Question re the floors

[Walter Baransky]

recently purchased a new 2024 355. Beautiful boat and have owned a 27, 30 and 37.5 previously. Does anyone know why Catalina could not adhere the  floor without all those screws holding the teak down.  Better than simple fiberglass floors but.....Curious to understand why.

[bill pittore]

If you unscrew and lift the floor you have access to holes and channels in the fiberglass floor to run wires hoses etc. I thought some model years had floors that were held down by dabs of silicone glue. 

Bill

On Jun 14, 2025, at 6:45 PM, Walter Baransky <wbara...@gmail.com> wrote:

recently purchased a new 2024 355. Beautiful boat and have owned a 27, 30 and 37.5 previously. Does anyone know why Catalina could not adhere the  floor without all those screws holding the teak down.  Better than simple fiberglass floors but.....Curious to understand why.

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[Walter Baransky]

Bill, agree but I do not think there are wires, etc under them. And if so, why have other manufacturers been able to glue them but Catalina has these dark screws in some beautiful woodwork. 

On Jun 14, 2025, at 8:37 PM, bill pittore <bill.p...@gmail.com> wrote:

If you unscrew and lift the floor you have access to holes and channels in the fiberglass floor to run wires hoses etc. I thought some model years had floors that were held down by dabs of silicone glue. 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/catalina355/83B94D05-9AEA-4A15-8CFB-AEA2345F18A4%40gmail.com.

[bill pittore]

I think a picture would show you what I meant. This is from a post by Dave W. on the 355 group when he was doing electrical work. I lifted my floor as well. You can see the molded interior fiberglass shell which is under the wood floor. Note the hole in the fiberglass with wires visible. As to the original question of why screws and not glue, don’t know. 

Bill

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[Walter Baransky]

Thanks Bill

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Regards,

Walter Baransky

[cata...@thehares.com]

I’m pleased that I didn’t have to deal with any adhesive holding down the floor.  When installing the Air Conditioner, this made it easier to access channels for running the wiring to the pump. Since I plan to add additional switching at the end of the galley to handle aft cabin and vberth lights for convenience,  I’ll need to get into these access points again.  Last time (well every time) I ran wires, I always run a pair of durable chase strings to make running wire easier next time.

 

-Jeff Hare

C355 Solstice #17

C320 Woodbine II #809 (Formerly)

 

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[Dan Gilch]

I have #144 (2019) and my floors are not screwed. Someone checked with Catalina and they said the floors could be pried up if necessary as they are held down by dabs of caulk, but I have not tried that.

I have not seen the screws so not sure how it looks or works but I can see a real advantage to being able to more easily lift the floor for access to the inaccessible areas between the floor and the bilge.
Cheers.

Dan

Slip Away #144

[Walter Baransky]

Interesting. Dan, I have #180 (2024). It has small black screws. While they are dark in color and small, they clearly look like screws....on teak. Personally, I prefer the clean look of no screws and understand that ease of access if it's screwed in but,  that's a personal preference. I hope I never have to unscrew the floorboards😎.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/catalina355/1613866c-eeda-4c45-9cd2-ab1c8134cc1fn%40googlegroups.com.

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Regards,

Walter Baransky

[Daniel Young]

My 2012 #54 has those same black screws, except that some of mine have quick release heads that break off if you ever so gently attempt to remove them. 

On Jun 21, 2025, at 2:09 PM, Walter Baransky <wbara...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Walter Baransky]

Dan, thanks for the heads up. Classic....screws to potentially facilitate removal of the boards, but then break off easily, making the situation worse. Not sure what the thinking was here by the design engineers.....🤔

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/catalina355/06E73DE1-851F-4B63-BD16-22EE764A96AE%40gmail.com.

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Regards,

Walter Baransky