Dry Rott

[daniel r morrison]

In Cleaning My Bilgde I Found What At First Glance Appeared To Be Some Type Of Insulation. Actually It Was A Layer Of The Plywood Floor In The Space Between The Inside Paneling And The Exterior Of The Boat. Holes Had Been Cut To Allow Engine Room Ventilation And It Seemed To Be Worse Closer To The Holes. Is This Common , And Short Of Replacing Can Anything Be Done To Stop The Process?

[yachtsmanbill]

ANY plywood is prone to rot if not SEALED. If its still intact you can seal it with GIT ROT--a liquid epoxy, or at least 3 coats of paint, with the first 2 thinned 50/50 with thinner to penetrate, or cut all the soft stuff out and make a wood or aluminum bushing and screw back in place. YOU STILL HAVE TO SEAL THE OFFENDING AREA. It will just grow back otherwise.
Also, consider drilling drain holes if there is an area prone to holding water. During my apprenticeship, I was taught that ALL 6 sides need protection. Paint, varnish or whatever you use. Thats why a lot of wood boats rot out. Only sealed what shows--WRONG. ws

[Passages]

CPES.

Read the link below & give it a try. Awesome stuff.

http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/index.html

[Genesis]

CPES is the stuff to use for this.

However, it cannot replaced wasted wood. It will stabilize what is there, and prevent further rot in the places it reaches (which is quite a bit), but you have to make sure that you get beyond the involved area with it otherwise it will just keep happening beyond where the CPES stops. Mold spores are in the wood a LONG way from where you see active rot, so you have to soak it and good. That's where the CPES comes in, as it soaks in REALLY well.

Beware as it'll gas you bigtime if you're working with it in a confined area.