Floor planking

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I have decided to do the job of replacing the floors and floorboards properly on my 18ft. launch (mahogany with oak ribs), rather than use marine ply as I originally intended. I am thinking of oak boards, planed all round, on oak floors. Will this be O.K.? is there anything I should watch out for?
 
Oak would be OTT, and not the ideal choice as it moves so much when alternatively wet and dry - there's a real risk they might warp out of true.

Any old pine will do nicely! Big bonus marks, though, for using wood with the grain running vertically through it - harder wearing and no splinters!
 
I agree that oak would be a bit OTT. Do you want the boards to look 'woody' or could you have a paint finish? I,ve got to make some new bottom boards for my halfdecker this year, and intended to use marine ply, painted, with either sanded paint or deck paint on top.

Last year I replaced the boards in my sailing dinghy with 12mm marine ply, left untreated for grip. Despite a good deal of wetting they look as good as when they were fitted.

My feeling is if the boards are generally above water then a ply or softwood solution will be fine. The floors or support bearers probably need to be made of sterner stuff though.
 
If you are using the launch in fresh water then there is a real risk of oak rotting if not well coated. Pine would be the best cheap option. Elm would also be a good choice but its expensive.
 
I really did want to use hardwood boards to be in keeping with the rest of a quite historic boat (1890's). What about iroko, or mahogany like the hull? The cost is not a serious issue for a relatively small floor.
 
It is not just a question of money; it is also a question of weight; you don't want to put any more weight into a boat than you have to. Bottom boards need a certain minimum siding to be strong enough.

First, how will the bottom boards be finished? Will you leave them bare, paint them, or use something like Deks Olje?

If leaving them bare, I would not use mahogany as it goes black when left wet, and rots rather readily in that state. Iroko is much more rot resistant but is heavier and unfortunately it develops a black appearance due to surface checking which traps dirt. Teak would be a good, if expensive, but heavy, choice. Scrubbed bare pine looks very good and is lighter.
 
I doubt weight is an issue here. Considering that the hull is mahogany already, and as he said, it's a relatively small area.

At the end of the day though it's his boat and his choice of what to go for. Personally I'd probably go for the teak, if it was going to be bare wood, and perhaps mahogany if I was going to varnish, or deks olje it.
 
Thank you, gentlemen. I would probably varnish the boards. Would five-eighths of an inch on floors twelve inches apart be thick enough? I have no experience of Deks Olje, but have heard that it reacts with some glues and mastics. Any experiences?
 
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