<<I have had an estimate to repair the hardtop deck from a local fiberglass repairman and while his estimate was actually based upon "time and materials", he stated that he should be able to complete the job in less than 40 hours labor at $65.00 an hr. plus between $500-700 in materials would appear to come out in the vicinity of $3100-3300., which seems reasonable to me. What he has proposed is tearing off the entire top of the deck, an area about 15 x 10, remove the entire balsa core, both wet and non-wet then re-core the area with a more modern material and then re-glass the structure returning it to "better" than original condition. >> Jim, I've never done a hardtop but I have repaired sagging cored sailboat decks by the same procedure. Basically you cut off the upper layer, scrape out the rotting balsa or whatever was used for the core, epoxy in a new core, epoxy on the removed upper layer, bevel the joints, tape the edges and refinish. It really doesn't matter how big the area is. Most steps take almost about the same time regardless of size. If you are worried about cost overruns, negotiate a fixed price contract for the job. The procedure is fully described in Don Casey's excellent book "Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair", published by McGraw Hill, ISBN 0-07-013369-7. Even though the title says sailboats, most of the repair procedures are applicable to trawlers as well. Incidentally, repairing a sagging deck isn't brain surgery. It's just messy. If you have the time, you can probably do it yourself in a couple of weekends. Larry Z