Crecks to laminate in saloon floor

[Anthony]

I'm in the process of buying a LM27 the surveyor has picked up cracks in the laminate above ballast cavity when lifting up the floorboards in the saloon has anyone come across this before or can comment on this.thanks Antony.

[oceandancer]

Hi Anthony,
Welcome to LM Owners.  Yes, I had small cracks in this area on my LM27 (1974 vintage). The polyester laminate covers the bound in ballast, which in the LM27 consists of 1.8 tonnes of steel punchings. If there is no significant rust evident in or around the cracks then the situation is not serious and the cracks can be filled with polyester filler. The cracks are a result of the large volume of polyester in and around the ballast continuing to cure over a long period after the boat has been built. Problems could occur if standing water in the cavities below the floor panels is allowed to penetrate into the steel punchings. In this case the rusting ballast could well expand and break through the hull itself, which would be very serious.

For this reason it is not a good idea the cover the floorboards with carpet. The floorboards can easily be decorated or replaced with teak and holly flooring as I have done in my boat.  The voids need to be regularly inspected and dried out if wet. The small holes in the centre of each cavity are connected by a pipe which runs aft and drains into the engine compartment well.  I have also given my cavities several coats of danobline bilge paint which helps in keeping them clean.