[Duane Bledsoe]

HELP!

Nah, just kidding. It's not THAT important, but I would like to find something that will work for my latest wooden brainchild.

I'm getting interested in making a ******* wooden Jon boat, on the cheap, for fishing local creeks. I've seen at least one online where a guy made it using simple 3/8 plywood as a hull bottom and side gunwales, with a light weight wooden pine frame inside for support. He posted a video with it in the water and running on an electric motor, so I know the design is sound. All the materials are just common, off the shelf at the home store, construction lumber. I plan to make a modified version of his, somewhat larger so it holds two people.

My problem is, the one I saw was sealed using asphalt driveway sealer. I'd like something just a bit nicer, so I'm searching for an inexpensive, also off the shelf at the home store, product that I can paint on that will seal the wood from absorbing water for at least a few hours at a time. This boat won't get used often, just once in a while. When it does, it will be for several hours each time. Is there a brush on sealant that can serve the purpose, or would I be better off using spray on truck bed coating or something similar?

 

[Alchymist]

You might try that stuff that they used to seal the screen door in the bottom of the boat. :laughing:

 

[cabinetman]

I would just lay up some fiberglass. That'll do it.:yes:

.

 

[Duane Bledsoe]

Hmm, well then, truck bed coating it is, LOL. Fiberglass is going to be a bit more than I want to do here. I'm looking for fast, simple, and cheap. Maybe rubberized undercoating sprayed from a can will work. I guess all I'm really looking for is dry. I'll sacrifice pretty for that.

 

[burkhome]

Am I wrong here...Weren't wooden boats finished with Marine paint in the old days?

 

[Steve Neul]

If you want the natural look of the wood to show through I would use a marine grade spar varnish.

 

[TylerJones]

Many wooden boats use with marine paint, The important thing with those vessels is that the seams are properly packed with oakum and cemented before painting. Obviously if you don't want to glass the hull you aren't going to want to do that either. When you have finished building the boat I would suggest sealing over the joints with Sikaflex and then painting with an epoxy paint like HD or Lowe's sells for garage floors. That will be a much cheaper option than buying real wooden boat paint (it's crazy expensive and very heavy to ship due to high copper content.) The last option I would consider would be to simply use an outdoor house paint. Paint is formulated to bond to wood, My concern with the truck bed liner application would be that it would not adhere well enough to stop leakage. You could spar Varnish the rest of the hull that will remain above the waterline, and the inside.