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Old 17-06-2010, 13:01   #1
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Refinish Cabin Sole

I did try the search function for this.... but got nothing really on topic?

Our cabin sole is ugly and needs to be refinished. The flooring is 5/8" teak plywood with 5/8" teak and holly planking screwed and glued on top. In a number of places the plywood sub-floor has experienced substantial rot and de-lamination.

I repaired the rotted sub-floor by drilling holes through the entire floor and screwing up pieces of epoxy coated 3/4" marine plywood to the backside of the floor, thus encapsulating the rotted plywood between the new plywood and the teak and holly planking. I then drilled additional holes through the teak and holly planking and into but not through the rotted plywood. Then I injected Rot Doctor in large quantities into the rotted the plywood followed by thinned West System epoxy thus effectively petrifying the rotted sections. The floors are now very solid, but I am having to bung lots of holes and they need to be refinished.

What to use? Does all of the existing varnish have to be totally stripped off? Should I use a varnish or an epoxy product?

We are living aboard full time with 2 kids so its going to be a hassle and getting 10 coats on with sanding in between all would be a HUGE hassle!

All ideas and advice is appreciated!


Terry
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Old 17-06-2010, 13:05   #2
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Terry, Go to your local hardware store and get a fast drying floor finish in matte or gloss, whichever you prefer. Three coats should do it and I doubt you will need to sand off whatever is there, but you will need to give the entire surface a thorough sanding.
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Old 17-06-2010, 13:20   #3
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Our old neighbors did theirs with Ultimate Sole - and it turned out GREAT. High gloss, non-skid. However, I don't know if they are back in business or not.
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Old 17-06-2010, 15:39   #4
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Originally Posted by Tspringer View Post
All ideas and advice is appreciated!
I am in the process of refinishing my saloon (and Galley. and forecabin ) floorboards. No Rot, but 40 yo plywood. and 40 yo dirt

Am a great beleiver in the power of............paint

A couple of coats of primer all over and on the underside a couple of coats of bilge paint. On top - deck paint ........thick enough to cover a few sins hard wearing and easy to refinish in a few years times...........in any event the Saloon will be getting carpet (at least for Summer) - a bit of grip underneath won't do any harm.
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Old 18-06-2010, 10:03   #5
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Am a great beleiver in the power of............paint
That’s sorta the direction I’m headed… the sole of Wings is deteriorated beyond where I want to repair it further, and given that the actual area is small, I’ll just replace the dozen or so square feet… originally I was thinking about replacing with the usual teak and holly over ply, but the more I think about, the more I realize what I really want is almost nonskid like on a deck, cuz under sail the little chunk routinely heel’s about 12-15 degrees so my thought is it’ll give more confidence underfoot than just bracing one’s foot against a settee or cabinetry… so am thinking about epoxy encapsulated ply with nonskid paint of some acceptable color and call it good... at anchor/dock a small throw rug should add the color the Admiral cherishes…
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Old 18-06-2010, 12:22   #6
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The best looking solution is carpeting. Cover it all with cheap wall to wall carpet and have the edges bound. The binding is probably more than inexpensive carpeting but will prevent unravelling and look good for many years to come.
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Old 20-06-2010, 12:16   #7
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LOL! We have gorgeous real teak and holly planking sole that is a bit scuffed and needs to be refinished and folks want me to paint it over, perhaps with industrial paint? Really?

Carpet? We have two kids and we all spend tons of time in the water. Below there are spills and thrills. Carpet would be a disaster within a month.

I am going to test out some fast dry Minwax polyurethane on one of the floor locker doors to see how we like it.

Terry
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Old 20-06-2010, 13:12   #8
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This is the stuff...

http://www.premapro.com/PDFs/Coelan%20Overview%20lv.pdf
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Old 20-06-2010, 13:28   #9
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LOL! We have gorgeous real teak and holly planking sole that is a bit scuffed and needs to be refinished and folks want me to paint it over, perhaps with industrial paint? Really?
Apologies, just sounded that you were after something that would easily hide your bodge on the rot.

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Carpet? We have two kids and we all spend tons of time in the water. Below there are spills and thrills. Carpet would be a disaster within a month.
Nowadays they make all kinds of hard wearing / waterproof carpet - can even replace every couple of years. and / or use mats in high transit areas. Softer too for bouncing kids and less easy to dent.

Coincidently I am doing a special offer this week to CF Members on carpet . and on paint
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Old 24-09-2010, 15:43   #10
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Well, this project has turned into a complete disaster.

I went to all the local hardware stores and spoke to the "experts" there. I decided to go with Cabots Spar Varnish. It is supposedly marine quality stuff, dries hard but maintains some flexibility and is high gloss.

I took all 10 of the removable floor hatches home, stripped them to bar wood, filled the cracks between the teak and holly strips with epoxy and then gave them 6 coats of the stuff, sanding between each coat after giving it 24 hours to dry. They turned out looking great.

Then I tackled the floor in the boat. I belt sanded it to bare wood, repaired lots of cracks and dings, and then after sanding with 220 I gave it a coat of the Cabots. Then I waited 2 days (one more than the instructions) and gave it another coat.

5 days later it is still a gooey mess. It is dry to the touch and you can walk on it but any attempt to sand results in a sticky, gooey mess. Sandpaper instantly clogs and the surface becomes a sticky mess. Just under the surface, it is not dry and is apparently not going to dry. So I am now tackling it with scrapers, rags and mineral spirits to remove all this crap. Basically, over a weeks full work down the drain and back to square one.

I have no idea what to use and I am worried that whatever I end up with will not match the finish of the Cabots on the removable pieces so I will end up having to strip those and refinish them again as well (another weeks work gone).

Before choosing the Cabots, I did test a fast dry water based varnish on one of the removable pieces. It looked terrible. After 3 coats the grain of the wood was still not filled, it was going to take dozens of coats to get any buildup and gloss so I abandoned that crap.

I have no clue what to use... but some pretty good ideas on what NOT to use!

The Coelan stuff that was linked is interesting... but I cannot find any info on dealers or stuff like dry times and compatibility.




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Old 24-09-2010, 16:23   #11
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G'day, Terry, We feel for you! We do a bit of varnish work on our Mason 53 and enjoy the beauty it delivers to protect the wood. A few things to check on before you abandon totally give up. Since you said that the floorboard panels you did at turned out fine, it may not be the varnish, but the environment on the boat or the technique.

1. First, are you using the same lot number of varnish on both areas? There should be a lot or batch number somewhere on the can.

2. What was the inside temperature of the boat when you did the floor? If it was below 75 degrees, it may in fact take several days to get the coat to dry properly.

3. Did you have some air movement through the boat to help with the drying process? You DON"T want to do this in the first hour or two after laying the varnish, but after the surface tacks over a little airflow will greatly aid the process.

4. Be careful not to overbuild the coat. This can be easy to do. You should be actually thinning it a bit (around 10%) with mineral spirits. When the wood is completely stripped down, it takes 5 to 8 coats to get it built up properly to endure the punishment of constant foot traffic.

What would I do? Get some air moving through the boat and get the inside temperature up. It should dry. Then just keep building your coats.

You should be able to get the finish below in the photo without too much trouble. All the best. Cheers.
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Old 24-09-2010, 17:47   #12
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Bristol two part finish: Bristol Finish Home
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