oak cabin sole?

[catamount]

I've got to replace the floor boards in the cabin of my Peterson 34. The existing boards are 3/4" plywood, cut to fit, but water apparently got into some voids so they are pretty spongey.

I was planning to purchase a sheet of marine plywood to cut new boards, coating all sides with epoxy before finishing, but then a crazy idea hit me. I have a box of pre-finished solid oak flooring left over from re-doing the second floor of our house. Maybe I could glue these strips together to make up floor boards for GREYHAWK?

If I make sure I've got all the edges, especially end grain, and bottoms coated in epoxy, and I've added some lattitudinal stiffeners (assuming I run the flooring fore and aft), can you guys foresee any issues with this?

Regards,

Tim

[Tim]

While oak may be less rot resistant than many woods, that doesn't mean it's going to instantly disintegrate when it is installed somewhere inside a boat. For a cosmetic item like a cabin sole (even if the sole relies upon itself for its own structural support), I don't see any real reason to not use it, given you have the materials on hand and so forth.

If, someday, it rots out, then replace it again. No harm done.

If it does get wet, particularly beneath the epoxy somewhere, it will turn black, so beware of that. All cabin soles will get wet during normal use; what you need to avoid is frequent or continual bilge water or leakage getting on or under the sole.

[Invitation]

it will turn black

He's not kidding here. Oak is great wood but be very careful, this problem could ruin your whole project and you will start over again.

[dasein668]

Or you could intentionally let it go black, varnish it up, and tell everyone you had an ebony sole.

[heartofgold]

Or you could intentionally let it go black, varnish it up, and tell everyone you had an ebony sole.

That's what I like most about you Nathan: you are always thinking outside the box.