Stringer repair using Seacast?

[allamar]

Looking to do stringer/floor repair on 91 conbrio. Anyone had experience using the Seacast products instead of rebuilding with wood?

[Ptownkid]

Wow...that stuff looks like a pretty cool option!

[allamar]

I am hoping it is but I am hoping to get some feedback from someone who has used it. I will probably dig into the project in a few months.

[Kma4444]

I looked into that when I was planning to do our Sunsport. It initially sounded great then I thought about how I was going to get down into the stringers to dig all the old wood out, rotten and otherwise. Then using the calculator on their site I made a guess as to how much product it was going to take. It was definitely not going to be a cheap endeavor. I decided I would not go that way. Just the thought of digging the wood out was enough to give me pause.

Would love to hear about it if you go that way.

[TallTex]

It will work well, eliminates wood it replaces, but its cost will be quite high as you will need quite a bit.

One way is this: If your wood stringers and or other glassed wood supports are "intack" that is not crumbling, I would opt to use a 4" to 4.5" electric angle grinder with a thin metal cut-off disk, and carefully cut straight lines down the very top of stringer's glass cap, remove the cut cap, save the cap as you will re-glass it back onto the stringer when done. Remove cut-off cap to inspect the wood, if intack let dry completely, using air and or fans, heater, etc. when completely dry. No get out your drill, with a stop, and start drilling holes in the wood, like a "pin-cushion"

Then order and get some Aero Marine epoxy, look for it on ebay and videos on youtube, "how to"

this stuff is a non-blush two part epoxy resin, you can add 10% (by weight or volume) Acetone to the mixed resin, creating a penetrating epoxy resin, mix up small batches at a time. Get a meat injector needle or large medical injector/needle and start injecting the same size holes you have drilled down into the wood, the keep injecting or pouring your penetrating epoxy resin until the wood is SATURATED with the resin......once cured it will be as harder than wood and will not absorb water. I have used Aero Marine reresin to restore a lots of damaged wood and to preserve new wood before I glass it into or over.

If wood is "dust" you may have to chisle/scrape out rotten wood and replace. Choice of material is a good question. If you go back with new wood pre-saturate/treat with the penetrating epoxy resin after you have cut and trimed new pieces, then glass over.

[SquamInboards]

When I have to do stringers, I would like to have a metal frame made up for where the motor mounts, like in some older Nautiques. I would either tap the metal itself or have nuts welded to the back of it so I wouldn't have to use lags for motor mount bolts. Then the whole frame can be integrated to the structure of the stringers in a much more robust way than just a handful of lags into wood.

[OUI]

Smith's Penetrating Epoxy is another application and is great stuff. It's designed specifically to penetrate the cell walls of wood and encapsulate the application -- when if cures, it's rock hard. Works like magic. Strong stuff though, do it outside if you can, and keep the room ventilated if not. And, always use the proper respirator -- you'll need it.

[allamar]

Is it any more money to use Seacast VS wood and glassing it in. From what I can see from other forums I would be looking at upwards to $2000 or more using wood $ fiberglass. I'm not sure if Seacast would cost any more than that. I did find a shop that will do the stringers & floor for somewhere between $3500 & $4000 using wood. This would be with me pulling the upholstery, engine & whatever else out. I am kind of wondering if my time is worth the difference.

[lively]

Seacast is a harder plaster .... It runs like 560 for 5 gallons and u probably will use close to 20 -30 gallons .. And once u actually
Get into the old glass and peel it away from the hull , that even if u hollow out the wood and leave the sides of the old fiberglass
Stringers I think would give and flex side to side .. Just go ahead and pull ur top cap off and cut the floor open and see what I
Mean .. I spent 1000 on poly resin , 450 on glass , 600 on wood to redo all my flooring ...

[allamar]

I sent an email to Transom repair and the figured I would need 4-6 kits to do my stringers. At $213 a kit plus $200 shipping to Canada this is a bit different than what others are saying. Where does the 560 price come from?