Raise the cabin sole to avoid damp corners?

[Jeff Kelety]

Hi all -

When we rebuilt Folkboat Nais' interior a couple of years ago, we replaced the cabin sole with unfinished teak. Trying to preserve precious head room, we laid it as low as possible. The result is that the corners of the sole touch, or nearly touch the hull. And an old folkboat being what is, it gets enough weeping so that some of the moisture running down the planks to the bilge are absorbed by the cabin sole. So most of the time I have damp corners, particularly on the starboard side where the engine is mounted (she leans a bit to this side).

I have tried sanding away a bit of the corners, maybe 3/16 of an inch or so so that they don't touch and putting a coat of CPES on the bottom, but no help. Moisture still collects from the bottom up in the endgrains.

What to do? Should I raise the entire sole up a 1/2", one inch? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Would really like to get a finish on but can't while so damp in the corners.

Thanks,
jgk

[John R Smith]

Jeff

it seems to me that just 3/16" is too small a gap to solve your problem.

If it was me (Mr Bodge of Sunny Corner) I would saw off the corners of the sole so I had at least a 1/2" gap. OK, so the odd butt-end and baked bean is going to fall down there. That's what bilges are for, isn't it?

John http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif

[Jamie Hascall]

Jeff,

I think John's idea is a great one with the next step being to either put a corner patch that you can finish, or insert some sort of screen or grate to provide additional ventilation surface ( I hate losing bits into the bilge). Victoria is equipped with numerous vent plates in the cabin sole and I think it has helped greatly in keeping her bilge relatively sweet. Now the question is how difficult is it to make the cut?

Good Luck,
Jamie

[Jeff Kelety]

Hmmmm. Cut the corners off, eh gents? So apart from rounding off something that is essentially square (i.e. the sole butts squarely up to bulkheads and quarter berth sides), you are saying that I need at least 1/2" of space between sole and bilge planks to keep the moisture at bay? S'pose instead of a big roundy space at the corners I could cover it with a bit of teak that parallels the frames that protrude from through the sole. I've got a forward section of the sole that unscrews and pulls up conveniently. I think a useful test is to simply let it sit a half inch raised up (just loose) and see if this eliminates the moisture. If so then I'll consider your "roundy" solutions.

Thanks,
jgk

[Jamie Hascall]

Jeff,

It was a little hard to tell from your description what your construction details might be, but if you can just use a spacer to elevate the sole, that sounds like an easy and appropriate way to go. I was envisioning major construction and hardship and looked for a remedy for the immediate problem. Increased clearance and ventilation are definitely the goal and that sounds like the way to get there.

Good luck,
Jamie

[Jeff Kelety]

<Increased clearance and ventilation are definitely the goal and that sounds like the way to get there.>

Yeah, Jamie. I think this is what's needed. It shouldn't be too much trouble. The sole does go under the quarter berths, but trimming it so that it raises up a bit and butts up to the berth sides should be ok. But I will do the test on the easily removable piece to make sure I get it high enough from the planks. Thanks for checking in. (When you sailing back this way, BTW, Jamie? Don't let those 75 knot November gusts keep you away <g>.)

jgk

[Jamie Hascall]

As much as I'd love to think otherwise, I think it won't be until the new year. But who knows, maybe we'll get another weekend like this one sometime in February and we can get up your way. Otherwise, see you in the spring.

Jamie

[PilotArt]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jeff Kelety:
[B]Hi all -

. Trying to preserve precious head room, we laid it as low as possible. The result is that the corners of the sole touch, ..."

At the moment, I am several hundred miles from Valkyrie, but from memory- this worked for me.

Twenty five years ago, KingsCruiser had a flat, solid cabin sole and five foot headroom.

I took a five foot by fifteen inch 5/4 mahogany plank and tapered it from one inch down to three-quarter (or so) and ripped it into thirty slats.

I then spaced them about 1/8 inch apart and glued five old seatbelt webs to the underside, spaced to ride over the floors.

This added over two inches headroom and rolls up enough to remove much easier than the old sole ever was.

Also feels better under foot and nicely ventilates the lower bilge.

If the floor timber spacing on FolkBoat is much greater, you would need to rip it thicker.

Art

[Jeff Kelety]

Interesting approach, Art. (I wonder how Deb would feel if the kids had to ride without seatbelts <g>.)

Thanks,
Jeff