Transom,To do or not to do, myself

FELLOW-SHIP · #1 11-20-2003, 09:58 AM

Re doing the transom yourself in not difficult from the technical point of view. It is just plane hard work. If you did it yourself you are looking at 2 gal of epoxy = $200. then either 1 ½” marine plywood = $100 or the new composite material = $300. plus beer and some other little things= $100. total from $400. to $600. plus your time 5 to 10 days. You can also paint the boat yourself and save another $3000 to $5000 just on that. With all the savings you can buy lots of new stuff for the boat. I have found that a novice “with a strong desire doing work on their dream boat” usually does just about as good a job as a pro who uses $7. a hour unskilled help that actually do the work on your boat. Think about it.
FellowShip [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

Ed · #2 11-20-2003, 08:56 PM

Hey Fellowship-

Easy does it [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] . Not all restoration shops have unskilled employees getting paid $7hour. Up here in Massachusetts...we get paid a bit more and have bachelors degree (inside joke).

And before someone jumps all over me....this was just tongue & cheek

Ed

FELLOW-SHIP · #3 11-24-2003, 04:31 PM

Ha Ed
I know there a lot of Great Professional Boat Builders out there and I am not picking on anyone in particular. I’m just saying I never did a boat before my 23 CC and I think that this type of stuff can be accomplished by regular guys that have a deep commitment to their projects. It took me 150 days to do my boat, if I did another now it probably would take 1/3 less time and probably a little less $$$ and probably came out a little better. If I was a pro I could probably even do better for less. Down here is sough Florida the pressure to do things cheaply usually will cause compromises is either materials and or in the labor used to do the jobs. I have found down here that the regular guy is not going to do all that badly “if his hart and sole is into doing a good job.
FellowShip [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]