Engine room sole

The engine room sole is sheathed with 1/4" aluminum diamond plate.

I was planning on using plywood for the sole due to cost concerns on my part, but having found this plate at the scrap yard has allowed me to go with, what I consider, a more attractive sole. Because of being in the engine room, and also I believe it could be a common event to have to lift pieces of the sole off for maintenance I bolted wood firing to my steel framing and then attach the aluminum sheathing to the wood. If I had screwed the aluminum sheathing directly to the steel I had visions in the not to distant future of broken screws, corrosion where screws penetrated the steel, and just more difficult maintenance in general. Having wood to screw the aluminum in to will also give me a little vibration dampening in my opinion. Im using #12 x 1.50" stainless steel wood screws that Im countersinking as my fastener. The sole is complete as I write this post, and to date, Ive used 150 of the stainless screws to fasten the aluminum down.

I wanted as much level area in the engine room as I could build, so I stepped the sole framing up as the sole moves aft in the engine room. These steps, while some might not like, give me places of access underneath the sole, and also give me a place to sit while Im in the engine room. Whenever I give friends tours of the progress, almost everyone sits on one of these steps. This picture to the left shows the platform I built for my tool box, and my hydraulic system reservoir.

I think the largest piece of material Ive used for the engine room sole is a finished cut piece of 24"x 24". I dont want to be having to man handle large pieces when Im I have to access under the sole. I would rather be able to lift smaller pieces, to gain access and still be kneeling or sitting on the level sole. The down side to having all these smaller pieces is I used quite a few screws.

Im getting a pretty good feel on how the engine room is going to layout and I think Ive found locations for the various equipment Im going to need. Im going to dedicate the port side of the room up against the main bulkhead at frame #9 as my area for my work bench. While the head room is around 5"4" in this area, Ill be able to use a short stool with a lower work bench to be able to work in a comfortable position. Ill post more about the engine room as a whole once I begin to install the various components.

The last piece of the sole for me to build is the area over the stuffing box. Im almost out of aluminum plate so I have to give it some thought on how I want to treat this area so I dont waste any material. I think Im going to hinge a part of this area so I can gain quick access to the stuffing box for maintenance, daily checks for leaks, and stuffing box temperature.

I have 4 10" of head room on the starboard side of the engine, and 5 2" on the port side of the engine. I have more headroom on the port side by my design as I knew this area would house my work bench. Id love to have a stand up engine room, but on a boat my size, I think that would be almost impossible. I think once you get into the 50 range, stand up engine rooms start to appear. Im totally happy with the size of the engine room, and very pleased with the head room I do have. Ill be able to easily do all my maintenance work in this space in comfort.

The scrap yard aluminum worked out great. There are some blemishes, and some cleaning that will have to be done. I know as construction progresses, the dings I put in the sole, will blend in to what was there. Ill probably never do much more than clean up the messs I make. I have to say that I love the way the engine room is shaping up.

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Forward Cabin Sole

The forward cabin is painted, the water tanks are installed, the firing lumber is bolted to the frames, and now its time to install the forward sole. Sole is to a boat what a sub floor is to a house ( it is to me).

Ive had to make the choice of screwing the plywood sole down directly down to the steel flange I welded to the frames or build the steel frames up with 2x lumber, then screw the plywood down to that lumber. I will loose 1.5" of headroom by using lumber, but I feel as if Ill also loose a lot of future complications by using lumber vs straight to the steel. Using a firing strip over the steel flange costs me some headroom, but it also gives me more square footage on the floor since Ive raised the floor profile and allowed the plywood to "slide" more outboard against the frames. Its amazing how much more room I have since the sole grew outboard when I mocked up the sole framing system. Screwing the plywood directly to the steel in my opinion will make lifting pieces of the floor a real pain in the ass years down the road as screws rust and break. Ill end up with about 6 2" of headroom once the finished ceiling is installed. This 6 2" seems to be my minimum as some areas will be a little more ( 6 7" in some areas). Im 5 11" tall and Im totally happy with the headroom I"ll end up with.

The forward cabin are is where my cabin will be, the kids cabin, and the common bathroom/shower shared by both cabins. Both cabins will be carpeted and the bathroom/shower room will be hardwood or tile.

Im using #1 southern yellow pine as my firing lumber, and CDX for as the plywood on the sole. The firing lumber runs perpendicular to the frames and is screwed to the frame flange using a self tapping screw of sufficient size and thickness. Even though the salesmen who sold me the self tappers said I would not have to drill a pilot hole, I found things went much faster by drilling a pilot hole. I also used polyurethane adhesive to glue the firing lumber down to the frame flange. I dont want to rely totally on the self tapping screw as I could see the lumber shrinking, the screw getting loose on the lumber, and a squeak developing. It if for all the reasons I just listed that I think the adhesive will give me some a little better job.

Ive also had to make a decision on how Im going to frame my partitions that will make up the cabin walls. My current boat just uses plywood stood on edge for the partition. This boat is much bigger and has more in her regarding systems and things like wiring and plumbing. I posed this question on metalboatbuilding.org and after receiving the usual good comment, I decided to frame the partitions out of 2 x 3 lumber. The reason Ive had to decide this now is because I want to be able to remove all of the cabin flooring without having to remove any partitions. For this reason Ill have to frame the cabin sole in a way that allows the sole to be supported from below while the partitions remain in place. I also have to frame in all my access panels in the floor for access to water tank valves and whatever else I need to maintain below the floor. In a nut shell the cabin sole is basically made up of lots of small pieces that fit together to make the sole system.

I knew where all the access panels had to be located so framing those areas of the sole required very little layout. The partition walls on the other hand would take some more thought. I decided to handle this by framing and installing the sole, then once the sole was complete I will be able to get more precise with the various cabin partitions and cabin components. Once I new where most everything will go regarding living space, I will put layout lines down on the sole and alter the sole to accept the framing above. Doing it this way allows me days to ponder locations and do mock ups to see how things fit. Now is the time I start fighting for every square inch so I want to make sure it works for me and works for the boat. Most of the decisions Im making have me giving most of my consideration to how easy things will be to service and maintain.

I screwed the sole down with a # 12 stainless steel wood screw using a tapered bit with a counter sink that had a depth stop so all the counter sinks are at the right depth.

The sole is now complete and Im loving how much better the boat feels now that I can walk around on a firm flat surface. The sole is very solid and has no give or squeak as I walk across it. My next step will be to start the framing of the interior partitions so I can have all the cleats and nailers installed prior to insulation.

Conall

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