Water where it shouldn't be

[Semitrad]

We have seen a boat we like, had a test drive and survey done. There are, however, some items which worry us. On first lookover it had been raining and there were puddles of water on the cabin floor. Looking at the windows, they appear to have been poorly fitted with some fixing screws proud and some either missing or snapped.

There is some water under the (concrete) ballast, someone has chopped a bit of concrete out near the stern to access the baseplate, perhaps on a previous survey.

Oddly our surveyor didn’t seem at all concerned about the windows even though we asked him specifically about the leakage. I have a feeling that this could be expensive to rectify, what do people think?

[luctor et emergo]

Unless you can negotiate a price which takes into account the (partial) refit that looks to be required, walk away now. The water will have done a lot of damage behind the wall, and under the boards. At least you will need to refit the windows, and it looks like you need to take the floor up. At worst you need to re-plate the hull, if the water has been allowed to corrode from the inside...

[johnjo]

............ find a new surveyor for the next boat.

[alan_fincher]

I've had windows that leaked between window farm and steel sides of the boat'

 

If this occurs, it is almost inevitable that the water getting through will fairly quickly do some damage to wooden linings, although it is not automatically the case that it will be immediately by the window that can be seen to be suffering first. The water may "travel", before it does its worst.

 

If you have this, it should be relatively easy to find staining or worse. If the lining is ply, a bit of blacking on the surface may in fact point to sheets that are largely delaminated behind.

 

Whilst getting windows off, attending to any damage behind, and refitting is relatively straightforward, removal and replacement of damaged linings is a different ball game. Whether it's it's a veneered plywood, or boarding, (perhaps in a hardwood), it is very hard to achieve a match to existing, as many woods and varnishes darken with age, and a new bit stands out as just that.

 

However....

 

Water inside, even if found on floors, does not automatically have to be leaking windows though, of course. If the sealant under mushroom vents, boiler flues or chimney collars fail, water may start to appear inside, and again it can be feet and feet away from the source that it actually decides to drip from linings.

 

Finally, I have been genuinely amazed too just how many boats have highly uneven screws mounting windows, often with many missing, but where the result still seems to be watertight.

[Semitrad]

Thankyou for all the advice. The boat was built in 2004 and the ultrasonic readings don't seem to indicate any problems, so the water ingress could be quite recent, the thing that keeps niggling me is the poured concrete ballast with water underneath - I'm sure anyone would be slightly reluctant to walk away having shelled out for a docking and survey.

 

Good point about the surveyor, I was disappointed and would never recommend him. One thing he did point out was that the blacking (done earlier this year) had probably been applied when the hull was wet and had "bubbled"in places.

[WotEver]

... poured concrete ballast...

I'd walk away.

 

Others may (probably will) disagree.

 

Tony

[alan_fincher]

The boat was built in 2004...............

 

..............the thing that keeps niggling me is the poured concrete ballast with water underneath........

2004 boat and "poured concrete ballast" are not two things I'd expect to hear together.............

 

Something a bit suspect there, surely ?

[luctor et emergo]

I'd walk away.

 

Others may (probably will) disagree.

 

Tony

 

 

No, I agree.

[twbm]

Poured concrete ? Classic how-to-stop-a-boat-sinking bodge. If it'll lift out, do so and bash the exposed plate enthusiastically with a chipping hammer. If it won't then strange chemical things will be happening twixt metal and cement, I suspect, bringing grief in the future.

 

And the apparently shoddy blacking suggests a cosmetic job rather than a proper one, probably out blacked and back in on the same day.

 

Walk away, there will be others.

Edited June 14, 2010 by twbm