First let me start by stating that I am new to boat restoration. I have years of experience in woodworking and refinishing (antiques, new furniture, cabinetry, etc..) and wood construction (homes, outdoor furniture, outbuildings, etc...) so I am not greenhorn when it comes to wood. However in my past experience I have either never had to worry about water intrusion or did everything possible to prevent it. 
I just purchased my first wooden boat and want to restore it correctly, not so it will be a show winner or trailer queen, but so the wife and I can enjoy it for years to come. So I am more than willing to invest the time up front to do it correctly, but don't look forward to redoing the same repair over and over. That all being said I have diligently started searching all the wooden boat online forums, such as this one, and reading all the books I can get my hands on covering this topic. And at this point I must say I feel I know less today than then when I started!
My first step will be to yank the engine and flip the boat over to restore the bottom (original ’58 CC Sportsman bottom) so I started researching bottom restoration. First I discovered there are two divided camps concerning the use of: 1) Epoxy, 2) 3M 5200 type products and 3) Fiberglass. Those that say these products are lifesavers and those that claim they are the work of the devil! And its appears very few folks fall in-between these two camps.
It seems the experts – those that have written books and are major contributors to online sites – all use either Modified Traditional Bottoms or West System Bottom. No one but the purest of the purist suggest a fully Traditional Bottom. But from the online forums and the actual boat owners, I read posting after posting of how bad the West System is and how it is used by only those looking for a quick temporary fix or “mop and glowers” looking for a quick turn around on their investment. And also how 3M 5200 (and all of its competitors) is horrible and should never be used for anything involving wood-in-water. Epoxy also seems to be used equally by all experts and condemned by the majority of boat owners! Yikes – who do I trust? I just want a semi-permanent long lasting good looking bottom on my boat!
The other topic of confusion (and I apologize for this posting’s length) is the practice of REPLACING all bottom wood – plywood, planking and all, even if it is not rotted and is still sound! I was trained as a woodworker that restoration was the restoring of old usable wood, not replacing it – that’s called reproducing, or in this forum, boat building. Granted there is noting wrong with using fresh new wood in place of old sound, wood ( I will not get into the argument of superior old growth timber versus today’s “plant, cut and ship” lumber), but you can’t call that restoration. Why are the experts so pro-replacement of bottom planking? Especially if the plywood bottom and all the chemicals they suggest to pour over it are doing 90% of the work. Again who is a “boat virgin” to believe?
I need a boat restoration champion to follow!
I just purchased my first wooden boat and want to restore it correctly, not so it will be a show winner or trailer queen, but so the wife and I can enjoy it for years to come. So I am more than willing to invest the time up front to do it correctly, but don't look forward to redoing the same repair over and over. That all being said I have diligently started searching all the wooden boat online forums, such as this one, and reading all the books I can get my hands on covering this topic. And at this point I must say I feel I know less today than then when I started!
My first step will be to yank the engine and flip the boat over to restore the bottom (original ’58 CC Sportsman bottom) so I started researching bottom restoration. First I discovered there are two divided camps concerning the use of: 1) Epoxy, 2) 3M 5200 type products and 3) Fiberglass. Those that say these products are lifesavers and those that claim they are the work of the devil! And its appears very few folks fall in-between these two camps.
It seems the experts – those that have written books and are major contributors to online sites – all use either Modified Traditional Bottoms or West System Bottom. No one but the purest of the purist suggest a fully Traditional Bottom. But from the online forums and the actual boat owners, I read posting after posting of how bad the West System is and how it is used by only those looking for a quick temporary fix or “mop and glowers” looking for a quick turn around on their investment. And also how 3M 5200 (and all of its competitors) is horrible and should never be used for anything involving wood-in-water. Epoxy also seems to be used equally by all experts and condemned by the majority of boat owners! Yikes – who do I trust? I just want a semi-permanent long lasting good looking bottom on my boat!
The other topic of confusion (and I apologize for this posting’s length) is the practice of REPLACING all bottom wood – plywood, planking and all, even if it is not rotted and is still sound! I was trained as a woodworker that restoration was the restoring of old usable wood, not replacing it – that’s called reproducing, or in this forum, boat building. Granted there is noting wrong with using fresh new wood in place of old sound, wood ( I will not get into the argument of superior old growth timber versus today’s “plant, cut and ship” lumber), but you can’t call that restoration. Why are the experts so pro-replacement of bottom planking? Especially if the plywood bottom and all the chemicals they suggest to pour over it are doing 90% of the work. Again who is a “boat virgin” to believe?
I need a boat restoration champion to follow!
