Glen-L.com

I'm trying to figure out the best way to replace the rotted balsa wood core around a leaky hatch in the Tiara I bought. (The survey missed it.) I've got the rot out and dried it thoroughly but need to fill about 12"' to 18" out from the opening all the way around. If I cut and coat Divinycell H80 and slide it into the void is that going to give enough strength to the deck above? A local marina suggested a slurry with saw dust but want to get away from a rot possibility. Its very light traffic on the deck in this area.

I asked a pro I know in this business,this was his reply:

Tell him to use the gap filling 403 west system fibers staying away from sawdust which is really not a good agent for bonding which will help fill the junction of the core and existing glasswork, if he cannot really get to the section. You want plenty of epoxy on the polyester glass work with the thicker filler against what I suspect is woven roven glass


That what I took from it when he said that he was having to slide it in place. Ask him to post a photo of the working space and underside if he can.

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Thanks for the reply. I should have described better. The gap is about a 1 inch space between the underside of the deck and an inner fiberglass shell overhead in the cabin. I thought this would be too much to fill just with a semi-liquid alone. Initially thought I could just feed an expanding floatation foam into the space but don't see where that would be rigid enough after reading up on what I could find.

If you can get the area cleaned very good,you can mix epoxy/filler mix to a consistency where it's not runny say like peanut butter

You can then force/pack it in with a putty knife and it will stay in place.

I would use a brush to wet the area in the gap first with straight liquid epoxy/hardener first, then mix the filler and shove in place.

After it's packed, you can use a piece of tape to cover the edge if any seems to run out til the mix kicks off

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

I did this around a through hull fitting between a liner and the hull on my SeaRay....works fine

_________________
Boat building can best be defined as an endless series of
tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle, followed by a good bottle of beer.

Don't Dream Your Life, Live Your Dream

Thanks, I'll give it a try.