opinion on new casting deck

[top breamer]

Hey guys posted this in the boating forum but as predicted heaps of views no input.... need some help my boat is due for a re haul my ply decks have started to show age.

I am after a better lighter and cheap alternative option that's easily sourced in sydney

thanks guys all options will be considered.

[Fab1]

Better, lighter, and cheap, should never be in the same sentence.

Having said that, your choices of materials are:

Plywood-preferably marine grade. (Heavy, expensive and will eventually rot)

Aluminium plate-lighter, durable and expensive.

Composite sheeting-expensive, durable.

Laminated Glass-My favourite, will outlive your boat, you, and the rest of us. (Needs covering with good Marine grade carpet inless you like practising the moonwalk) heavy & expensive.

Goes without saying all the materials listed should be kept to the minimum thickness required to do the job, the thicker you go the less "light, cheap" and the more "expensive" they become.

Good luck with it.

Cheers.

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[top breamer]

thanks for your great reply ! out of the four listed which is the easiest to source, i would like to steer away from ply and try something new.

cheers

[Paikea]

I like aluminium, no rot, light, easy to work, you can't beat it. As to cost, that depends on how much you can do yourself, if you need to get some stiffeners welded on prepare the parts yourself taking care to get a good fit and then find a ally welder who likes to go fishing, barter is alive and well.

Cheers

Paikea

[Fab1]

thanks for your great reply ! out of the four listed which is the easiest to source, i would like to steer away from ply and try something new.

cheers

They are all easy to source going through the right channels, as Paikea mentioned, alley normallly needs shaping ,welding, bending but will pit if saltwater is left on there not to mention electrolysis.

I would go composite sheeting or glass but both involve cutting/shaping/ screwing to your existing underfloor supports.

Google a few suppliers and take it from there.

If you want to go the glass route let me know and I'll get some pricing for you through work.

Only you can decide from here.

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[Paikea]

They are all easy to source going through the right channels, as Paikea mentioned, alley normallly needs shaping ,welding, bending but will pit if saltwater is left on there not to mention electrolysis.

Fab; Marine grade ally will not pit if salt water is left on it. In any event boats are normally washed down to remove salt. Shaping is not difficult and unlikely to need bending for a casting deck.

Top Breamer; how about posting some pics of your boat and deck so that we can get a better idea of your construction.

Cheers

Paikea.

[Fab1]

They are all easy to source going through the right channels, as Paikea mentioned, alley normallly needs shaping ,welding, bending but will pit if saltwater is left on there not to mention electrolysis.

Fab; Marine grade ally will not pit if salt water is left on it. In any event boats are normally washed down to remove salt. Shaping is not difficult and unlikely to need bending for a casting deck.

Top Breamer; how about posting some pics of your boat and deck so that we can get a better idea of your construction.

Cheers

Paikea.

True mate about the pitting, I was thinking about a cast deck I did for a mate a few years back at the time of posting.

I made it for him using marine grade ally,which I bent, shaped, and fully welded with inbuilt hatches that later he decided to carpet over it himself because his poor old tootsies got hot in the summer.

And through lack of care the salt accumulation under the carpet pitted my hard work to bugery over the years.

And yes some pictures would be nice also.

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