This is my 89 Citation Caprice Cuddy. When I bought her I had a limited budget, so my main priority was a strong engine. This one had a great engine, but the hull and interior looked like someone had left her in the backyard uncovered for about a decade...This picture was taken after a couple of days with a buffer...

After being left outside unattended for so long, the floor was very soft anywhere a throughbolt had been. Because of this I decided I would have to replace the boat floors. This is where the seat pedestal was for the captain's chair. This is the softest part of the floor and the main reason I decided to replace it.

An oak branch went through my windshield during hurricane Ivan. This was the only damage we received during all four storms, so I wasn't about to complain. I gave it my best effort to get all the glass out of the carpet, but when all was said and done it was pointless. Rather than accept that this would be a "shoes on" boat for the rest of the season, I decided to retire her early and get started on the floor.

You can see the old carpet here...very tattered and discolored. Rather than replace the old marine carpet, I decided to use Nautolex, a marine vinyl flooring material for the floor. It's very tough, easy to apply and will allow me to hose out the boat, rather than trying to keep marine carpet clean.

Looking backward at the stern area, the floor in this section seems strong. The section where the access hole was cut out will have to be replaced, but I think most of it can stay.

Another view of the state of the floor before I started, this one from the port side looking astern.

This was one of the big "trouble spots" in the floor. A previous owner cut these holes for access to the fuel guage connector wires and fill hose on the gas tank. They did a good job of covering them with watertight hatches, but did nothing to treat the cuts in the wood - ie sealing or glassing them. Over time water has crept thoughout this area of floor, between the fiberglass layers and eaten away much of the wood. This flooring section will definitely have to be replaced.

I was hoping to show the contours in the floor where they join to the hull, but this picture doesn't reflect it very well.

This is a pit that spans into the cabin and the cockpit. At one point it had a porta-john in it in the cabin, which was removed some time ago. It also has a drain in it and does a pretty good job of keeping the water under control. Unfortunately, it was carpeted, and had gotten very nasty. It's the only "interior" part that I'll be covering in the Nautolex.

I ripped out all the carpet from the cockpit floor, as well as from the recessed pit that joins the cabin and cockpit. It was easier than expected to remove it, as most of the adhesive had degraded to almost nothing. In a few areas I had to fight with it, but for the most part it peeled right off.

Stern view - starboard side. I've already removed all the seats and am getting started on all the hardware and electronics. Obviously, before you can start working on the floor, you have to remove EVERYTHING that's bolted to it!

This old gas tank is made of aluminum and has a 22 gallon capacity. I decided to replace it with a higher capacity tank, if I can find one with the appropriate dimensions.

My floor was originally done with sheets of plywood run horizontally and then laminated with fiberglass. Luckily, it seems like I'm only gonna have to replace one of the full sheets, and just patch the two other external sections. All of the interior flooring is intact and I don't care to mess with it. You can see in this picture that the flex has been so bad in this center section that it's already torn the fiberglass for me...made finding the seams a snap!

the hull contours come through the floor here where the floor is joined to the hull. I'll have to trace this contour while building the new gunwales. I've started a new project for the gunnels. :)

I decided to attach 2' of pressure treated 2 x 12 to the underside of the new floor section under the captain's chair and spanning under the adjacent floor section. I attached it from the bottom with 2" stainless steel wood screws. This should give plenty of strength and stability to the chair pedestal.

Here's another view - port side.

The seam on the other side of this floor section was also cracked, though not as badly as the other. Also, check out my creeping white fungus!

We were planning on replacing the foam in the floor, but it turns out it is dry and should be ok as is.

I cut the section in half, right down the centerline of the boat, being careful of the gas tank and stringers. Then I pried each half loose until it either released from the glass or tore it. either way, my biggest priority here was to get the old wood out, maintaining the contours on the outside, so I could use them as a template for the replacement piece.

Here's all three new flooring sections in place and dry fit together.

Here's a closeup of the foam joint...The fiberglass is still wet, so this is as close as I could get!

Next I placed the old removed floor pieces on an 8' x 4' sheet of pressure treated plywood and cut out a new piece to size. After the new piece was cut out, I placed the old pieces back on the new one in order to mark and drill out the holes for the captain's chair.

I used 1/4 x 5/16" t-nuts on the underside of the seat pedestal. Once the floor is glassed in, I won't have access to the underside, so I can't use regular throughbolts, and I don't want to just screw the pedestal in. (that's how it was done before, and I think the reason it became so weak and wobbly, also leading to the rot in the floor). I just pushed them into the predrilled holes from above and lightly hammered them into place.

After some research and suggestions from various forums, I decided to use an aerosol foam to fill the gap between the hull and new floor. It seems that the conventional method here is to use epoxy mixed with a filler (ie microfibers) to fill the gap and seal the floor.

I'm satisfied with the floor bonding, and with the fit of the pieces, so I decided to try something cheaper / easier to work with.

This foam is really cheap, available at your local Home Depot, and has both adhesive and support properties. It's easily trimmed / shaped for a perfect transition, and cures quickly.

I'm not sure how well this will last, but it seems like a good idea, and worth a try.

I'll be using 3M Super 77 adhesive sealant If you haven't used this adhesive, you should check it out..it's relatively cheap and comes in three strengths..77, 80 and 90. It's awesome, and since I discovered it, I don't think I've done a single project where I haven't used it one way or another.

In fact, I'll be using the 90 strength spray to attach my nautolex floor. I'm not sure how that will hold up the marine environment, but it will be easy to fix if it fails, and for the ease of use and cost savings over the branded Nautolex adhesive, I think it's definitely worth a try.

I used a Dremel fitted with a rotary cutting disk to trim off the old fiberglass from the edges of the floor sections that I cut out. The dremel is delicate enough to cut off the rough fiberglass edges without risking damage to the removed boards. The more I can keep them intact, the better.

This is the new floor section in place. It took a little trimming to get a perfect fit, but at this point it's very snug. You can see the pre-drilled holes for the captain's chair. After this there are two smaller adjacent patches that need to be done as well, which I'll use the exact same techniques to complete.

The temperature dropped into the 30's this week, right in the middle of my fiberglassing. I put this space heater in the boat with the cover on, hoping it would raise the temperature inside enough for the resin mixture to kick. If not, oh well...luckily the winter in Tampa only lasts a few days, so I should be back in business soon either way.

Here's more of the foam...and you can see the side of the floor cut. It looks like it was cut at a sharp angle, but I actually peeled the fiberglass off of the wood near the seam. If you look closely, you can see where the wood edge originally was.

The new floor and gunwales are all glassed in and ready for Nautolex. See my "New Storage / Gunwales" project for details on the new gunnels.

After some sanding, foam shaping and other finish work, I started fiberglassing, starting at the seams and working inward. I think at this point it's going well, and I hope to get it finished in one more evening, if it's not too chilly to work the fiberglass.

The foam seems to have worked for the hull-deck gap. I used extra fiberglass on the area to strengthen the seam. Only time will tell whether or not this was a good solution.

I picked up my new Nautolex flooring today and I'm excited to get the fiberglassing finished so I can get it in! I'll have a good bit of sanding to do before I can install the Nautolex, though, and I think for once I'm gonna try and find a cheap Tyvex suit before I do it. I found em online 3 for $10, and I think it's worth it..

Here's another view of the foam gap joint in the boat floor. I think this will work nicely. It hasn't been shaped yet in this picture, but it holds well and should work I think. Now I just have to shape them and finish the new gunwale work and I can start fiberglassing.

I chose Nautolex Ivory Deco Dot flooring for the new floor. The material is covered with tiny dots, creating a nice, tough, waterproof non-skid surface. I cut the Nautolex material to size, trimming it around the drain cutout and the engine opening. The manufacturer recommends that you attach the edges of the material "mechanically", so I stapled it around the edge of the engine and cabin drainage cutouts.

I used 3M Super 90 Aerosol adhesive to attach the Nautolex to the new floor and gunwales...starting at the front and working backwards and paying special attention to the edges and recessed areas.

I used 3/4" aluminum angle iron attached with stainless steel screws and washers around the edges of the openings - actually, only around the engine opening at this point. I haven't applied the Nautolex in the cockpit drain cutout yet, so the angle aluminum won't go in til later. This looks a lot better than staples!

The actual cockpit floor is now in place. I wanted to get a look at how well the captain's chair would hold in place, as well as make sure the engine cowling was unaffected by the new aluminum edging, so I put the seats and cowling back into the boat for a preview.

The T-nuts seemed to work well...The pedestal was reinstalled without major incident and is solid as a rock.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR ANYONE ELSE TRYING TO USE THEM:

Learn from my mistakes...put a piece of tape or something over your predrilled holes before you fiberglass over them..I had resin drip down through the hole and into the thread of one of my t-nuts, and had to fight with it for about 10 minutes to get a bolt through it!

Here's the captain's chair reinstalled. For the first time since I bought the boat, the seat is absolutely solid and doesn't "sway" at all. You can also get a look at the new gunwale in this picture. It'll sure be nice to have that storage in arms reach of the chair.

You can see at the bottom, there is a section where the Nautolex ends and you can still see the raw wood before the upholstery begins. This is an intentional 5" flat section that will be covered with a teak board (as soon as I can find some!). It'll help "mechanically" attach the nautolex, as well as tie the new sides visually to the teak cabin doors.

Here's a view of the stern, with the engine cowling in place and the seats reinstalled. I'm really happy with how the gunwales are turning out so far, and I think everything looks good together.

Spent a day admiring the progress so far...now it's time to get back to work! The next step is to apply the nautolex to the cabin drain cutout, which spans from about one foot into the cockpit to about 18" inside the cabin. It's about 14" deep and has a drain in the bottom. I'd like to get the whole thing covered with one piece of the nautolex if I can. In order to do that, I'm gonna use a large piece of butcher's paper to make a template.

It's been raining here today, so I haven't been able to work on my new boat flooring. Rather than waste the day, I decided to go ahead and put in the new windshield. I measured the opening, and was disappointed to find that it isn't square. I taped a piece of paper over the opening and traced a template for the new piece.

I bought a piece of glass and a new glass cutter..taped the template to the new piece, scored for the first cut and SMASH!!!!! my new windshield was in pieces all over the garage floor.

Out of frustration I decided to just use lexan..it's stronger, cheaper and easier to work with than tempered glass. It's virtually unbreakable, so this shouldn't be a problem again. The only possible problem is that it may scratch over time...but at only 12 bucks for a piece big enough to use as a replacement..I can always do it again when necessary.

You can't really see it in this picture....but that's kind of the point, isn't it?

Here's the most complete view I could get in one picture on the nautolex in place. You can see the aluminum detailing and the new side storage pretty clearly.

Unfortunately, you can really see the fiberglass imperfections under the new material, because I didn't do as thorough a job sanding as I should have. I thought the material would conceal some of the imperfections...it doesn't.

Also, I'm not thrilled with the color...I thought I'd like it based on the small sample I got before buying, but now that it's there..I'm afraid it looks a little too much like I was trying to "match" the white. I think I may replace it with grey when I get around to pulling it up and resanding.