Wood for interior

[Dumontfx]

Hi , I am planning a massive overhaul inside of my boat and I will need to build new structure from wood but not too sure which one to choose. Which one would be best and not to expansive.

I am also looking at flooring and were wondering if any of you guys knew of anything simple and good looking .

Thanks

[sailvayu]

Many builders are using cherry these days as the cost of teak and other imported woods has gone up. oak is good but will turn black if it gets wet. Use a good quality exterior plywood for sub structures. As for flooring some of the new vinyls from the big box home stores are pretty decent looking, they come in planks and really do look like wood.

[CharlieCobra]

Cherry, Oak, Maple and Birch are all rot prone and not suitable for marine use. For structural I'd use Black Locust or white oak. You can veneer it with either vertical grain or flat sawn teak veneers. You can do the same over standard marine ply if you have the skill.

[kthoennes]

Some people recommend something called cumaru lately. Wood names are always so flaky, but you'll see it called Brazilian teak too, but of course it's not really any kind of teak. It's used for house decking, and available at Menards (one of the big box home improvement stores in the upper midwest of the US) for about $8 a linear foot for a 1 x 6 (nominal) just to give you an idea of availability. It's hard as a rock and very difficult to cut cleanly unless your tools are sharp and well set. Very dark, it's a pretty wood finished if you have the patience.

(I just replaced the swim step ladder rungs on our boat with walnut finished with teak oil. Looks spectacular now, but I expect it to turn light tan in the sun pretty quickly. Not a traditional marine wood I know, but it's sure beautiful at the moment.)

[Dumontfx]

How about cedar ?

Anyone has any experience using it ?

thanks

[Dennis.G]

Originally Posted by Dumontfx

How about cedar ?

Anyone has any experience using it ?

thanks

Cedar seems too soft to be used in areas subject to much abuse.

[barnakiel]

I think it is good thing to look for woods that have the right colour for your taste. Some like it like this, others like that, and I for one would not like a boat with wood colour that I do not like.

b.

[avb3]

Not sure of availability but cypress wood one would think is ideal for marine use. Wonder why one does not see it used?

[boatman61]

How about a Eucalyptus..? if you like a light wood... it is heavier than some but should be durable enough..
This is a sort of answer/question... tons of it here in Portugal and my teak rub rail, grab handles etc are about or are totally shot..
Eucalyptus seems okay for exterior use but wonder if the strong gum content could pose a risk for internal jobs... another plus... it likes marine teak oil...

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by Dumontfx

Hi , I am planning a massive overhaul inside of my boat and I will need to build new structure from wood but not too sure which one to choose. Which one would be best and not to expansive.

I am also looking at flooring and were wondering if any of you guys knew of anything simple and good looking .

Thanks

Deciding which wood to use should factor in weight and where it is to be used. Many sailboats have too much wood, IMHO, and are too dark below as a result. A compromise I used when building out Delfin was to trim white painted Okume marine plywood with very hard, very pretty Jotoba, a la Herreshof. The Jotoba gains a rich reddish color on its own and resists dings, being harder than white oak. It is a renewable wood. This gives you a balance between weight (yours is sail, so lighter is better) with durable trim.

Cedar is used in lots of boats in the Northwest, but is subject to damage because it is so soft. It also naturally turns to a yellowish color which to my eye isn't very pleasing.

For flooring, pick something hard. Moabi is what I used and it is pretty good, pretty hard and not too heavy for a sailboat. Moabi benefits from a thorough sealing, and turns a natural beautiful reddish color.

There's a section on Delfin's website on what woods were used and how they were finished.

[Delfin]

Originally Posted by boatman61

How about a Eucalyptus..? if you like a light wood... it is heavier than some but should be durable enough..
This is a sort of answer/question... tons of it here in Portugal and my teak rub rail, grab handles etc are about or are totally shot..
Eucalyptus seems okay for exterior use but wonder if the strong gum content could pose a risk for internal jobs... another plus... it likes marine teak oil...

Eucalyptus is used a fair amount in Oz. Hard as steel and basically lasts forever although is subject to a bit of checking. It is also heavy as steel, which for many sailboats means it is only be used for trim, rubrails, etc.

[Carlisle Spirit]

I would take a look at bamboo if you were doing something new

Not the veneer , but the solid stuff which is used for flooring

Available in many pre processed variant colours to suit your taste

15 mm thick x 130 mm wide x 1830 mm long

CS

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by boatman61

How about a Eucalyptus..? if you like a light wood... it is heavier than some but should be durable enough..
This is a sort of answer/question... tons of it here in Portugal and my teak rub rail, grab handles etc are about or are totally shot..
Eucalyptus seems okay for exterior use but wonder if the strong gum content could pose a risk for internal jobs... another plus... it likes marine teak oil...

G'Day Phil,

You need to be a little more specific here, mate! There are over 600 different species of eucalyptus in Australia alone and they have widely differing properties.

I'm not very knowledgeable about these things but Gary Macaulay who built our boat surely is. He chose New Guinea rosewood for most of the furniture in our boat, but the overhead is "Tasmanian Ash" which is a light coloured eucalypt and the laminated ring frames and hanging knees are "Queensland Maple" which is another eucalypt.

Getting back to the Rosewood... it is a superior timber for interior use. Has a lovely colour and grain, is fairly light and glues very well. Downside is that it is fairly soft and dings easily.

Cheers,

Jim

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Dumontfx

How about cedar ?

Anyone has any experience using it ?

thanks

Cedar would be great if you like it. There is white cedar as well as red cedar. It is as rot proof as teak and very light weight. It is too soft for use on a floor, but for other uses like ceiling strips etc it would be great. Although some of the more common hardwoods are not traditionally "marine" woods.... they will out last you on the interior of a boat. Spruce, and Fir in higher grades are beautiful on the interior. Hulls have been made of Fir, Cedar, Teak, Oak, Mahoghany etc.
On the boat I built in the early 80's I used common white ash interior plywood from the orient on the fir plywood bulkheads. I've seen that boat and 30 years later there are no problems with that 1/4" ply covering. (varnished)

[MichaelC]

If you can find tight grain douglas fir it will serve nicely as flooring. I used red oak on the sole of my schooner and it lasted very well with no blackening. Yellow cedar is a nice cabinetry wood, and remains fragrant for years. In the schooner I am currently building the entire interior will be doug fir with plywood bulkheads finished with linseed oil, turpentine and kerosene [3.2.1]. If you need yacht finish, spend the money. If you want homey finish, go cheap. Both look good if well designed with decent workmanship.