sneak_e_pete Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Will be redoing the boat in the spring and am wondering about flotation foam. A lot of different opinions out there....pink board style foam from Home Depot or 2 part expanding foam. Looking for some opinions. I have a 14 ft Princecraft Fisherman. Thanks in advance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshtrax Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Pool noodles from the dollar store. Nice and easy to cut and shape. Wont bang around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porkpie Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 I'm with him! I'm pulling my floors and redoing them with vinyl this spring, and if I need to replace any foam, it will be noodles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 tone z71 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 US Comosites 2 pound density ..re did a few boats this is the crap ..gives the hull back its ridigity and a nice quite ride ..also meets coast guard requirements ..I thought I was a dang redneck ..give the kids back there noodles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Noodles are made with hydrogen peroxide and LDPoly. They break down in short time and absorb water. Last thing you want in the boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshtrax Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 (edited) If anyone should know it would be you. What would you use in a small tin boat? Edited November 12, 2015 by Freshtrax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Pending cavity shapes I'd probably buy the two part pourable closed cell foam. If you have some easy shapes you could probably use blue Dow SM or pink Celfort. You just have to be cautious as to what is closed cell, what is open and what is somewhat in between. Pool noodles work great one day and then suddenly deteriorate and become an instant sponge. Even the Dow Corning billets for floating docks start to absorb water over time and once they become waterlogged they will not dry out. I've found a few blocks floating down the lake and they weigh 4x what they should. Left in the sun they still won't dry out. Same deal with my hot tub cover, once side is totally water logged. If you're going to go to all the work to pull out the old, no point putting crap back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bacon Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 (edited) Some people have mentioned using empty pop bottles. I am not sure how long it takes for them to break down; but it may solve the issue of foam absorbing water. Placing the bottles in there and then adding foam to fill in the spaces between may be a good idea. You could even fill the bottles with foam before capping them. Edited November 12, 2015 by JohnBacon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave524 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Personally , I don't like pour in expanding foam in an aluminum boat. Nasty if you ever have to remove it for a repair, bonds to the hull so that if any water gets in the boat under the floor it won't drain to the back properly, seems to be a source of corrosion if wet and bonded to the hull, make mine cut to measure foam boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimsbylander Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 The point of having foam is to provide an added element of safety in case that boat ever gets swamped. There's no way I'd be stuffing pool noodles or pop bottles into my boat. How about pool noodle lifejackets?Nope. Get a quality closed cell foam and install it as original factory. The placement and volume of foam is important to create level floation during times of being completely swamped. Too much in the bow for instance can push the heavy transom(motor,batteries,etc) down. Take your time and do it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIFTER_016 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Have your local insulation contractor spray the areas with Walltite-Eco 2 part polyurethane foam. The original foam that is put in boats is open cell and is the reason it fails. The Walltite is a closed cell foam that won't absorb water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb4me Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Have your local insulation contractor spray the areas with Walltite-Eco 2 part polyurethane foam. The original foam that is put in boats is open cell and is the reason it fails. The Walltite is a closed cell foam that won't absorb water. Id love to know more about this..I have a good friend that owns Insta Insulation just outside of Brantford here.. Has any one else done this? Will it eat at the aluminum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DRIFTER_016 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Id love to know more about this..I have a good friend that owns Insta Insulation just outside of Brantford here.. Has any one else done this? Will it eat at the aluminum? Seeing how they spray it on all types of metal areas when insulating I would believe it to be fine. It's not really any different than the original foam except it is denser and closed cell. The two agents may be a little different but there is no reason to think it would harm the hull any more than the factory stuff will. In fact I would believe that the factory foam would be worse as it holds water that would over time cause corrosion at the points where it is saturated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Do it once. Do it right. Photo of all my foam removed. Photo after it was properly reinstalled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 tone z71 Posted November 12, 2015 Report Share Posted November 12, 2015 Do it once. Do it right. Photo of all my foam removed. Photo after it was properly reinstalled. ......exactly ...well done ...pool noodles and empty water bottles what the hell take a lil pride in your work and vessel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cram Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Ping pong balls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sneak_e_pete Posted November 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Do it once. Do it right. Photo of all my foam removed. Photo after it was properly reinstalled. Nice job!!! I assume it wasnt expanding foam...or if it was, how did you contain it from flowing over? Also...what did you use? Mind sharing cost and where you got it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 tone z71 Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Look up US Composites website they have it all you need the 2 lb density..they ship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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