T&T: Plastic Pallets

[Bob]

Stopping off at the super DIY store here in Japan yesterday... I saw something
that jumped out at me that could be a good material for putting a very strong
lightweight non-rot grid floor in your bilge.  It already has the access holes
in there for hoses to seacocks, etc and because it's a grid structure it would
be easy to mount or bolt in pads for strainers, for motors, etc.  If you need
good access to the bilge you could easily make a cut out and provide cleats
around the bottom inside to accept a hatch or cover.  The grid provides for
easy drain into the bilge during a washdown and if you prefer, you can cover
it with some non-rot urethane board just 3/8 thick, because all the support
strength is in the grid structure of the plastic pallet.  I saw these pallets
loaded high with bags of concrete and transported by forklift.  They are black
in color and I can easily pick them up and cost only $20.

There are other types of plastic pallets made from recycled plastics and are
heavier and are constructed more like wood pallets with planks.  I'm not
talking about those.

The ones I'm talking about are very light weight, but very strong and could
very easily be cut to fit in the bilge of my 56' Bertram.  They can be mounted
with stainless steel screws between the sides of the huge stringers  that run
almost lengthwise of the hull im my boat where the current framwork is
attached.   They could be easily removed whenever necessary.  There is a small
room below the galley just before the entrance to the engine room.  In this
small room is a floor made of aluminum covered plywood, the playwood starting
to rot, the aluminum corroding,  supported by wood framing.  The floor is
around the holding tank.  It's a small section, but the flooring in the engine
room is made of the same stuff.  This first small room would be a place to do
the experiment and if I like the results, I would eventually expand it to the
engine room.  On this small floor is currently a macerator pump and a
seastrainer mounted for the toilet system in the boat that uses sea water to
flush.  There are two access covers in the floor to turn the seacocks.

The grid is nice to walk on, provides a nonskid surface and you can see the
hull through it... can pressure wash the hull right through the grid.  The
grid would dry out quickly.  The contrast of white hull and black grid makes
both easy to see.

The more I think about this, the more I like it.  Has anyone ever done
anything similar to this?  Any comments positive or negative?