Cockpit Floor Grating Build

-Waypoint-

-Waypoint-

Member
Tired of wet unlevel feet. So decided to build some deck grating for the cockpit.

Made from Western Cedar, 2 coats of epoxy top and bottom. UV protected with satin varnish. Cost $330, finish weight 61lbs. Built in 3 panels for easy cleaning/ access.

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Did you use screws and plugs when securing your 1x4's to the base and did you epoxy each piece of wood first, or epoxy the whole deck once assembled? Your pictures show the deck as one piece. Would it not be more practical to have 2 separate pieces for your deck, so it'll be easier to remove and clean?

I have one designed just like yours, with Western Cedar, but 1x2" slats instead of 1/4's that you used. I used just a clear UV varnish finish, however, with NO epoxy finish. I wonder how long the epoxy finish will hold up? After 5-6 summer seasons in the PNW, mine started to get a mold looking growth in-between the wood and finish of my deck in the cockpit of my '06 22Cruiser.
 
The picture doesn't show it, but it is actually 3 separate panels. I used Tightbond III wood glue with screws to secure the boards to the joists. All the screws are plugged and have two really thick coats of epoxy that coated even the edges of each board, top and bottom. Definitely not coming apart.

Good old pressure washer should clean it up. :)
 
I like it! Love that it is only 61 lbs. This is on my long project list and I am still considering options. Couple of questions:

1. In the pic showing the stringers I see 2 panels, what is the third?

2. If I was doing this I think I would want a center drain channel in the stringers. You offset yours out of center. That is probably more stable but I am wondering what your through process was. Also, looks like there is an additional drain channel through the stringers off to one side. What was the rationale there?

3. Curious also as to the overall rational for running the boards fore to aft rather than side to side. Seems like side to side makes is possible to lose less elevation on an already shallow cockpit and eliminated the aforementioned drainage issues.

Anyway, looks like a well done build and I hope you get a lot of years out of it!
 
wexcellent":61y0pvr5 said:
I like it! Love that it is only 61 lbs. This is on my long project list and I am still considering options. Couple of questions:

1. In the pic showing the stringers I see 2 panels, what is the third?

It’s on the right hand side of the photograph in between the two cut outs on the right. The photo is a low resolution on the website so it’s hard to see.

2. If I was doing this I think I would want a center drain channel in the stringers. You offset yours out of center. That is probably more stable but I am wondering what your through process was. Also, looks like there is an additional drain channel through the stringers off to one side. What was the rationale there?

The center panel is actually in the middle of the boat and it has a 18 inch wide open cut out that goes and runs all the way to the back centerline of the boat.

3. Curious also as to the overall rational for running the boards fore to aft rather than side to side. Seems like side to side makes is possible to lose less elevation on an already shallow cockpit and eliminated the aforementioned drainage issues.

If you notice deck boards on all ships, run forward and aft not side to side. It looks funny. That’s why I did it this way. Send me a PM if you want any more detailed instructions and photos on it maybe it’ll help you see what I did a little easier.
Anyway, looks like a well done build and I hope you get a lot of years out of it!
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It looks nice. I would put a couple of coats of UV inhibiting Polyurethane "varnish" to protect the epoxy from UV degradation. I have used epoxy saturated wood, with and without the UV inhibitors---and it is a very dramatic difference in longivity.
 
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