A friend had (4) areas of side deck on his Tartan 37 about 1 ½’ x 4’ that needed to be re-cored. (The boat’s PO had installed some high quality opening ports in place of the portlights, but had put the opening lens on the OUTSIDE of the cabin sides. Which allowed rain water to get into the side decks and rot the core.) The repair used the method Dennis describes. Used a Fein tool to make a narrow cut in the outer skin, peeled the skin, took out the old core leaving a ledge to support reinstallation of the outer skin. I wish we’d thought to make the cuts match the edges of non-skid areas.
For new core we used a 1/2” thick semi-rigid fiberglass filler, whose structure looks a lot like a fiberglass Brillo pad, that comes in 4x8 sheets. Cut core panels to fit the areas removed, epoxy down to the inner skin & let cure, then slather with thickened epoxy and reinstall the old skin. After cure, the small crack around each repair needed a bit of filling and sanding to hide the seams where thickened epoxy had squished out. Then repainted the areas with Interdeck. One advantage of reusing the old skin is that the texture of the non-skid is maintained. I can find the repairs because I know they are there, but I doubt most folks could find them. They definitely pass the 15 foot test. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Dennis C. via CnC-List Sent: Wednesday, January 1, 2020 2:59 PM To: CnClist <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: Dennis C. <capt...@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List Re core my deck Use a vibrating saw to cut the deck outside the damaged core. Follow a nonskid seam if possible. Peel the deck skin up with a thin flexible putty knife. Leave a 1 inch or so ledge around the outside when removing the damaged core. After the core repair, you can replace the deck skin on this ledge with a thin layer of epoxy and the elevation will match. Let a little epoxy squeeze out of the cut. Sand it smooth and you can finish it with gelcoat, paint or your choice of nonskid material. If you choose to finish with new glass, the top layer should be matte glass. A little putty and sanding will make the surface smooth. Putty is your friend. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA
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