Air it out
Today's forecast: Sun and upper 80s, chance of 90. Time to take the fiberglass paneling off, see just how far in the damage goes, and dry things out. Last night I unscrewed all of the flashing and prepped things, and this morning I drilled out the rivets and removed the ladder screws. Naturally the ladder is rust-welded on at the top, so that won't be coming off, but I was able to slide the panel out from behind.
Here's the entire thing with the rotted front plywood panel pulled off.
Here's the worst corner, right next to the bottom of the door:
And here's the same general area, but inside and just below the area in the above picture.
All in all things look pretty good. The main lumber is generally wet but solid, and what pieces are damaged can be pulled out without too much difficulty. For now, they're airing out with some fans helping to circulate the air, and tomorrow we'll assess just how much needs to be removed and how much can be saved with a bit of putty and epoxy.
Plus, while I was pulling the panel off, a neighbor with the same boat came over to find out how I did it, since he's had the same problem and was worried about how the panels actually were removed and then replaced! Apparently this is a fairly common problem with these boats, and naturally, one that didn't turn up for fifteen or twenty years, and long after they stopped manufacturing them.
Comments
Looks like you have a handle on the problem,just wish i was there to give you a hand with that. Keep the news and pictures comming ,they are very informative. we have some people in this condo that wanted me to replace 30 year old shower valves ,NO WAY they are rusted and when you start honking on a 30 year old valve you don't know whats going to give behind the wall Barry
Posted by: Barry | May 27, 2005 3:02 AM