Salt Away Tip

[Bduck]

Here's a good tip to follow. When I bought my current boat, I knew of the saltwater use it had been thru. I bought the boat Feb 2016 in Everette Washington; the signs were all over. I immediately used Salt Away for cleaning what I could get access inside my boat as well as engine compartments. I assumed previous the owner did same but still took it upon myself to be sure I got a good cleaning for what is exposed. A little over a year later after the purchase, I started a massive cleanup removing the wood floor finding crud all around fuel tank along the keel, black mold had formed all over the bottom side of wood flooring. Immediately I decided to rebuild the floor with new marine grade plywood & new marine vinyl flooring, using more Salt Away now in those exposed areas and pressure washing flushing out those areas of along the keel and bilge. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayG8vH5Cuno



This is bottom side of old flooring

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like a good plan Roger but wouldn't that black mold be on any boat, whether it's in salt water or fresh water or does the salt water just make it worse?

[Bduck]

Sounds like a good plan Roger but wouldn't that black mold be on any boat, whether it's in salt water or fresh water or does the salt water just make it worse?

The black mold is something extra I added. As I pointed out I bought the boat in Washington. They see a lot more rain year round with much higher humidity level.  Things just don’t get to dry out in a climate like that and being on the coast. That mold was deeply imbedded and the best thing to do is replace the floor. I didn’t want anyone getting sick from mold. 

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like a good plan Roger but wouldn't that black mold be on any boat, whether it's in salt water or fresh water or does the salt water just make it worse?

The black mold is something extra I added. As I pointed out I bought the boat in Washington. They see a lot more rain year round with much higher humidity level.  Things just don’t get to dry out in a climate like that and being on the coast. That mold was deeply imbedded and the best thing to do is replace the floor. I didn’t want anyone getting sick from mold. 

Maybe I'm misunderstanding but why would you add black mold to your boat?  I understand the boat came from Washington state but I did not realize the humidity was that much higher there but it makes sense. By the way, did you replace the vinyl flooring, if so, where did you buy it?

[Bduck]

Sorry Curt if there is a misunderstanding. When I elected to remove the floor for deeper cleaning of keel & bilge areas, I found the black mold on the bottom side of the plywood floor. This was the main reason I made the decision to replace floor, also to add I had a damp musty odor that was imbedded inside prior to removing floor. Since the original vinyl side was glued down and had torn wear & faded areas, this was something I wasn't willing to deal with trying to salvage the old vinyl. So, I also purchased new marine vinyl flooring to put over the new marine plywood. After removing old floor, I found corrosion in some of the aluminum floor bracing where salt penetrated. A lot of the corrosion areas was from 2 dissimilar metals came in contact with each other, stainless steel screws attaching floor to aluminum bracing. 



Old floor brown vinyl with carpeted sides.
The carpet was nasty with salt crystals 
and who knows what other imbedded crud



New floor blue vinyl with new 
indoor/outdoor carpeted sides

[wiperhunter2]

Nice, I was just thinking about replacing the vinyl on my new to me boat and was just wondering if there was a special place I had to go to find it? Did you replace the carpet on your boat yourself, that's another thing I'd like to do. I have done it on some of the doors that can be removed but I'm unsure how to do it in the sections where there is not easy access to the sides.

[Bduck]

Nice, I was just thinking about replacing the vinyl on my new to me boat and was just wondering if there was a special place I had to go to find it? Did you replace the carpet on your boat yourself, that's another thing I'd like to do. I have done it on some of the doors that can be removed but I'm unsure how to do it in the sections where there is not easy access to the sides.

The carpet itself is not bad to remove, it’s the glue that’s left behind a real PITA to scrape up. I used a putty knife and about 4+ wire wheels on a small air operated angle grinder. I think the glue can be softened up with mineral spirits but elected to stay away from odor & messy cleaning. I bought my vinyl floor in Chubbock, ID at  Park-Away-RV. I believe I saw the marine vinyl on eBay. I used SS screws & cup washers to fasten down the floor, can be purchased at Nut & Bolt store in West Haven. Bought indoor/outdoor carpet at Home Depot, stay away from that plastic indoor/outdoor carpet. You can the carpet glue there too, I bought the glue at Lowe’s. The marine plywood was purchased Wheelwright Lumber in Ogden. They have 2 size thickness, 1/2” & 3/4”

[wiperhunter2]

Nice, I was just thinking about replacing the vinyl on my new to me boat and was just wondering if there was a special place I had to go to find it? Did you replace the carpet on your boat yourself, that's another thing I'd like to do. I have done it on some of the doors that can be removed but I'm unsure how to do it in the sections where there is not easy access to the sides.

The carpet itself is not bad to remove, it’s the glue that’s left behind a real PITA to scrape up. I used a putty knife and about 4+ wire wheels on a small air operated angle grinder. I think the glue can be softened up with mineral spirits but elected to stay away from odor & messy cleaning. I bought my vinyl floor in Chubbock, ID at  Park-Away-RV. I believe I saw the marine vinyl on eBay. I used SS screws & cup washers to fasten down the floor, can be purchased at Nut & Bolt store in West Haven. Bought indoor/outdoor carpet at Home Depot, stay away from that plastic indoor/outdoor carpet. You can the carpet glue there too, I bought the glue at Lowe’s. The marine plywood was purchased Wheelwright Lumber in Ogden. They have 2 size thickness, 1/2” & 3/4”

I bought marine plywood at Wheelwrights for my last boat but just wasn't sure if you bought some kind of special carpet, good to know I can buy that locally. What I was concerned about was removing the old carpet, because it looks like the screws are all covered up by the carpet. Did you just cut off the old carpet with a utility knife to get to the screw heads? Did you drive all the way up to Chuback to get the vinyl or did they just ship it to you?

[Bduck]

It shouldn’t matter how you remove old carpet. If screws are hidden it should still be easy enough to locate & remove them. A utility blade is what I used in some areas until it’s removed. Personally drove to Chubbuck to pick out the color of vinyl, they have a store that also carries some accessories for boats. The carpet at HD is low profile & no shag look, better quality than the cheaper indoor/outdoor and at the time I bought it was reasonable priced, I was impressed with it. 

[wiperhunter2]

OK, sounds good, thanks for the info.