Hello there!
New to the board and very new to boat ownership! I am in the process of getting an Alumacraft 1436LT for my father to have completed by fathers day. We had always talked about one day owning a boat, waking up early and going fishing. I figured I would give him a meaningful present.
After tons of research, going back and forth between the sun dolphin 10.2 and the 1236... I decided on the 1436LT! I liked the length of the boat, allowing for more storage and design options.
I am going to be building a small front deck (where the front seat is) with a hatch for storage. A foam/wood floor. I will be surrounding the bench with wood and carpet. Installing interior lights on each of the benches and cupholders. Lastly, I will create a back hatch for a future tank placement (our motor now doesnt require a tank) and the battery along with a small amount of storage.
I have a few questions based on some of the projects I have researched on here (great help by the way!)
1). Everyone talks about giving the wood for deck framing a "water treatment". From some basic research I have done, is this simply applying epoxy on the wood to seal it? I may be using 2x4's to build the frame for each of the storage decks.
2) My other option is using aluminum tubing and aluminum angle for the front deck. I have seen people use a rivet tool to construct the frame? Is this the best way? are there any other good ways?
3) When surrounding the bench with wood and carpet. Are the wood->steel screws good to use? I know they are made to penetrate the metal then grab ahold. (I will be putting a seat pedestal ontop of the front bench and possibly the back)
4)When putting foam and wood flooring on, what is the easiest way to water seal this? I dont want to sacrifice quality for convenience, but is there an easy trick? other than applying epoxy ontop of the wood base.
Thanks everyone!
New to the board and very new to boat ownership! I am in the process of getting an Alumacraft 1436LT for my father to have completed by fathers day. We had always talked about one day owning a boat, waking up early and going fishing. I figured I would give him a meaningful present.
After tons of research, going back and forth between the sun dolphin 10.2 and the 1236... I decided on the 1436LT! I liked the length of the boat, allowing for more storage and design options.
I am going to be building a small front deck (where the front seat is) with a hatch for storage. A foam/wood floor. I will be surrounding the bench with wood and carpet. Installing interior lights on each of the benches and cupholders. Lastly, I will create a back hatch for a future tank placement (our motor now doesnt require a tank) and the battery along with a small amount of storage.
I have a few questions based on some of the projects I have researched on here (great help by the way!)
1). Everyone talks about giving the wood for deck framing a "water treatment". From some basic research I have done, is this simply applying epoxy on the wood to seal it? I may be using 2x4's to build the frame for each of the storage decks.
2) My other option is using aluminum tubing and aluminum angle for the front deck. I have seen people use a rivet tool to construct the frame? Is this the best way? are there any other good ways?
3) When surrounding the bench with wood and carpet. Are the wood->steel screws good to use? I know they are made to penetrate the metal then grab ahold. (I will be putting a seat pedestal ontop of the front bench and possibly the back)
4)When putting foam and wood flooring on, what is the easiest way to water seal this? I dont want to sacrifice quality for convenience, but is there an easy trick? other than applying epoxy ontop of the wood base.
Thanks everyone!
