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Hi 
I’m considering buying a 40 foot narrowboat that needs some work . The survey has found a lot of pitting on the hull base, and recommended over plating possibly the entire length . Amidships to aft are the worst areas apparently   She is currently on the Slough arm and I would be bringing her to Oxford. I’m looking for a yard on route or In Oxford area that could quote me for the plating and blacking ? 
any other advice on this also welcome. 
J
 

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Roger and Michael Farrington of Ivy Bridge Marine (or Braunston Boats) will do what you want. They are experienced players who deliver a good job. 

Have your survey report to hand when you talk to any overplater. They will want to know what they are quoting for.

Things to watch with overplating:

You will need to adjust the ballast. Be sure you can get at it all.

The overplating weld has to be watertight all the way round and at all plug welds that hold the middle on. 

Unless it is only a narrow strip, along water line, say, the new plate needs to be fastened to the old in several places, as well as round the edge. That means the old plate has to be thick enough to weld to....

If the old plate is bad enough it may be better and possibly  cheaper to cut it out and renew it. This does increase the internal upheaval.

N

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That’s great thank you I’ll look them up and give them a call. The survey says the weed hatch is already low in the water so I’m mindful of the increase in weight and ballast.  It’s turned Ito a project boat and I need to negotiate with the seller.. 

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1 hour ago, Juliansum said:

The survey says the weed hatch is already low in the water

 

What age  / type is the boat ?

Does it have engine room vents in the Hull ?

An overplated Springer sank on the Thames as the additional weight meant the vents were too low.

 

Port of London - River Thames (pla.co.uk)

 

Maybe you can use this as a negotiating tool.

 

From the Boat Safety Scheme :

 

 

 

 

Screenshot (476).png

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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If you haven't yet committed to this boat, just make sure you understand how much time and money will be required to sort it. Lots of older boats are overplated, but the general opinion is that no matter how well the job is done, it will always be worth less than if the overplating had never been needed. 

Cutting out the thinned or pitted plate and replacing it is an all round better solution, but will have a bigger impact on the interior fitout. Fine if you were going to rip that out and replace it anyway, but not so good if you want to keep it.

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My advice is to consider walking away and look for a boat in better condition. There are thousands of boats on the market. Why would you want to get involved in these kinds of hull repairs when you don't need to. I speak from the experience of someone who did get involved and wished they hadn't.

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55 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

What age  / type is the boat ?

Does it have engine room vents in the Hull ?

An overplated Springer sank on the Thames as the additional weight meant the vents were too low.

 

Port of London - River Thames (pla.co.uk)

 

Maybe you can use this as a negotiating tool.

 

From the Boat Safety Scheme :

 

 

 

 

Screenshot (476).png

The survey notes 2 vents are a little low and need sorting as below the 150mm limit. These could be moved or looped up ? 
 

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57 minutes ago, David Mack said:

If you haven't yet committed to this boat, just make sure you understand how much time and money will be required to sort it. Lots of older boats are overplated, but the general opinion is that no matter how well the job is done, it will always be worth less than if the overplating had never been needed. 

Cutting out the thinned or pitted plate and replacing it is an all round better solution, but will have a bigger impact on the interior fitout. Fine if you were going to rip that out and replace it anyway, but not so good if you want to keep it.

No I’ve not committed yet .

mot has a fibreglass top btw and built in 1979.

 

most of the cabin is ok . The roof lining all needs taking down and re doing as do some of the panels on the side. I won’t be paying anymore than 10K for her as she stands 

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10 minutes ago, Juliansum said:

The survey notes 2 vents are a little low and need sorting as below the 150mm limit. These could be moved or looped up ? 
 

 

The advisory for hull-fittings (vents, drain pipes etc) is actually 10" (250mm) it is only the weed hatch that is allowed to be 6" (150mm) as it has a sealed lid.

 

Again, from the BSS :

 

 

To reduce the risk of your boat sinking if it keels over or is excessively weighed down, it's a good idea for privately owned boats to only have openings which are at a height of at least 250mm (10ins) above the waterline. Where openings are necessary below this level this risk can be reduced by ensuring that these openings are permanently and securely connected to ducts or pipes, which are watertight up to that level.

Self-draining cockpits may not be able to meet the 250mm (10ins) recommendation but, for privately owned boats, it's a good idea to stop water getting into other parts of the hull by incorporating non-return valves in the drains and/or having bulkheads or cills up to a height of 150mm (6ins).

 

 

The more you say, the more I'd suggest you consider walking away and finding one that doesn't need £1000's (£10,000 ?) spending on it, and ending up being worth less than you paid out on it.

You'd have to be getting it at 'scrap value' to be worth doing.

  • Greenie 1
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1 hour ago, blackrose said:

My advice is to consider walking away and look for a boat in better condition. There are thousands of boats on the market. Why would you want to get involved in these kinds of hull repairs when you don't need to. I speak from the experience of someone who did get involved and wished they hadn't.

Hi 

yes i am considering it .. I guess it is the fact that should get it under 10K and I don’t mind a project.. but I also don’t want this venture to be a weight around my neck. 
I going to talk to the survivor again and investigate costs . 

Thank you 
 

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

The advisory for hull-fittings (vents, drain pipes etc) is actually 10" (250mm) it is only the weed hatch that is allowed to be 6" (150mm) as it has a sealed lid.

 

Again, from the BSS :

 

 

To reduce the risk of your boat sinking if it keels over or is excessively weighed down, it's a good idea for privately owned boats to only have openings which are at a height of at least 250mm (10ins) above the waterline. Where openings are necessary below this level this risk can be reduced by ensuring that these openings are permanently and securely connected to ducts or pipes, which are watertight up to that level.

Self-draining cockpits may not be able to meet the 250mm (10ins) recommendation but, for privately owned boats, it's a good idea to stop water getting into other parts of the hull by incorporating non-return valves in the drains and/or having bulkheads or cills up to a height of 150mm (6ins).

 

 

The more you say, the more I'd suggest you consider walking away and finding one that doesn't need £1000's (£10,000 ?) spending on it, and ending up being worth less than you paid out on it.

You'd have to be getting it at 'scrap value' to be worth doing.

Thanks 

I will be doing some thinking about this .. I chat with the surveyor tomorrow. 

2 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

:clapping:

 

Fabulous auto-correction!  I do hope you meant surveyor ...

Haha yes . Thanks 

9 minutes ago, Juliansum said:

Hi 

yes i am considering it .. I guess it is the fact that should get it under 10K and I don’t mind a project.. but I also don’t want this venture to be a weight around my neck. 
I going to talk to the survivor again and investigate costs . 

Thank you 
 

 

 

 

 

Surveyor  !!!!

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

One yard's overplating price to give you an idea:

http://www.kedianengineering.co.uk/prices.html

 

But bear in mind Kedian is not canalside so there will be cranage and transport costs on top.

 

I wouldn't exactly use Kedian as an example, at least not on its own. Having spoken to him, he's clearly very knowledgeable about how he would do it, but the expense is great via his route (from what pricing I got anyway)

 

It does depend @Juliansum where you can also get the boat to, for over plating. As an example for us, we got it done via Gallows Bridge and following that independently surveyed. The surveyor confirmed it was one of the best over plating jobs he'd seen, and the Gallows lads were a stark bit cheaper than Kedian. 

 

Sure theres a way to comment on the north/south divide for prices here :D

 

Regardless of if/where you get it done, ensurw you get confirmation of the steel manufacturer. Avoid anything Chinese if possible, for qualities sake.

 

 

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1 minute ago, Unicorn Stampede said:

Regardless of if/where you get it done, ensurw you get confirmation of the steel manufacturer. Avoid anything Chinese if possible, for qualities sake.

 

Considering the current world shortage of steel (and other materials)  you should be grateful to get any steel.

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5 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Considering the current world shortage of steel (and other materials)  you should be grateful to get any steel.

Then simply put, you wait until it's sorted, rather than bolting any of that crap to your vessel

 

Why you'd be grateful for using rubbish is beyond me. 

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I could go into some detail why, but life us too short.... I would be walking away from this one. A project is all very well, but getting it overplated, costing thousands, before you start seems crazy!

 

Buy something for £20k, with a good Hull and crap interior, and a steel top, and you would have a foundation to work from.

  • Greenie 4
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I would happily pay thousands to overplate or replate a hull. BUT the boat would have to be worth saving, i.e. from a good builder, 'historic', have a good life expectancy, good in other ways, special engine, so on.  It sounds as though your boat at 1979 with a fibreglass top needing much work and possibly with an old Lister SR2(?) engine could be an ex hire boat and probably nothing 'special' . It could easily cost £20,000 by the time a very big amount of work and refitting was done and still be nothing special and worth possibly £19,500 tops. I can't see much value in it to be honest.

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The alternative is to buy this boat for a pittance, do the absolute minimum amount of work on it you can get away with, insure third party only (but check that the policy includes salvage cover), and go boating. Even a quite badly pitted boat is unlikely to sink on you, and when it comes to selling up or buying a better boat, you could virtually give this one away, and still have spent less than most other boaters.

  • Greenie 1
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12 minutes ago, Juliansum said:

Thanks for all your thoughts. Really appreciate it 

I sold my narrowboat three years ago for £12k.At the time the buyers survey found the hull no thinner than 4mm including pits.

It has just been resold and the surveyor recommended overplating the base and sides.The quote was £5k,so the owner accepted an offer of £1000!

The bloke who bought it (a dealer) had the work done and has just sold it for £14k.

If you can get your boat for a very low price,great,if not I suggest you walk away.

In my humble opinion,a boat that needs overplating (and no doubt lots of other stuff doing) is only worth £1 to £5k.

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Thanks for this . Most of the comments say walk away and maybe there right .

im expecting 6k for plating and any other steel work.  Other works will mainly be done by myself but obviously there will be the material costs to take into account. 
I think unless I get an offer of an extremely low price I will walk . Save some more cash and look again in spring 
 

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