Ugh wet wood in Bigfoot
I recently bought a 2003 Bigfoot 10.5. The interior is in excellent condition. Seems to have barely been used. Generator has 30 hours on it. I paid the local Bigfoot dealer to inspect it before I boug...
Forum Discussion
HMS Beagle wrote:
Without access to the back, it will be difficult to make a durable repair. People say these are built like boats but they are not really. The core is plastic and does not rot (though it can degrade and delaminate from the skins), the inner skin is luan plywood which is what rots. Pushing epoxy through the holes from the outside will not fix the luan on the other side of the core, it'll just make a mess. It might do some limited good for the plywood backing the jack area, but you'd be doing it blind and would never know. On a boat, you would cut a piece of the outer skin off, fix what's underneath, then splice the piece back on, that isn't that much work but then finishing it to look good is a lot of work. I think I might be tempted to cut a nice neat hole in the shower, do what needs doing, then put a nice neat access panel over the hole. That will look OK if you do it carefully. Use 1/8" G10 fiberglass, round the corners, paint it the same color. Could be pretty big, I'd start with some smaller exploratory holes to see that I was in the right place and then extend to where I had to go.
Well it looks like the rot on the passenger side goes all the way up the wood corner strip. I am likely only going to replace what I can access from the battery and generator compartments. Looks like the water followed the foam-plywood interface from above. Found the coat hanger thing (not sure if that is what it is) screws were very loose and was not sealed. If that is the source, then that water ran a long way.
Has anyone take the door frame apart? I was planning on just resealing the edges, but if it is similar to the windows, it might be worth pulling to see if there is evidence of water intrusion.
What do you think I should replace the plywood with? I was thinking pressure treated plywood (just in case). Not sure it will bond as well with the shell. Would need to test.
The driver’s side doesn’t seem as wet. My thought is to get in the shore power box with an oscillating tool, cut out the luan and assess the underlying wood. Let it dry. Inject JB marine weld (made to cure in wet environments) into the jack plate fastener holes. I don’t expect it to travel far, but at least the threads will have purchase. Predrill cured epoxy before reinstalling jack plate bolts. Consider applying Bondo (or similar) to backside to hopefully tie some wood fibers together and then patch the luan and leave a good dessicant in the shore power box.
An alternative would be to build up the outside to sure it up. A fiberglass reinforcement patch in and around the jack mount point (maybe reinforce the whole corner. I would have a legit boat fabricator do this (lot’s of them in AK). Not pretty necessarily, but safe. If I went this route, I would just leave the luan open on the back to let the wood continue to dry.
Would like to take a moment to thank whoever invented oscillating tools. I am not sure what I would do without it.
