Mildewed Wood

H

haakebecks

New member
So, I've been digging into the Venture 26 going after a persistent mildew smell and found that the issue must have been a holding tank leak at some point. The factory base was all uncoated plywood and the fitting on the holding tank was barely hanging on. After pumping and flushing the tank as best we could, I pulled the hoses, plugged them and pulled the tank and existing tank base out of the boat. The tank base was black with thick mildew. I'm going to replace this with fresh material (very happy these are simple, rather easily accessible boats). What would you guys use? I don't want to drill back into the hull so brackets for King Star Board are out and everything I've read indicates that it is very hard to get any kind of decent bond between Star Board and gelcoat.

Should I simply go with plywood and paint it in some kind of tough epoxy/poly based paint?

Any suggestions are welcome!
 
If you use plywood, saturate it with epoxy first--and use Marine ply which will have no voids. Another option is to use PVC lumber--not sure what is amiable locally . I have have some 1 x 4 pieces--and several "slats" of this see like it would support the holding tank base nicely--it can be glued or 5200/4200 to any substructure. It is also pretty impervious to any spills etc.
 
I'm not sure exactly what your setup looks like, but a couple of generic type notes that may help.

1) Mildew. Of course you don't want leaks/moisture to begin with, and dry plus air circulation keeps it at bay. However, spending some time in the tropics where it's unavoidable gave me some data on how it does on wood type surfaces. I found that wherever the wood was finished with glossy varnish, no or few problems. But duller surfaces (flat varnish, grain texture, etc.) just picked up mildew so much faster. So, shiny = good.

2) Support. In my 22, the water tank sat directly on the sole (well, no, actually it didn't, as it was too wide and they simply put it in anyway where it rested on one edge on the sole and one edge on the hull side, but it was theoretically sitting directly on the sole. Anyway, plastic tanks are supposed to be completely supported underneath. In my case adding a 1/2" sheet of Starboard (set on sole) raised the tank enough to give it complete support.

3) Attachment. My tank was originally held in by a shelf above it being attached to the locker sides with angle brackets. That didn't stop it moving side to side (fore and aft) though. For reinstallation, I affixed some Weld Mount footman loops to the sole and will secure the tank with straps. Weld Mount glue is a methacrylate and will bond well on their footman loops and on fiberglass/gelcoat.

4) As it turned out, during my project, my tank sprung a leak in an area where I was not fond of the design anyway (supply outlet at bottom of tank), so I'm putting in a new tank. I may not need the Starboard "under liner" but I will still be using the Weld Mount footman loops and straps to secure it.

Not sure if any of this will apply to your situation, but if it does...

Sunbeam
 
Just curious. Where is the holding tank on the 26? On the 25's, I thought that by 2007 they went to the marine head with an integral tank.

So where did they find enough room to put a 15 gal tank that you can remove? The one in Journey On is in the space under the motor well, and the only way to get it out is to cut it into pieces. I think.

Boris
 
journey on":3vdg7tba said:
Just curious. Where is the holding tank on the 26? On the 25's, I thought that by 2007 they went to the marine head with an integral tank.

So where did they find enough room to put a 15 gal tank that you can remove? The one in Journey On is in the space under the motor well, and the only way to get it out is to cut it into pieces. I think.

Boris
Click to expand...

My tank was located directly under the single drawer under the non sliding section of the dinette. If you look at my pictures, you will see a large cabinet door in the section before the dinette starts followed by the first seat of the dinette with a drawer below it. The tank was located directly under that on a raised plywood platform.
 
thataway":2u5e4kj0 said:
If you use plywood, saturate it with epoxy first--and use Marine ply which will have no voids. Another option is to use PVC lumber--not sure what is amiable locally . I have have some 1 x 4 pieces--and several "slats" of this see like it would support the holding tank base nicely--it can be glued or 5200/4200 to any substructure. It is also pretty impervious to any spills etc.
Click to expand...

I was looking into PVC lumber like Azek. I guess you can glue it up with standard pvc glue which would make it pretty handy. I just need to see about sourcing some locally. Even if I used the PCV as the ribs for a Star Board Base, I would be in pretty good shape I would think.
 
Sunbeam":1m94todk said:
I'm not sure exactly what your setup looks like, but a couple of generic type notes that may help.

1) Mildew. Of course you don't want leaks/moisture to begin with, and dry plus air circulation keeps it at bay. However, spending some time in the tropics where it's unavoidable gave me some data on how it does on wood type surfaces. I found that wherever the wood was finished with glossy varnish, no or few problems. But duller surfaces (flat varnish, grain texture, etc.) just picked up mildew so much faster. So, shiny = good.

2) Support. In my 22, the water tank sat directly on the sole (well, no, actually it didn't, as it was too wide and they simply put it in anyway where it rested on one edge on the sole and one edge on the hull side, but it was theoretically sitting directly on the sole. Anyway, plastic tanks are supposed to be completely supported underneath. In my case adding a 1/2" sheet of Starboard (set on sole) raised the tank enough to give it complete support.

3) Attachment. My tank was originally held in by a shelf above it being attached to the locker sides with angle brackets. That didn't stop it moving side to side (fore and aft) though. For reinstallation, I affixed some Weld Mount footman loops to the sole and will secure the tank with straps. Weld Mount glue is a methacrylate and will bond well on their footman loops and on fiberglass/gelcoat.

4) As it turned out, during my project, my tank sprung a leak in an area where I was not fond of the design anyway (supply outlet at bottom of tank), so I'm putting in a new tank. I may not need the Starboard "under liner" but I will still be using the Weld Mount footman loops and straps to secure it.

Not sure if any of this will apply to your situation, but if it does...

Sunbeam
Click to expand...

I've been looking into weld nuts... seems like a very practical solution for a bunch of this stuff. I just haven't ordered any up yet. They certainly aren't cheap! Are they working well for you? Are you ordering them online or have you found a local supplier?
 
haakebecks":2r2k2n4y said:
thataway":2r2k2n4y said:
If you use plywood, saturate it with epoxy first--and use Marine ply which will have no voids. Another option is to use PVC lumber--not sure what is amiable locally . I have have some 1 x 4 pieces--and several "slats" of this see like it would support the holding tank base nicely--it can be glued or 5200/4200 to any substructure. It is also pretty impervious to any spills etc.
Click to expand...

I was looking into PVC lumber like Azek. I guess you can glue it up with standard pvc glue which would make it pretty handy. I just need to see about sourcing some locally. Even if I used the PCV as the ribs for a Star Board Base, I would be in pretty good shape I would think.
Click to expand...

My experience with PVC lumber from HD is that it is fairly soft. It's good enough for trim boards and such. However, if you try to screw things to it, it is pretty easy to strip the screw holes. For things that don't have much load it works ok.
 
Well that is a bummer to hear. Basically my thought was to use it for the ribs and the base since it was just going to have a static load. However, if it is really that fragile, it probably won't be a good fit. Sure would be nice if it was easy to glue Star Board, lol!
 
haakebecks":3iiysqr4 said:
I've been looking into weld nuts... seems like a very practical solution for a bunch of this stuff. I just haven't ordered any up yet. They certainly aren't cheap! Are they working well for you? Are you ordering them online or have you found a local supplier?
Click to expand...

They have worked very well for me with one issue. That is that I got two different batches of apparently bad adhesive. I didn't discover it until I had failure of a couple of studs. They were lightly loaded and it was only an inconvenience, but... aggravating. I contacted WM and they helped me suss the problem. The adhesive is somewhat temperature sensitive in storage and so probably got heated up in shipping (I kept it in the refrigerator). At any rate, I got new adhesive and now what I do is make up a quick test "blob" before using any (the bad stuff stayed rubbery).

I've used the footman loops, the studs, the hose clamps (sort of like P clamps), and the wire-tie holders.

I've ordered them from both Jamestown Distributors and Fisheries Supply. I think they are less expensive through Fisheries, although they are organized more clearly on Jamestown's page. I have free shipping through Jamestown, so used them quite a bit over the winter when I was not near Fisheries.

One note is that it used to be you could only use one type of the glue without buying a special gun and tips. The latter looks nice but is pricey - probably a great thing for production settings. Anyway, now you can use the other glues "by hand" too, because they sell a little doohickey that turns the tubes into "hand dispensable" ones like the normal 5-minute epoxy type. You could also make one - it's like two toilet-paper roll tubes side by side just so you can push the two plungers down equally and dispense double ribbons of adhesive.

It's not supposed to be necessary, but when I had a failure (before I figured out it was the adhesive), I started prepping a bit more thoroughly: Mold release wax removal, sanding (including the studs), etc. Still pretty quick and then I know if there is a problem it was not due to my prep.

Sunbeam

PS: On my tank base flat made of Starboard, I did also add two Starboard cleats (inboard and outboard edges) on the opposite plane from footman loops/strap. I did that by screwing the two pieces of Starboard together.
 
The PVC lumber I have was from Lowes. It seems to be fairly firm--and would hold screws well for a holding tank--but thru bolting would be better. As I understand this is just a platform--not going to take any load other than the tank. It should be fine for that. I agree that I would not hang 200 lbs from the PVC, but as a base it should be fine.
 
thataway":p4do18bn said:
The PVC lumber I have was from Lowes. It seems to be fairly firm--and would hold screws well for a holding tank--but thru bolting would be better. As I understand this is just a platform--not going to take any load other than the tank. It should be fine for that. I agree that I would not hang 200 lbs from the PVC, but as a base it should be fine.
Click to expand...

Yeah, just a base. I think I'm going to give it a shot. Material is cheap enough as long as you aren't being a 4x8 sheet ($190 locally) I figure I will buy some trim pieces from Lowes and put the platform together like pallet. That should provide plenty of strength to support the tank while also providing good ventilation.
 
Well I went to Home Depot and bought a board of 3/4 and of 1 inch. I used the 1 inch for the runners and the 3/4 inch for the lateral supports. The material cuts just like wood and sanded down very well as I was test fitting.

It was certainly strong and provided more than adequate break strength for this application. I am 6'2" and weigh just a smidge under 200 pounds and I was able to stand on the platform and bounce up and down without any flexing or real concern at all. It does pick up dirt pretty easy and I've read that the cut edges are porous, so it is getting painted

I countersunk the holes, but did not glue with PVC glue as I wanted the ability to tear things apart if need be and frankly it was stout enough that it didn't need it.

I'm going to build a similar platform in the space were the existing shelves were in the cabinet next to the tank and put something like these in.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php
 
I used thin slices of Trex, basically same as what you got from Lowes, glued with 4200 under my aluminum fuel tanks at chafe points in an IB installation. Stuff lasts forever, shows no mold, etc. Machines well enough I also used it as a rub rail over a coaming, again installed using 4200. On the coaming, withstands all kinds of abuse, and is slippery enough stuff does not get hung up if you slide a tote or a box over it while loading.

Too slippery when wet for any place you plan to stand, however.
 
Dave, I have Trex decking on the steps to my Jacuzzi and a dock at my other house-and it does mold here in the hot and humid South. There may be some improvement in the last few years.

It sounds like "haakebecks" has PVC lumber similar to what I have--it is smooth and white. I would use epoxy to seal the ends, but if paint fills and adheres well that would work.
 
thataway":21aci6db said:
Dave, I have Trex decking on the steps to my Jacuzzi and a dock at my other house-and it does mold here in the hot and humid South. There may be some improvement in the last few years.

It sounds like "haakebecks" has PVC lumber similar to what I have--it is smooth and white. I would use epoxy to seal the ends, but if paint fills and adheres well that would work.
Click to expand...

That is correct, the PVC Material I bought is white with a faux wood grain on one side and smooth on the other.

Did you have any issues with epoxy bonding to it?
 
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