Shetland 535 floor

[clivetaylor]

I am currently renovating a late 1970s 535. I have removed the rotten wooden floor in the open cockpit and the support struts seem sound. What are the pros and cons of filling the space between the struts with expanding foam under the new marine ply flooring and sealing in the whole floor area . I will leave a hatch for the sump pump in the rear of the well. All ideas would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Clive

[alwischy]

I was thinking of something similar clive,as the water doesnt seem to drain very well especially from the outer ribs.

[alwischy]

The way i thought of doing it clive was to box in the rear section by the drain bung then lay some 5mm marine ply across the whole deck virtually levelling it off,then drilling a series of wholes and filling the voids with expanding foam.
Then i was toying with getting some teak effect decking which worked out to around £175.
I am doing this end of october so will post some pics of what not to do when i bugger it up lol.

[clivetaylor]

Many thanks for the comments. I read a comment somewhere that expanding foam does retain water over time and I wondered whethere to leave a small access hole thro the flooring to check water levels and to pump out if necessary. ??

[alwischy]

How weird i just logged in to post that,i spoke with my friend who is a marine asscesor for lloyds and he said big no no really as builders foam retains water,although he did say you can buy polyurethane foam but it is big big money !.

[clivetaylor]

many thanks for the tip on builders foam........re-think time !!!!!

[alwischy]

If you search shetland 535 on photobucket,i found some good pics of a step by step floor build !.