Cabin sole

[Lance Jones]

We have an issue with the Cabin Sole panel right next to the head/shower. We seem to get water overflow on that panel. It seeps under it and molds. Has anyone ever encountered this issue and what did you do to solve. I'm thinking of a couple of small drain holes into the bilge?

[Jeff Kaplan]

lance, 2 sole panels meet at this point, the panel at ladder bottom and the long piece which runs length of cabin. if you drill drainage holes on either one of these panels you run the risk of water damage to the core of the sole panels. if you go this route, you must coat the sides of the holes with poly or some other type of sealer to prevent delamination of the sole core, then you will really have a problem and eventual replacement. obviously, the best way is to prevent the water from encroaching onto the sole is to stop it from inside the head with some sort of splash guard of put some type of water absorbing mat outside head prior to shower and immediately wipe up the mess and remove promptly. when i first bought boat, i replaced entire sole because of delamination from po. good luck...jeff

[Stu Jackson]

Just put a towel outside the door on the sole.  The "lip" is rather low.  Shower carefully, use the shower sump pump earlier than you think you might need to do so.  If you take that sole panel off you'll see there's no simple "hole into the bilge" route; so don't bother.

[Ron Hill]

Lance : I wrote about this happening almost 20 years ago in the Mainsheet.

The real problem is not mold, but if the PO or you have not varnished the cut edges and the underside of the Teak/Holly sole panels, you'll get separation of the veneer and the plywood !!!!

To help keep the water inside the shower with the door closed, I added a door sweep so it slightly  overlaps the molding inside the shower floor. 

I wouldn't drill those holes for the reason that Jeff mentioned.  A few thoughts