Steel narrow boat refit - battens

[Nemysys]

A friend of mine who is very handy with tools, has offered to take on the project of refitting the inside of our boat.

i have no concerns, I have seen the work he does and very happy.

 

The question I have, is what is the best way of attaching battens to the inside of the steel hull, so the walls can be fitted? Maybe able to answer own question when existing walls are removed.

i have done some research and CT1 has been mentioned. Does this work? Concern is over steel hull expanding/contracting etc.

 

is it ok to attach battens direct to hull, or should there be a waterproof membrane?

 

any comments and suggestions on this topic would be gratefully received.

 

thanks

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Nemysys said:

A friend of mine who is very handy with tools, has offered to take on the project of refitting the inside of our boat.

i have no concerns, I have seen the work he does and very happy.

 

The question I have, is what is the best way of attaching battens to the inside of the steel hull, so the walls can be fitted? Maybe able to answer own question when existing walls are removed.

i have done some research and CT1 has been mentioned. Does this work? Concern is over steel hull expanding/contracting etc.

 

is it ok to attach battens direct to hull, or should there be a waterproof membrane?

 

any comments and suggestions on this topic would be gratefully received.

 

thanks

Varies from one boat to another. Ours has angle iron welded inside the hull at even spacings. The battens are screwed to these angle irons with self tappers, which have lasted 15 years to date, but personally I would have used stainless machine screws and tapped the steel (I bought the shell with battens already fitted.) I would think it would be a good idea to put a waterproof membrane of some sort between the steel and wood. I have seen people use a foam material for this purpose, like the thin camping mats that you can buy. These were presumably tostop cold bridges against the plywood lining.

[Chewbacka]

3 hours ago, Nemysys said:

A friend of mine who is very handy with tools, has offered to take on the project of refitting the inside of our boat.

i have no concerns, I have seen the work he does and very happy.

 

The question I have, is what is the best way of attaching battens to the inside of the steel hull, so the walls can be fitted? Maybe able to answer own question when existing walls are removed.

i have done some research and CT1 has been mentioned. Does this work? Concern is over steel hull expanding/contracting etc.

 

is it ok to attach battens direct to hull, or should there be a waterproof membrane?

 

any comments and suggestions on this topic would be gratefully received.

 

thanks

You need to remove some 'walls' and have a look.  Probably already have battens which you can use and the shell may have spray foam insulation if you are lucky which needs no additional vapour barrier.  There may be expanded polystyrene sheet bonded to the walls which depending upon condition may need removing.  Best take a wall panel off and take a look.

[Nemysys]

Thanks, yes, there are expanded polystyrene panels, I know that from a small panel which had to be replaced.

[nb Innisfree]

With Innisfree instead of battens I used 6" wide plywood strips and positioned 18mm ply blocks behind, these were screwed to the strips so as to clamp the steel angle. No holes in steel and no thermal bridges through screws or bolts. After spray foam had set all was fixed in place, finished panels were then fixed to ply strips, in my case held on by decorative strips screwed through to the ply. 

[sharpness]

I stuck mine on with gripfill, 17 years later they are still there.

[Nemysys]

Thank you, this is great information to give ideas once a part of the current wall is removed, gives options of what can/has been done and what works.

 

still open for other suggestions from anyone to give us options once we know what we are looking at.

 

i will be posting before/during/after photos on my website once we start. And updates on here

 

https://lp21.uk

[Guest]

57 minutes ago, nb Innisfree said:

With Innisfree instead of battens I used 6" wide plywood strips and positioned 18mm ply blocks behind, these were screwed to the strips so as to clamp the steel angle. No holes in steel and no thermal bridges through screws or bolts. After spray foam had set all was fixed in place, finished panels were then fixed to ply strips, in my case held on by decorative strips screwed through to the ply. 

I like that approach.