Buying Boat with Wet Swim Platform

[g36]

I have a 405 with same dockbox and issue. However I found my problem early and only had rot around the screw holes which i enlarged dug out all the rot i could get and filled with epoxy and redrilled thriugh it to refasten the box. Been great for going on 13 years now. If you end up getting no seller compensation for possible repair and you buy the boat before you think all is lost. I would pull the box enlarge the screw holes like I did, (because you will want to refill these with epoxy anyway to isolate any wood to further absorb water)and take a coat hanger or similar wire and probe around them and see what you actually are dealing with. It may be you will have gotten to it early if your lucky. But I don't know if this would stop me from a purchase if you like this boat and deal. Worst is what some have had to do to recore/repair. I hoping for the best for you.

[VicB]

Boats like this always have a project in the wings. If you are handy, there a tons of YouTube videos that will walk you through those repairs if it gets to that point. If you’re not so handy, you’ll probably become handy. These boats are a lot of fun to learn new skills with. There are no perfect boats. They all require a lot of attention, due to the environment they stay in year around. If that’s the only issue that give you pause, sounds like a really nice boat.

[tonyp444]

Source of the post Another possible explanation. It would make sense that Carver installed some squares of marine plywood around the box base area under the box. If that is accurate, then the meter could be reading the resin in the plywood as water. Did the surveyor perform that same meter inspection on the stringers? What were those readings? er

Interesting thought. They did use the moisture meter on the stringers and detected slightly elevated moisture in the engine stringers, but it wasn’t as high of a reading as the swim platform. I found another thread where someone said the stringer construction on their 1996 325 was fiberglass over marine plywood which was soaked in resin, so I was operating under the assumption that was likely the cause for the elevated reading in the stringers, but didn’t consider that could also be the case with the swim platform. I was thinking it was likely the deck box issue since that seems to be very common.

[tonyp444]

Source of the post I have a 405 with same dockbox and issue. However I found my problem early and only had rot around the screw holes which i enlarged dug out all the rot i could get and filled with epoxy and redrilled thriugh it to refasten the box. Been great for going on 13 years now. If you end up getting no seller compensation for possible repair and you buy the boat before you think all is lost. I would pull the box enlarge the screw holes like I did, (because you will want to refill these with epoxy anyway to isolate any wood to further absorb water)and take a coat hanger or similar wire and probe around them and see what you actually are dealing with. It may be you will have gotten to it early if your lucky. But I don't know if this would stop me from a purchase if you like this boat and deal. Worst is what some have had to do to recore/repair. I hoping for the best for you.

Thank you, this is very helpful. Would you be able to share a little more on your process for enlarging and filling the holes? When you enlarged the fastener holes, did you just drill them out, and roughly what size? Also, any tips for filling the holes with epoxy to ensure it fills the entire void? Just regular 5/1 marine epoxy?

I’m pretty handy, but my work with fiberglass and epoxy is very limited so I have a lot to learn.

[g36]

I just took maybe 1 or 1.5 inch drill bit. The swim platform is not one great big thick piece its got a top and apx 6inch void under . Just want to drill through the top layer skin and not pierce the bottom or go all the way through the platform. Top layer is only 3/4 or so thick. You may need to do bigger area around the holes , i figured if it's going to be hidden by the dock box i could easily cutout and see what was needed but whatever you do you need to see how much is damaged on your boat. Since I didn't have any big areas I just used west system epoxy after digging out what core was rotted and continued digging till it was solid again . I was very fortunate to catch mine early. I just mixed it and continued pouring in the epoxy till it was level to the deck. I had to let that soak and harden then added the final amount in the allowable time frame for the epoxy. later I redrilled to remount the dock box. If you have the handhold in front of the swim ladder you can also unscrew it and see the make up of the platform. You'll also probably find the screw holes on it have allowed water intrusion to the core there also and will need to repaired/epoxied too. I can only speak of my situation. I know there's been many who have had much worse damage as you have probably read about. I only wish carver could have paid more attention and sealed this better I found basically no sealant around the fastners for this dockbox.

[tonyp444]

Source of the post I just took maybe 1 or 1.5 inch drill bit. The swim platform is not one great big thick piece its got a top and apx 6inch void under . Just want to drill through the top layer skin and not pierce the bottom or go all the way through the platform. Top layer is only 3/4 or so thick. You may need to do bigger area around the holes , i figured if it's going to be hidden by the dock box i could easily cutout and see what was needed but whatever you do you need to see how much is damaged on your boat. Since I didn't have any big areas I just used west system epoxy after digging out what core was rotted and continued digging till it was solid again . I was very fortunate to catch mine early. I just mixed it and continued pouring in the epoxy till it was level to the deck. I had to let that soak and harden then added the final amount in the allowable time frame for the epoxy. later I redrilled to remount the dock box. If you have the handhold in front of the swim ladder you can also unscrew it and see the make up of the platform. You'll also probably find the screw holes on it have allowed water intrusion to the core there also and will need to repaired/epoxied too. I can only speak of my situation. I know there's been many who have had much worse damage as you have probably read about. I only wish carver could have paid more attention and sealed this better I found basically no sealant around the fastners for this dockbox.

Super helpful. Thank you very much!