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I have the plywood 'subdeck' in place, and am currently working on the coverboards. I successfully installed two of the coverboards (one on either side of the boat) beginning at the transom and working forward, about 10 feet so far. I installed the coverboards without any screws. I used epoxy, lot of clamps, some temporary plywood 'washers' screwed into the adjacent subdeck, and a bunch of miscellaneous weights (two marine batteries, 5 - five gallon buckets of water, a belt sander and whatever else was lying around ).

My question is.....should I just leave the coverboards adhered to the subdeck with the epoxy only, or should I also install some permanent screws that would be countersunk and plugged? I like the idea of no screws/plugs, but I also don't want one of the coverboards to go flying off if the epoxy ever comes loose!

Any thoughts on this?

My personal opinion is use the screws and glue. It will be much easier to counterbore the screw holes before the boards are set. You can mark them and set up a drill press to get the correct depth. How thick are your coverboards? Mine were 3/8" thick. I counterbored about 3/4s the way through the boards with a plug hole countersink bit.

It was easy to lay out the boards and temporarily anchor them with drywall screws. Once I had all the boards in place and properly fitted, I removed them and bored the holes where the drywall screws were. Then I spread out the thickened epoxy and screwed the boards down. Then you can make the plugs from scraps and pop them in with a mallet or a board and a hammer. A Zona saw quickly sheared them at deck level. No glue was needed when installing the plugs as the epoxy encapsulation on the deck will keep them in place. Varnish will likewise work.

At first I thought drilling and plugging would be a real pain. It was very easy and I love the classic plugged look. Establish a nice symetrical pattern and you will really be proud of your results.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

I personally don't think you need screws in this particular area. It isn't a stress point for the frame and there is comparatively good contact area for the glue. Epoxy won't let go, the wood will break first. I am just gluing it myself. I am at a similar point, I have one of the finishing boards fitted and working on the other side. Very fiddly process.

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By the time I have built a boat, I'll be ready to build a boat....

I agree, this is not a high stress area, but the screws make the process so much easier than trying to weight down or clamp down the boards. And you can do the whole thing in a day and not have a bunch of buckets and weights to contend with. Takes the fiddliness out of the process and the boards stay put where you want them.

Another alternative is to use screws and small blocks and screw into the area to be caulked. Just be careful not to glue the block to the cover boards and it is harder to keep the boards in place while you anchor them.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

In theory screws just hold things until the glue dries so the glue alone should be plenty, right? Just be sure you get good glue coverage and no glue starved spots underneath. I had one starved spot on my king plank and first time I pulled the freshly decked boat into the sun, it popped at the starved joint. No problems since with no screws in the deck planks or king plank. If for some reason you have problems later, you can add screws pretty easily.

Roberta is right though, it is much more difficult fitting and clamping a screwless deck. Good luck!

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Yup, The glue is the real anchor, ultimately. I used very short screws so they would not protrude through the sub deck. They were just long enough to hold the boards down while the epoxy to cured and not tear out. Along the shear, and other places where the substrate was thicker and where the boards bend more, I could use longer screws to help hold the boards.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"

This is very interesting as I am getting close to this point also. What did you use for the caulk? Thanks...

I used System Three Gel Magic and their white tint.

Roberta

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Roberta
Built Zip "Oliver IV" and Super Spartan "Jimmy 70"