Marine Ply Rot

[Mike Goodwin]

I was working on a boat today rebuilding the fore deck because the scacred
cow " Okoume marine ply " was rotten . It was like a sponge , boat is 5
years old.

It rotted around the edges where a hatch was cut into the foredeck . 1/4"
glass over 3/4 ply ( or metric same ) , raw edges were not sealed with epoxy
, hole was trimmed nicely with teak , but the whole deck deflected over an
inch when you walked on it.

The point of this post is that exterior ply would have lasted at least as
long as this and also that marine ply will rot , it may not de-laminate ,
but it will rot , as will any unprotected plywood .

So if you use the pricey ply treat it as you would the cheap stuff , coat
the hell out of it with epoxy , cuz if it gets wet and stays wet it will rot
. ( And if you buy a boat by Prolines , check the foredeck carefully. )

[Wes Gardner]

And did Prolines use Okume on YOUR boat or did they SUBSTITUTE something
(like inferior luan) that LOOKS like Okume. Yes, you're right any wood
will rot...

[JACQUES_MERTENS]

From what I know, Prolines never used Okume for their inserts . . . if the
boat was build any time in the eighties it probably was exterior, in the
90's it may have been boatbuilding ply but that one should not rot except
that years ago, they had some bad batches. It is definitely not Okume: I
discussed plywood not long ago with an ex-production manager of Prolines,
Carlos M.

--
Jacques Mertens
Boat Plans OnLine
http://www.bateau.com

Wes Gardner <wgar...@toad.net> wrote in message
news:38BFC3E4...@toad.net...

[Bray Haven]

> that LOOKS like Okume. Yes, you're right any wood
>will rot...
>

I had a duck boat built of Sapele and Okume that totally rotted out within 4
years and was "sealed" with epoxy. In fact the painted fir plywood (AC ext)
floor that wasn't sealed was in much better shape than the marine stuff when it
went to the big marina in the sky.

Greg Sefton

[GLENN DEPPE]

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