Foam?

[Captain Jay Kavanagh]

I am gonna fill the Nimrod bilge with foam.

I am used two part pour foam in the past for this, but you waste alot.

I was wondering if anyone knew of any other foam products, in sheets or blocks or two part foam that will not absorb water and was maybe cheaper.

I was thinking about the foam sheets available at Home Labyrinth used in construction.

I went to the products website and the seem to meet the requirement for water absorption (or rather lack there of), need to test it to see if epoxy will eat it though.

thoughts? Input?

[donald/tri-again]

see if you can borrow a gun to spray it in . mixes in the nozzle and eliminates the waste.

[clt_capt]

Jay,
The blue or pink Dow/Corning extruded Polystyrene used for construction is low density and does a good job. Epoxy will not eat it, but gasoline will as will polyester resin.

Dow alos makes a special kit that uses the same 2 part urethane, but the dispenser is a special gun... http://building.dow.com/global/frothpak.htm - A lot less waste...

[seapower]

Sent you a PM on this earlier. I'm just curious about foam in the bilge. I've seen alot of rot (like I'm sure you have) when air is not allowed to move. I can't remember a wood commercial boat with a below deck fish hold that didn't rot on the backside. Didn't matter what kind of foam was used, air just couldn't move. I probably am missing something here, just curious. Not trying to say what to do or what not to do. After all I don't build boats. Frank

[billschwabe]

I too would never use that two part foam. No matter what people will tell you it will absorb water over time, and even if there are no leaks, condensation will be enough by itself. It also shrinks after a while so you will have voids. It would be interesting to see statistics but I'd bet that two part is probably responsible for more deck and tank replacement jobs than damage from collisions or groundings added together.
Most of the cheap house insulation foams are affected by gas vapors and ABYC (H8) disallows their use unless coated with eopxy.
One pretty cool idea I've seen was using either old ping pong balls of that aggrevating popcorn or peanut packing material. Get a bunch of plastic bags, maybe even those heavier "closet vacuum storage" bags but not pumped down too much, and pack them in under the deck. The bags would hold them in unless you had a REALLY big hole in the bottom and then you have extra floats to hang onto!
Not sure how ABYC would rule on them but it would be a great way to get rid of them instead of having them blowing around the shop after you open up a box!

[brokensheer]

I like the idea of using " billets"of foam if you will , this will allow water to pass through the holds and escape not really giving it a chance to soak in. this is a big box store bldg, material that is called Tuff- R , this stuff is a poly iso foam. http://building.dow.com/na/en/produc...tion/tuffr.htm

if you wanted to you can coat it with polyester resin and some chop strand matt , place it in the areas you wish and be good approx 2 lb density

all the best Bo

[Flatdog]

"I am gonna fill the Nimrod bilge with foam"

Simple first question why?
What is the problem that you want to fill your bilge with foam?
There may be other answers.

[billschwabe]

"I am gonna fill the Nimrod bilge with foam"

Simple first question why?
What is the problem that you want to fill your bilge with foam?
There may be other answers.

Well, as is the case with just about everything these days, the government is attempting to control more and more of our every day business (and life!). If you are a legit boatbuilder, you now have several more hoops to jump through than the old days. You now have to either hire a "consultant" who is usually a semi-retired coastie, to make sure you follow "standards and practices" approved by the Coast Guard no matter what you build or getting either a hull ID or documention# will be unbelieveably difficult if not impossible. They now schedule regular "factory visits" to make sure you do such simple things like wiring and head plumbing, flotation and reboarding right or they will not allow you to register your pride and joy.

I'm sure the new regulations are well meaning but I think it is a case of a few bad apples ruining the bushel. Most boat builders do try and build the best product they can because they want the repeat business but sadly some are just in it for the quick buck and don't care and these have now made it harder and MUCH more expensive for the rest. You can still build your own "homebuilt" boat here in NC and register it as such but just try and build one to sell and see how much more it costs you (and the buyer!!!). Effectively, we are now forced to hire these "consultants" to ensure compliance to get a hull#.

If your boat doesn't meet all the regs you are leaving yourself wide open for lawsuits at best and while most builders do this anyway when required, just being an active member of ABYC and following the "guidelines" doesn't do it anymore. You now have to keep these ex-government employees "on the payroll" just to stay in business doing what you have been for decades, even if you've had NO problems.

Maybe, hopefully Jay is far enough away from the "mainstream" they haven't found him yet but he is trying to make sure he is ready when they do. That boat probably has enough wood (flotation) in it to stay afloat when swamped, but a little extra doesn't hurt either!

[Captain Jay Kavanagh]

Maybe, hopefully Jay is far enough away from the "mainstream" they haven't found him yet but he is trying to make sure he is ready when they do. That boat probably has enough wood (flotation) in it to stay afloat when swamped, but a little extra doesn't hurt either!

Nope, they found me.

I have already had one "factory inspection"

The reason is the above ones that Bill mentioned and safety.

Duckin in the pamlico can be pretty sporty at times, and lots of skiffs get swamped, I have see ones with no floatation sink.

Esentially I am building a foam and wood core composite boat, all sealed and glassed.

When it comes right down to it, all foam will absorb some water.

Any idea what kind of foam carolina skiff uses in their floors?

[seapower]

Guess I should have figured this one out before. I wasn't thinkong about "selling" it, guess I thought it was gonna be a homemade personal boat. Plus, I really didn't know that you boat builder guy's had ALL those reg's to follow. Yep, being in business for yourself is really paying off these day's! I was working in a local boatyard when OSHA showed up, they tore him a new one. I don't know how we ever got along before they showed up. Same goes with NMFS. Frank