Posted by kamie on 07/15/14 - 10:14 AM
#3
Alley Oop wrote:
Just read the WC article about repairing the deck of an Outrage 22. Is it likely that if I buy an Outrage 18 built in the 1980’s that the deck will require repair? My take on the article on WC is that the factory does not caulk the deck screws or caulk the deck to the hull. If this is the case, then there will be water leakage and therefore the plywood of some decks will be rotting. Is there any plywood in the transom? If so, is there likely to be dry rot in the transom? If the hull a totally sealed unit?
Thanks in advance.
Mark
It is not likely that an 18 Outrage built in the 80's will require repair. The factory did caulk the deck, but caulk has a limited useful life and many owners did not see it as required maintenance as often as they should. Even then, the deck will not need to be rebuilt, unless the boat was left with standing water that covered the deck. This would need to happen multiple times, be primarily fresh water and the factory would have had to miss large spots when they sealed the wood. My 18 Outrage had no caulk on along the tank cover, was filled multiple times with rain water by the previous owner forgetting to remove the plug. There was a limited amount of rot around the deck opening, easily solved with git-rot and resin. The area under the deck is expected to get wet and the water is expected to drain out the sump. The caulk helps direct the majority of the water across the top of the deck but there are holes that allow water to get into the tank cavity.
There is plywood in the transom, it is separated from the tank cavity. The transom can get wet if the interior foam of the boat becomes wet, but it is more likely to happen form uncaulked screws holding things like transducers.