Tarting up the salon ceiling?

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Canibul

The entire interior of this boat was finished with 1 or 1.5" yellow foam rubber covered in beige vinyl. I pulled one loose corner away from a bulkhead to see if I could find a source of a leak....

Now two years later there isn't a shred of vinyl or foam rubber. We did go with high end hull liner for the vertical surfaces, and are using a really tough Sherwin Williams paint for the overheads. I like being able to see all the hardware. I like the extra inch or so of interior room. I just ordered one of the oscillating multitools with a rasp for removing grout and hope to use that and it's sanding function to smooth out some of the more obvious fiberglass chunks. The original builder never intended for the interior glass to be seen, so it's rough in places. But two coats of good paint go a long way toward smoothing it all out. I looked at a lot of options, and just can't get into fake wood. I don't think going to all that trouble for purely cosmetic reasons makes sense for us.

Hey, if you serve drinks in a salon, does that turn it into a saloon?

I am so glad for this thread!! After deliberating for quite some time on this issue, this seems like a most sensible solution! The backing on the vinyl in my cabin is disintegrating leaving nasty yellowish particles all over and it's next to impossible to put the vinyl-backed panels back in place without a whole crew of people holding things up and screwing things down. I like the simplicity and functionality that this offers. And best of all, it will save money on buying new vinyl or fake wood, which will just drive me insane over time anyway.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by scgilligan

Paint it sky blue with clouds..so you still feel like you are in the cockpit while you are in there. What could be better than that? Lol.

Good one.

The word "blue" made me remember advice from Lyn & Larry Pardey about using white inside a boat. In one of their earlier books they recommended always using a tad of blue in the white. It reduced glare and made it "warmer."

Good luck to you all.

[Sailorbob8599]

I appreciate some folk want easy access to fasteners however, in my opinion, bare fibre-glas tends to look rather 'stark'. I can say this because my previous boats were that way; and whenever we lit the alcohol stove, or the right/wrong atmospheric conditions prevailed, both the overhead and side panels would sweat something fierce, leaving puddles of water everywhere destroying rolls of paper towel that happened to be on the cabinet tops etc. or soaking any cloth or clothes it came in contact with.
When I built my current boat, I lined the ceilings and foam-cored overhead and deck under-surfaces with 2" yellow cedar T&G attached to 1/2" plywood strapping. I filled the resultant void between 'glas and cedar with 1/2" Ethafoam (tradename) ... for added insulation. We oiled the cedar giving it a nice 'honey' glow finish ... but I was thinking, if you don't care for that, or you find yellow cedar a bit expensive, you could use cheaper T&G material (hemlock/fir) and paint it white, off-white or any other colour.
As for wanting access to fasteners, when installing hardware on the outer surface (and because most hardware uses 1/4 - 20 fasteners), using the hardware as a positioning guide, drill 1/4" holes all the way through the glas and the liner, keeping the drill bit square to the outer surface. This locates the hole(s) exactly where you want them, but also creates a guide when you drill upward from the inside, using a 3/4" hole saw that also uses a 1/4" pilot drill bit.
When drilling up from inside, allow the 3/4" saw to cut through the wood liner only. If you want to get really fancy, you could use a 1/8" 'round-over' router-bit to finish the edge of this hole before you paint it.
This gives a very professional look to the whole (hole) thing and provides deep-socket access to the fasteners. It just depends on how much work you're willing to put into it.
Spartan might look 'right' in a race boat but, I do like the 'finished look' in my pocket cruiser. Just my .02 cents worth ... and being Canadian eh, that's a whole 30% discount ...

[Paul J. Nolan]

Cedar and fur are okay, but I would avoid hemlock for marine use. I believe it is prone to rot.

Paul

[four winds]

I have the vinyl covered panels held by teak battens. Still in good shape but just will not clean up completely after nearly forty years.

My "stars above, sea below idea" is to replace with somewhat translucent white panels of some appropriate material. Then from the backside partially drill countersunk holes into which tiny LED lights would be affixed. Drill deeper for bright stars and shallow for dim stars. Use translucent and thin paint to color match the actual star's color maybe. All to create a winter night sky here with Orion as the focal point of the field. Still thinking on how to represent the Milky Way.

Then install blue LED lights under the rails down low where lee cloths attach to bath the sole in blue light.

Stars above and sea below.

Properly tarted up, I would think.

[exkma367]

Our Tartan 34c ceiling project.

[Paul J. Nolan]

Originally Posted by exkma367

Our Tartan 34c ceiling project.

It is not a ceiling project he said through clenched teeth

Paul

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by exkma367

Our Tartan 34c ceiling project.

How ever do you get to your deck hardware?

(Paul J. Nolan, I feel for you, man. I learned to let this stuff go a long time ago because it just roils the blood pressure, though I once quit a job over semantics - it was political though

[pwilletts]

Originally Posted by Paul J. Nolan

No, no, NO! A thousand times, NO! It always was, is now, and forever will be a SALOON! THERE IS NO SALON O N A YACHT!

Excuse me for a moment while I put one of these tiny pills under my tongue... I'll be okay in a few minutes... I hope...

Paul

We can only hope its a liberal dose of Rantataol

[exkma367]

Originally Posted by gamayun

How ever do you get to your deck hardware?

(Paul J. Nolan, I feel for you, man. I learned to let this stuff go a long time ago because it just roils the blood pressure, though I once quit a job over semantics - it was political though

I usually go on deck.

Ok, seriously this boat was a basket case when we picked her up. Total deck and cabin top, (am I close Paul?), recore. We gutted the interior. All fittings through the cabin top were drilled large, filled with thickened epoxy, redrilled and bedded with butyl tape. This has worked very well for me on past boats. The key with butyl tape is to tighten, wait 24 hours, tighten, wait 24 hours, tighten. It works for me.

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Paul J. Nolan

Cedar and fur are okay, but I would avoid hemlock for marine use. I believe it is prone to rot.

Paul

Yeah, I was too quick with that comment, what I should have said was ... any cheap wood that is rot resistant ... but is there any such thing as cheap wood anymore? I have spent a small fortune in teak whilst building my boat and yet I got most of it at bargain prices.
I bought much lumber from other boat builders that they classified as "surplus to requirements".
My project is now complete and I still have a fair amount of lumber left over ... Yellow Cedar, Teak and African mahogany.
I think I need a sailing dinghy ... or maybe two (one for my grandchildren). I have plans for a 10 footer that can be taken apart in the middle, and nest the bow end in the stern end for on-deck storage. That should use up some of the lumber.
Why did I buy so much you may ask ... because I`m one of those guys that cannot pass up a good deal when I see it. It`s not limited to boat building, it will always be in demand, and I`ll not lose money on it for sure.

[Sailorbob8599]

Originally Posted by Paul J. Nolan

Cedar and fur are okay, but I would avoid hemlock for marine use. I believe it is prone to rot.

Paul

OK, sorry people, I can`t let this one pass ... NOT just any cedar Paul, it must be YELLOW cedar ... As for using FUR ... only if you`re building a sea going brothel ... but FIR is OK

[Jim Cate]

NOT just any cedar Paul, it must be YELLOW cedar

Crikeys!! Please don't tell my boat about that restriction, for she is built of Western Red Cedar, with the same timber in the ceilings in the forward and guest cabins. The overhead is Tasmanian Ash T&G, deck beams and knees laminated Queensland Maple. But don't let those last two fool you... they are the result of the odd Aussie habit of renaming various of their many eucalypts with familiar English names!

Jim

[Paul J. Nolan]

Originally Posted by Sailorbob8599

OK, sorry people, I can`t let this one pass ... NOT just any cedar Paul, it must be YELLOW cedar ... As for using FUR ... only if you`re building a sea going brothel ... but FIR is OK

Okay, you got me laughin' now! The often irritating spell checker on my phone is the guilty party.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Paul, whose first Lightning was planked in Western red cedar. Smelled wonderful.

[Canibul]

You PNW people should be aware of termites if you're going to load your boat up with exotic woods and come down this way. Not saying don't try to make your boat look like it was made of wood.....but maybe put some thought into making it easy to remove. I just bought a bunch of brass threaded inserts because I was tired of dealing with sheet metal screws into interior fiberglass.