Hardtop repair

[Huey]

My boat has a hardtop constructed out of vinyl covered plywood and is trimmed out in mohogony. The plywood has some rot spots and is starting to leak however, I doin't want to tear off the old stuff for fear of messing up the headliner. I want to remove the vinyl and skin over the top with 1/4" mohogony ply. I plan to use a top grade finish with good UV protection. I was wondering if anyone has done this sort of thing and if there was any advice for me. Do I need to go with a marine ply or can I just get a cabinet grade?
Thanks,
Huey

[Bob Smalser]

"...has some rot spots and is starting to leak however..."

You can do what you propose with construction-grade exterior ply if you fill any surface imperfections (on both sides) with thickened, faired epoxy and then cover it with fabric, epoxy and paint after installation.....and it will work right up until it gets abraded and water gets back in there...then the rot spores you left in the underlayment will rapidly destroy both layers.

Moreover, even North Alabama is warm and humid enuf that I'm not absolutely certain the rotted layer won't spread over time even with good topcoats and covered storage.

Were it my boat I'd replace the entire roof plywood, saving what I could of trim and headliner for reuse...just to get all the rot out. You also might be surprised just how far it's spread once you have it dismantled.

[ 10-07-2003, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[Bill Dickinson]

Your "some rot spots and is starting to leak however" sounds like the 2 square inch soft spot which was in my deck. Now to take care of it I just replaced a section of deck 12" wide and 5' long and did lots of repairs to the deck beams.
I'd recommend not hiding a problem which will only get worse if you ignore it.