How do I build a floor in a V-Bottom Springer?

[firstboat]

Perhaps the most daunting part of my recent project purchase is that it has no floor and it is V-Bottom! I mean i have a couple of planks down and when i walk on them my head is 1cm from the ceiling but this is low to the bilge. If i were to lay the floor flat I would loose half a foot! looking at the original springer layout it looks like they build cupboards in to the side beyond this low path. Does anybody out there know how I would go about this? I have two structural metal beams running lengthways through the boat. The previous owner just left them on show but i would like a better finish than that. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[mrsmelly]

Starcoaster is yer gal................she IS our resident Springer expert 

[tomsk]

18 minutes ago, firstboat said:

Perhaps the most daunting part of my recent project purchase is that it has no floor and it is V-Bottom! I mean i have a couple of planks down and when i walk on them my head is 1cm from the ceiling but this is low to the bilge. If i were to lay the floor flat I would loose half a foot! looking at the original springer layout it looks like they build cupboards in to the side beyond this low path. Does anybody out there know how I would go about this? I have two structural metal beams running lengthways through the boat. The previous owner just left them on show but i would like a better finish than that. Any help is greatly appreciated.

I am no expert but it strikes me that its a usable floorspace/headroom/ballast trade-off.

Regardless of where you decide to set the floor level the construction will be similar, if you drop the floor into the 'vee' you not only gain headroom but reduce its span and loadings as a consequence, but you may feel like your 'walking the plank' when moving about the boat, not a problem if single handing but potentially irritating if entertaining for any length of time.  

[Starcoaster]

Viewed as a head-on cross-section of mine, the interior flooring on the two gunnel sides begins to slope in at a gentle angle from around the point that the angle of the "V" itself starts, but not as acutely. It then flattens out after about a foot into the central five feet (or just under) of width, which a tape measure into the middle part of the cabin bilge tells me is about 10" higher than the deepest part of the "V."

I am not sure how well I have explained this, so if you cannot visualise it I may be able to post a sketch.

So basically 10" from the deepest part of the centre of the V is the lowest that you could have lain a reasonable width of flat floor in my boat whilst using unobtrusively sloped sides. Lose another 3-4" from that if you're not going to slope the outer edges.

Aside from one short side walkway next to the bed (which feels wide because of the open space next to you) my walkway is central. The walls of both sides are taken up with fittings-shelves, bench seat, cupboards, stove plinth, shower, bed etc, so your headroom is always in the highest point of the roof too. 

 I honestly don't think it would be possible to drop the main breadth of the floor any lower than the aforementioned 10" from the deepest part of the "V," due to the angle of the V itself-assuming the shape of your hull is pretty much identical to mine.

The main walkway through the middle of my boat varies in width due to the fittings either side, but it doesn't look as narrow as the aisle on that picture above-Say anything between just over 2ft at the very narrowest (again, with open headroom) to 4ft at the widest. Or maybe it's just the angle of your shot... Or the fact that the width does not deviate at all, making it look longer and narrower than it really is.

 

What do you want to know in the way of building cupboards etc? You basically just have to cut the side ply at the angle of your slope... The back walls of mine are the boat's old interior tongue and groove in the main part.

Ps., if you think this is fun, wait until you need to fit a shower with enough head room... I am 5'9" and it was still a challenge. And my Dad, who is 6'7" has only made it inside once in five years, funnily enough... How long is that boat, btw? It looks pretty small.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Starcoaster

[WotEver]

Nice one Starry

[Starcoaster]

Thank you. I'm not sure if my floor construction was part of the original Springer fit out or not-the prior owner had messed around with the boat a lot and I have not been inside of that many other Springers. Although I have been in another 30ft-er that had about a foot deep on the gunnel sides boxed in, which I didn't personally like in terms of the corner angles, appearance and dead space within, but that could be an alternative solution for what to do about the sides whilst keeping the floor low.

Edited May 30, 2017 by Starcoaster

[WotEver]

11 hours ago, Starcoaster said:

the prior owner had messed around with the boat a lot

As well as being common to most boats I think that's particularly pertinent to Springers. 

I don't see any point in boxing things in just to make them square - if you're going to make a box make it useful storage

[Starcoaster]

Indeed, and the prior owner was Mr. Bodge personified. Literally nothing was normal or standard... 

The boxing thing can presumably hide pipes/cables and function as a low shelf, but I didn't see a lot of point in it personally.

[firstboat]

Ive been down there today and laid the  existing floor planks horizontally across the two structural metal bars, that should give me an extra 2 feet width in exchange for losing 3 or four inches head height, i thinks its a good trade off.

...I won't be posting any completed pics because its going to be a bit of an amateur job tbh. 

 

[WotEver]

9 minutes ago, firstboat said:

...I won't be posting any completed pics because its going to be a bit of an amateur job tbh. 

Oh go on...