though. And as I came closer towards the front it got totally dry so I stopped.

The stringers and floor are all coated with fiberglass or some type of gel but it's very hard and not compromised anywhere that I can see so it doesn't look like the water came from underneath. I know it wasn't salt water cause I tasted it last summer as soon as I discovered the wet spot.

It seams like it just somehow got on that area from the top and slowly went thru the carpet...could have been happening for a very long time...I only got the boat last August.

Any ideas how water could get onto just that area?

[shrew]

It probably just sat uncovered over time and collected rainwater. Wet carpet covered up will dry very, very slowly. It sounds like you caught it in time. If allowed it will slowly spread like a cancer. Consider a good boat cover.

[JMF]

I cut away all the wet stuff now. Check pic below. You can see the dark puddle of water beside middle stringer towards the rear. Everything is solid and covered infiberglass. I'm wondering how am I going to secure the new piece of plywood...can I screw onto the stringers? Also, do I need to replace the foam I took out?