Transom moving when you push on the motor?
Soft spot in the floor? Cracks around the motor bolts? That's usually water in the timber core, and it doesn't get better on its own.
Clear price in writing before we start. Nothing goes ahead without your OK.
Sound familiar?
- The transom flexes when you trim the motor up or push on it
- Cracks around the motor bolts or along the bottom of the transom
- A soft or spongy spot in the floor when you walk on it
- Water weeping out of screw holes, or a bilge that never dries
- The hull flexes or creaks more than it used to in a chop
- Older boat, timber core, and nobody has ever looked underneath
What it really means
Most older fibreglass trailer boats have timber inside the transom, stringers and floor. Once water gets into that timber it rots from the inside, where you can't see it. The stringers are the boat's backbone and the transom carries the motor. When they go soft, the whole boat starts to move.
The motor lets go
A rotten transom can crack or tear out under load, and the motor goes with it.
The hull cracks through
Without solid stringers the hull flexes every time it hits a wave, until something breaks while you're out.
A foot goes through the floor
A rotten floor gives way without warning. Someone gets hurt.
How we fix it
We look it over and sound it out, so you know what's rotten and what's still good.
We cut out the wet timber and foam, back to sound, dry fibreglass.
New core goes in (marine ply, Coosa or Thermolite) and gets glassed back to the hull properly.
Floor and fittings go back, the motor goes back on, and the boat is rigid again, not moving underway.
Why people bring it to us
"I had my Haines Hunter V16R rebuilt by Sam and the team. The workmanship is absolutely excellent."
"We had a new transom put in our Stejcraft Malibu. Time to do the job was quicker than quoted, the price came in under the original quote, the finished product looks factory perfect."
Straight answers
How much will it cost?
It depends on the boat's length, how far the rot has gone and the core you choose. Send us photos for a guide price. Then bring it around, we'll take a proper look and give you a firm price in writing before any work starts.
How long will it take?
A transom on its own is usually 2 to 3 weeks from drop-off to back in the water. A floor and stringers or a full rebuild takes longer, and we'll give you the dates up front.
What if you find more rot once it's open?
We stop, take photos and tell you. You get the price in writing and say yes or no before we touch it. Nothing extra goes ahead without your OK.
Is my boat worth fixing?
We'll tell you straight. Sometimes the honest answer is that it isn't, and we'd rather tell you that than take your money.
Send us photos for a guide price
- 1. Send photos. Fill in the form and attach 3 or 4 photos, or text them to 0429 062 114 or email info@theisc.com.au. One close up, one of the whole area.
- 2. Get a guide price. Sam looks at the photos and comes back to you.
- 3. Bring it around. We take a proper look and give you a firm price in writing. Nothing goes ahead without your OK.
We're not the cheapest on the coast, and we don't try to be. We do it properly and stand behind it for 12 months.