Bilge Problems and Leaks

[f_cousin]

I purchased a boat last fall and am in the process of refinishing it. The prior owner mentioned that they touched bottom at some point and that the only damage they noticed was a crack in the cabin floor fiberglass.
I check the hull and it is intact.
I started cleaning up the broken fiberglass and wet plywood and realized that the crack was deeper and going through what I think is epoxy (that layer of epoxy levels the floor and sits in the hull). That crack creates a leak in the bilge and now, any water runs through the cabin (under the floor) instead of collecting in the bilge.
Any idea, recommendations... on how to go about fixing this situation.
Thanks a lot.

[rehernden]

It seems like you would have to grind out the crack down to undisturbed material and pour in some new epoxy to seal it back up. Like how a dentist repairs a cavity in a tooth. An angle grinder held on edge works good, wear a mask. Also, I don''t know how old your boat is but I''ve read in the past that some boats had concrete poured in the bilge? Just a thought.

[f_cousin]

Thanks Ralph.
When you mention concrete....are you talking about actual construction concrete ?
I am thinking about taking the whole cabin floor out, cleaning up, drying and reinstall a new floor (wooden).
The boat is about 30 years old and is in excellent condition beside that cabin floor crack.
Thanks for the advice.
Fred

[ddebruin]

It sounds like they more than "touched". How did you check the hull? If it flexed enough to crack the interior floor, need to make sure the hull itself is not compromised.

Good luck.

[f_cousin]

The boat is out of the water for the winter (I am located in Cleveland).
The hull is definitely intact and the damage is limited to that crack which created a leak in the bilge. The boat does not take any water unless it rains or if the ride is rough (through the deck and hull joint and deck hardware).

[rehernden]

Yeah, it was regular ole concrete that was poured in to level the bilge and add more ballast. I''ve never seen one, just read about it somewhere, forget where. In the same article they talked about people using a small jackhammer to get it all out so they could get to the keel bolts. Shouldn''t be too hard to tell the difference between epoxy or concrete, but I think epoxy or in your case fiberglass resin would be easier to fix.