1996 Mako 191 - Squeaky floors and some moisture

[Thresher]

The floors to either side of the console in my 191 have always squeaked a little since I bought the boat about a year ago, but it's getting more noticeable. There's no appreciable flex or movement in the deck, just the sound.

Today I was messing around inside of the port inspection hatch, inside the console and above my fuel tank, and found rotten wood forward of the hatch. Basically beneath the front console seat. It's also quite wet below deck around the outside edges where the console screws down. The sealant all around here is in pretty bad shape so I'm guessing it's from rainwater intrusion.

https://imgur.com/a/2wMkhsM

I'm planning to scrape the whole thing today and completely reseal around the console. What if anything else should I do in the short term? The idea of removing the t-top, console and all my wiring to see what's going on down there right before the cobia run starts is not what I have in mind. I know that eventually I should pull it all off to address the floors and replace what I suspect is the original fuel tank... but I'm hoping to not have to before next winter?

[Thresher]

Found this image below in a thread about replacing the fuel tank on a 191, wonder if maybe I have these wood cross beams also, and that's the wood rot that I'm feeling under there?

[Hoop]

Hey Thresher- I had the same squeaky floor issue. I never tore up the deck to investigate the cause but am pretty confident it was delaminatuon of fiberglass from the core in that area of the floor. It never felt really soft like the core was rotten it just creaked when you stepped in one certain spot so I let it ride for the 4 years I had the boat and it never got any worse. I even pointed it out to the new owner in full disclosure and he didnt seem to be overly concerned by it. Shoot me an email if you have any other questions about your 191 that maybe I can help with: mphooper79atgmaildotcom

[Justin]

Yeah depending on age of the boat, it's likely the floor flexing as a result of core rot.

You can likely ignore it for many years without issue...eventually as it progresses it will cause cracking of the top fiberglass skin, which will just make the rot worse.

Only real solution is to cut out the rotted deck and re-glass...some inject epoxy, but it's not a permanent solution.

[muzzy1127]

I agree with justin, if you have the time, remove the core and glass in new core. If youre trying to finish a fishing season, you can inject epoxy to the soft spot. Theres some epoxies that are meant for that.

[Thresher]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Like I said I don't have any soft spots, the deck doesn't seem to flex at all. It just creaks, which I assume is the pre-cursor to flexing down the road.

But sounds like I might have some time before it's a big concern. If I can put off addressing it until next December or so that's what I'll plan to do.