boat repair question

Question regarding leaking rivets. I have a 93 Sylvan 17′ and have kept it in good shape replacing carpet, seats etc. but it has always leaked. I installed an automatic bilge pump and never gave it much thought until this last fall it seemed that the bilge ran noticeably more often. I saw a boat repair shop advertise a winter special where they repair the rivets from the outside and do not have to take out the flooring. I thought I had maybe 5-8 loose rivets under the driver side console and brought it in for an estimate. They came back with 16 loose rivets and a $ 1200 repair price. My question is first off, $1200 seems pretty steep, 2nd if I have 16 loose rivets maybe I have a bigger issue going on where a stringer broke or something like that and I should take up the floor to see what is going on. 3rd, I have been looking online and some say to use screws and some say just use some sort of sealant. What in your opinion would make the best repair? I would be interested in hearing anyones thoughts on the matter.

thanks

I fixed mine for under $100 I had like 8 rivots leaking a couple broken was leaking bad! I bought a repair kit I think it was called bullfrog rivot kit I would buy this and do yourself very easy to do

thanks for the reply! I looked them up on line and they have a video that I watched and looks like a repair I could do.

Save yourself a bunch of money and buy a rivet gun, rivets, and 5200 epoxy. Aluminum rivets are pretty easy to do, you’ll want the one with a steel shank for this. You may even be able to find someone to borrow you a rivet gun to cut the cost even more.

Fill the boat with water to determine the leaky rivets.
Make sure to used closed or sealed rivets. Do a google images search for suppliers and to see what they look like. Make sure material type, Dia. and length will be correct for your application. You may need a heavy duty rivit gun too.

thanks for the reply’s! I am going to give it a try and let you know how it comes out.

I have filled my boat with water and still have not found a leak any ideas on how to find the leak?

The price you were quoted is highway robbery.

I had a new keel strip rivited on my dad’s Alumacraft for less than that. 50 rivits + the new keel strip.

Call Vic at Anchor Marine out in Delano. Ask if any off season or other discounts apply.

Grouse