TOPIC: Reinell project starting up again - finally!

The last post about My Reinell was sometime last spring. I had completed the tear out of the transom & had made the new replacement. Well, that's as far as it got 'till yesterday. Enough waiting - time to put the pedal to the metal on this thing!

I decided to pull the original floor after doing a little poking around to inspect it. Though the floor was totally solid & looked great - there were hidden problems. This usually the case with any boat that is 50 years old. in one place near the bow, there was a 10 inch section of the floor edge that had broken away from the hull. This is a major stress point on any boat, and the twisting aciton of a fiberglass hull can break the bond between the hull & floor quite easily. With this in mind, I decided to pull the floor. I was able to tear the the glass off of the floor in giant strips. The fiberglass on the floor was in great shape, but was no longer bonded to the plywood. The 3/8" plywood floor panel was attached to the stringers with resin and 40 - (count 'em) large wood screws. Even though they were glassed over, the screw heads allowed water intrusion at each hole. The plywood floor was pried free of the stringers using a pick axe for leverage. The plywood easily tore through at each screw, leving the screws behind. This is why it isn't a good idea to drill screws into a boat floor panel. If screws must be used, seal them with epoxy resin. The happy part of this story is about the stringers - they're still solid as can be. My suspicion was correct - the stringers are indeed Redwood. Old growth verticle grain Heart Redwood. In solid sound condition after 50 years of neglect. Very impressive. The center stringer is 2X6 lumber, while the flanking stringers are 2X4 lumber. 5 stringers total - stout as hell. My current thinking is to sand blast the hull & stringers to clean them, then re coating everything with penetrating epoxy. The stringers are not wet - they are bone dry. I won't want to wash it with water, because Redwood is very absorbant. When the stringers have been properly treated with resin, I'll install the transom wood. The transom wood is already cut to shape & is ready to go. I'm using Douglas Fir MDO plywood in the entire boat. The floor will be 5/8" MDO single sided. Original floor was only 3/8" thick. Kraft paper toward the bilge -raw wood face up. The kraft paper will prevent water from penetrating the floor from underneath, while the raw face will get a couple layers of glass and some gelcoat to protect it. I'll most likely bond the floor to the stringers with 3M 5200 - no screws or nails of any sort. It should be very strong. Now I,ve got to get to work. Enjoy the pictures.

Great to see you're back on this project Bruce, thanks for sharing the pics and info/insight!

I wish I had though of using 3M 5200 for my floor to stringers adhesion.
It would have given me more time.
I used stainless screws, and poly resin to get the floor to the stringers.
Love that last pic.

welcome back bruce,i love those reinell's,now you have to get a 59 chevy impala to go with it,i cant wait to see this boat finished,john

Coming along nicely Bruce, I always did like that hull. Can't wait to see her finished.

Bob