Rotten bilges!

[Peugeot 106]

I've just come back fro cleaning my engine bay. It was full of oily water. I have same pump as you. Pump out into plastic drums with taps. Use half plastic milk bottle to finish off. Lay drums flat and when oil and water have separated drain water off bottom and decant oil for disposal. Get a plastic bag of sawdust ( not too fine) and brush it around. Use dustpan and brush and bag it. This makes a real difference to drying it and makes it look so much better it lifts your spirits! After that for me it's scraper, angle grinder and wire brush, sander, turps and rag etc. steam cleaner(car valeter £20) helps. It's boring hard work sawdust makes it all look better as it's dry. Good luck

[Tom Richmond]

Not sure that I have so much oil down there... But the top of the water level was into the floor (wood) and I think any oil there might well have absorbed into the mulch... It did have an oily feel to it, but I can't be sure.

 

The engine bay is not oily, much, but engine has not been used so very little reason for it to leak...

 

I am going to invest in a wet and dry vac, as well as getting a dehumidifier. Will get a cheap one and probably kill it with this job, sorry poor Chinese sweatshop workers.

 

Do people bang rust off? (ball headed hammer?) I have used that method in the past but not seen anyone mention it here...

 

Then as you all say it is grind and brush time!

 

Hopefully,your bilges will be dry from now on.I have re-fitted a couple of ex hire boats with marine ply floors.Massive wet area around showers caused extensive rot.The rot then travelled inside the ply laminations causing the floor to collapse in the centre section of the boat.It was a devil of a job to replace the floor without destroying the very nice woodwork above it.My present boat has a floor made from second hand floorboards.They are good solid pine boards.The advantage of this arrangement is that you can easily remove boards in the passage way through the boat,without destroying your fit out .In case of water getting in the bilge,a couple of boards can be removed to speed drying out.

 

I would like to have floorboards. And the benefits you suggest are good... Some questions though:

 

What about insulation? Could I apply insulation to each board, or would the gaps defeat the point?

 

How are your boards joined? Are they just butted up to each other? In which case do you have gaps which you can lose things down?

 

Thanks again everyone for your help and suggestions!

 

Tom.

[Happy Go Lucky]

There is another possible source for the water - leaking windows/hatches/doors. With the weather conditions at the moment it shouldn't be too hard to tell if this is the case!

[RLWP]

 

Do people bang rust off? (ball headed hammer?) I have used that method in the past but not seen anyone mention it here...

 

Tom.

I found a brick hammer to be more effective

 

Richard

[Stilllearning]

We have 3/4 inch hexagrip ply on the bearers, then pine floorboards on top of that. No need for insulation under that amount of timber.

[Tom Richmond]

There is another possible source for the water - leaking windows/hatches/doors. With the weather conditions at the moment it shouldn't be too hard to tell if this is the case!

 

No sign of water by any of these... Rockwool insulation in the walls and it's easy to see that it's not had water flowing through....

[Barry]

 

Do people bang rust off? (ball headed hammer?) I have used that method in the past but not seen anyone mention it here...

 

 

 

I found a brick hammer to be more effective

 

Richard

 

And perhaps one of these to help you get into awkward corners from any angle

[RLWP]

 

 

 

And perhaps one of these to help you get into awkward corners from any angle

 

Much the same thing, except the brick hammer is heavier

 

Being me, I sharpened the hammer first

 

Richard

[Tom Richmond]

 

 

 

And perhaps one of these to help you get into awkward corners from any angle

 

Ah, yes of course! Have used one quite a lot when assisting welders (no I cannot weld to save my life...) Thanks.

[nebulae]

Re-question about floorboards. Boards are butt jointed to make it easier to remove if necessary.For the width of a narrow boat t&g does not seem to be necessary .Carpet in the bedroom area and rugs in the living area is the only insulation on our boat..Seems to work fine for us.Thick domestic underlay such as cloud 9 would give some insulation if you felt the need .Dont fit furniture over floor covering .If you do have a problem in the future,such as a leak in a water pipe,you only loose a bit of carpet or vinyl..A major difference between canal boat practice is the attitude to access to bilges.Most seagoing boats will allow access to the bilges as a matter of course.On most narrow boats this is not a design feature!

[John Holden]

 

Ah, yes of course! Have used one quite a lot when assisting welders (no I cannot weld to save my life...) Thanks.

 

Or a scutch hammer?

 

http://www.shopwiki.co.uk/l/Spear-%26-Jackson-Double-Scutch-Hammer

[RLWP]

 

Or a scutch hammer?

 

http://www.shopwiki.co.uk/l/Spear-%26-Jackson-Double-Scutch-Hammer

 

If I didn't have a sharpened brick hammer, I would probably use one of those

 

Richard

[Neil2]

Re-question about floorboards. Boards are butt jointed to make it easier to remove if necessary.For the width of a narrow boat t&g does not seem to be necessary .Carpet in the bedroom area and rugs in the living area is the only insulation on our boat..Seems to work fine for us.Thick domestic underlay such as cloud 9 would give some insulation if you felt the need .Dont fit furniture over floor covering .If you do have a problem in the future,such as a leak in a water pipe,you only loose a bit of carpet or vinyl..A major difference between canal boat practice is the attitude to access to bilges.Most seagoing boats will allow access to the bilges as a matter of course.On most narrow boats this is not a design feature!

Can I suggest you don't put this stuff in a boat, it soaks up water like a sponge and will not dry out unless you remove it. I've done many flood damage jobs where this stuff has made a nightmare of it.

[nebulae]

I agree,this foam insulation makes a mess if it gets wet. I dont use it myself,but I suppose if you realy want insulation under the floor,whatever you use is going to be a problem if it gets wet .Not sure what the answer is.

[Tom Richmond]

Don't insulate under the floor? Seems that most people don't...

 

But it also seems like a wasted opportunity to stay warm. I am fitting new floor to two rooms, it's a blank canvas. I obviously don't want anything that could cause issues, but warm is good...

 

What about solid board insulation? You know the pink or yellow stuff which is like a more developed version of polystyrene?

[Ex- Member]

If you lay joists on the steel floor girders 3x2 treated timber, you can then fit 50mm Cellotex/Kinspan type insulation between the wood joists on top of the ballast.

[nb Innisfree]

Try to arrang the ply so that is in easily lifted sections, screwed down with s/s screws, makes bilge inspection and maintenance easy. All canal boats should be like this IMO.

[Tom Richmond]

If you lay joists on the steel floor girders 3x2 treated timber, you can then fit 50mm Cellotex/Kinspan type insulation between the wood joists on top of the ballast.

Not sure I have 50mm headroom....

 

Guess I need smaller ballast, less insulation or thinner floor, or combination of all three...

[Tom Richmond]

Hi all,

 

Here are a few pictures of my progress clearing out...

 

 

The state of the steel after I'd cleaned it off with a wet and dry vac.... Not actually too bad. No idea if there was paint on there once, but it's certainly all gone now.

 

 

The same section after going over with an angle grinder with wire brush attachment. Horrible job, worst thing I've had to do in a long time.

 

 

There was a fair bit to do, and lots of annoying bits of concrete in the way. Who put them there?

 

 

Shiney new paint!

 

 

 

Having removed the engine bulkhead makes for easy access to work on the engine though...

[BlueStringPudding]

Wow. Thanks for sharing the photos as it's not something I might ever see on my boat. You've done a very thorough job too.

[Alan Saunders]

Thank you for posting. Good job! You make it seem so easy; maybe my bilges will look like that - eventually .

 

Be careful when using the angle-grinder with a wire brush as they tend to shed bristles at high speed. They sting a bit when they hit bare flesh but could do serious damage to eyes.

 

I agree, it is a nasty job, especially in a confined space. I don't think breathing in fine iron-oxide dust is good for you but wearing even a simple filter mask is uncomfortable.

 

Unless I was certain that I had removed all rust (i.e. shiny steel) I would apply a proprietry rust converter/inhibitor (Fertan, Owatrol etc.) before priming. Rust continues to chemically react (slowly) even in the absence of air and moisture. Keeping the bilges dry is the best policy.

 

Alan

[Phil Ambrose]

Wow Tom, great job, give yourself a pat on the back.

Phil

[Bettie Boo]

Very impressed with your positive approach Tom, its quite unique, oncommon and a very nice change. All the very best to you and your ongoing referb. by the looks of what you've done so far, you will have something to be proud of when finished.

 

B~

[Captain Fizz]

That's looking a bit different from my last visit. Amazing what a bit of paint can do. Well done Buddy.

As BB has said, it is refreshing to come across such a positive "can do" attitude, even when things are not going quite as planned.

The up side of all your work, is that you will have the benefit of a thorough knowledge of the whole boat and a huge amount of pride in it.

[Ex- Member]

Wow Tom

 

You are a patient chap, well done, that would have driven me mad. Just out of interest, how long did that take. I would have got a shot blaster in as I'm just too old and lazy

 

A time factor would be interesting though to way up the cost for others attempting such daunting work.