I'm having a debate with my co-builder. We've done the deck, and cleaned up the underside. We're debating on if we should glass that, or just the top. The regular Mill Creek (16.5) just glasses the top. The Shearwater manual that you're sent to for the deck does glass the underside.
Of course, the kit only includes enough material to do the top, which is why I'm in the "seal with epoxy, glass the top only" camp.
Assuming you followed the manual and used yellow carpenter's glue (tite-bond) to assemble your deck, you better glass it. That glue relies on being encapsulated in glass and epoxy for protection from moisture. Leave it exposed on the underside and you amy see your hard work crumbling in the very near future. Also, the strip deck relies on the glass for strength. I suspect that if you pushed down on the deck from above you would hear some sickening cracking sounds just before it all collapsed.
GLASS BOTH SIDES!!
Good Luck, Paul
Thanks for the quick reply. That makes perfect sense.
I guess we'll order a second bit of cloth for the top then.
No questions are stupid.
Oh wait, maybe mine are...see previous thread
Dan
If you think about a strip canoe, they are glassed on both sides. I wish I didn’t have to glass the inside of mine- it would have saved a lot of work!