HeideMarie
Member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2021
- Messages
- 15
- Vessel Name
- Heide Marie
- Vessel Make
- 1984 Egg Harbor 36' Yacht
Sharing with for both the experience, feedback and any advice for the future.
My 1984 Egg Harbor had one major problem identified in the marine survey when I purchased her in September —- severe water damage and wood rot on the aft cabin wall — mostly the port corner. As you may know, EggHarbors are known for leaks from their windows if you don’t seal them and keep up on any fiberglass cracks. Moisture readings off the charts. Water problem so bad that they drilled a hole in the bottom to let water flow out. Wood rot so bad that the bottom corners were wet and flaky. The surveyor said that the cabin wall would probably have to be replaced in the next 5 years if this continued.
I would obviously like to avoid that if I could. After reading a ton --- the methods used to maintain and restore the USS Constitution seemed like they would work.
The whole process took about 6 weeks. Apologies if I use the wrong terminology -- this is my first boat and still learning
Here's what I did:
(1) Sealed everything on the exterior using either DAP's extreme leak sealant or 3M marine sealant. This includes the windows, edges and corners across exterior and floor of the flybridge, etc --- everything possible sealed.
(2) Fiberglass cracks repaired with either Tollys or Fiberglass resin.
(3) Removed interior bottom half walls --- these were not original, so clearly this has been a problem for a while. Scrapped off wood veneer in areas where it was still trapping moisture despite heat.
(4) Dried out the interior/core wood with space heaters and fans directly pointed on the areas plus a dehumidifier. This made for an expensive electric bills -- January was $440. Nevertheless -- got the moisture readings down to 0.2% to 6%.
(5) Applied wood hardener generously
(6) Dried again (space heaters and dehumidifier).
(7) Applied wood putty to fill holes and level surface
(8) Generously applied MAS system wood epoxy resin / sealer and hardener.
(9) Dried again. Interestingly, the moisture readings then ran from 2% to 11% and wouldn't go down below that. Perhaps because the consistency of the generous resin/hardener mimics moisture?
(10) Replaced bottom half interior panels with new wood (cut, stained, sealed, spar varnished and mounted);
(11) Sanded and refinished cabinet door -- replaced rusted hinges
(12) Applied, sanded and stained wood putty to cover and smooth out small gaps
(13) Rather than try to match the veneer, I added a mini pocket shelf with coat hook and bottle opener. Reglued canvas.
This process really was only feasible by living aboard and being able to continuously monitor and do a little at a time.
I know it's not prettiest --- but hopefully it's at least structurally sound.
Has anyone else done any repairs like this? Were they successful?
Anything I should do differently or look out for?
Thanks for the feedback!
ps Pics attached -- hope I did it right.
My 1984 Egg Harbor had one major problem identified in the marine survey when I purchased her in September —- severe water damage and wood rot on the aft cabin wall — mostly the port corner. As you may know, EggHarbors are known for leaks from their windows if you don’t seal them and keep up on any fiberglass cracks. Moisture readings off the charts. Water problem so bad that they drilled a hole in the bottom to let water flow out. Wood rot so bad that the bottom corners were wet and flaky. The surveyor said that the cabin wall would probably have to be replaced in the next 5 years if this continued.
I would obviously like to avoid that if I could. After reading a ton --- the methods used to maintain and restore the USS Constitution seemed like they would work.
The whole process took about 6 weeks. Apologies if I use the wrong terminology -- this is my first boat and still learning
Here's what I did:
(1) Sealed everything on the exterior using either DAP's extreme leak sealant or 3M marine sealant. This includes the windows, edges and corners across exterior and floor of the flybridge, etc --- everything possible sealed.
(2) Fiberglass cracks repaired with either Tollys or Fiberglass resin.
(3) Removed interior bottom half walls --- these were not original, so clearly this has been a problem for a while. Scrapped off wood veneer in areas where it was still trapping moisture despite heat.
(4) Dried out the interior/core wood with space heaters and fans directly pointed on the areas plus a dehumidifier. This made for an expensive electric bills -- January was $440. Nevertheless -- got the moisture readings down to 0.2% to 6%.
(5) Applied wood hardener generously
(6) Dried again (space heaters and dehumidifier).
(7) Applied wood putty to fill holes and level surface
(8) Generously applied MAS system wood epoxy resin / sealer and hardener.
(9) Dried again. Interestingly, the moisture readings then ran from 2% to 11% and wouldn't go down below that. Perhaps because the consistency of the generous resin/hardener mimics moisture?
(10) Replaced bottom half interior panels with new wood (cut, stained, sealed, spar varnished and mounted);
(11) Sanded and refinished cabinet door -- replaced rusted hinges
(12) Applied, sanded and stained wood putty to cover and smooth out small gaps
(13) Rather than try to match the veneer, I added a mini pocket shelf with coat hook and bottle opener. Reglued canvas.
This process really was only feasible by living aboard and being able to continuously monitor and do a little at a time.
I know it's not prettiest --- but hopefully it's at least structurally sound.
Has anyone else done any repairs like this? Were they successful?
Anything I should do differently or look out for?
Thanks for the feedback!
ps Pics attached -- hope I did it right.
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