Scrapping Forever

 We are now down to bare aluminum!

If I had to guess, this is the step (in the project) that took the least amount of thinking and the most amount of labor. The foam that was originally there, was poured in as a liquid state and then changed into a foam that stuck to the surface of the aluminum. Thus, we had to dig into it with a floor scrapper and a shovel to pull out the large chunks. After the large chunks were removed, we used metal scrappers to get down to the aluminum by hand.

I have to take a quick moment to vent about the difference between going to a big box store like Lowes verses a small hardware store like ACE.  On Saturday, I needed to get supplies to start the job and walked into Ace Hardware to find three employees waiting at the front of the store to help me. They got me out the door in less than 10 minutes with an even better product than what I came in looking for. On Sunday, I walked into Lowes and walked all over the store to find someone, who had  to find another person to finally tell me they don't even have what I was looking for. Lowes is great for "big stuff" but for simple items or if you need any kind of help - Ace is the place.

I started the project around 11am on Saturday and was finished with one side by 7pm. Talk about a slow going and labor intensive job. The thought did cross my mind to just "leave it as is" but I felt that if the project is going to be done - its going to be done right from the very bottom to the top. Even if it took 15 hours of misery over the weekend.

Thankfully, my dad offered to come up on Sunday to help.

I did some research to see what type of foam I should replace the "old stuff" with. What I learned is that "poured" foam (also known as 2 in 1 foam) is great for custom fitting areas in order to fill in every nook that also provides the best in sound absorption.What it also does well is absorb water over a long period of time and has a tendency to become "water logged".

 There are sheets of foam that you can buy from Lowes or Mendards that can be cut to fit the floor and is easy to take up along with a less porous surface to resist water. Not to mention it's about half the price. The only downfall I could find is that it doesn't absorb sound as well as the 2 in 1 poured foam. Fortunately, I still have a few weeks before I have to decide what I want to use to replace the old stuff.

As you can see, we are now down to bare aluminum. Then next step will be to pressure wash the inside and drop it in the water to see if we have any leaks in the hull - most likely from loose rivets. With Mother Nature throwing curve balls at us with 65 degrees one day and snow the next, we will have to see when the boat can get into the water. I suppose that will give me some more time for "planning".