3/4 plywood will work fine. Use exterior both sides good grade plywood. Use pressure treated 2X4s for the framing under it. Treat all surfaces of all the wood with fiberglass resin. Mix it according to the instructions on the package, then dilute it 50% with acetone and paint it on all surfaces. Give everything 3 coats, then a full strength undiluted coat to seal it. The acetone diluted coats will soak into the wood, then the acetone evaporates, leaving the wood impregnated with fiberglass resin. DO NOT use Thompson's water seal or any other product. Attach the deck to your framing (and assemble your framing) using stainless steel screws. After the final coat cures lightly sand the deck surface. Use outdoor carpet from Lowe's or Home Depot to carpet the deck. Carefully cut it to fit your deck. Then spread outdoor carpet adhesive and apply your carpet. Use a roller to smooth it out and avoid bubbles. I used a wooden rolling pin for baking as my roller when I did my boat restoration. It works well for small jobs.If you follow my instruction you will have a deck that will last many years with no problems whatsoever. Enjoy your casting deck!

The only change I would make to bass or bass's suggestion would be to use marine grade plywood instead of exterior grade. If you resincoat the wood it probably won't matter but why take a chance? Tom

The only difference between both sides good exterior grade and marine grade plywood is there are no interior knots in marine grade. For decking that is not an issue and once it's resin impregnated/coated it's armor plated!

I have built several plywood casting decks for different boats.  A couple of things.  First, don't build the deck too high.  To maintain stability in a 12 foot jon, I wouldn't go much higher than the built  in seats.  If you can place the decking on the seats, you can use half inch plywood and 2x2 framing to bridge the gap.  This will keep the weight down and keep you from getting top heavy - a danger in small boats.  As far as the finish, the tips above are great.  Hope this helps, good luck.

Thanks for the tips..just took a trip to home depot and did some price searching..the only kind of wood/fiberglass resin i could find was a gallon for 35 bucks..I dont think I will need this much will I? I was also thinking of using 1/2 inch ply with steel supports running vertically from seat to seat. We are thinking about some compartments for rods, cooler/livewell..I would like to not have to buy the pre cut ones from bass pro and build my own. Is this difficult to do?Thanks for the help.

Posted By bcurtis10 on 06 Mar 2011 07:55 PM
Thanks for the tips..just took a trip to home depot and did some price searching..the only kind of wood/fiberglass resin i could find was a gallon for 35 bucks..I dont think I will need this much will I? I was also thinking of using 1/2 inch ply with steel supports running vertically from seat to seat. We are thinking about some compartments for rods, cooler/livewell..I would like to not have to buy the pre cut ones from bass pro and build my own. Is this difficult to do?Thanks for the help.

If you follow my instructions, you will use the better part of that gallon, and your deck will be bullet proof for life. Bite the bullet. You will find that it was worth it.