Cabin sole refinish

[felizcortez]

I have a teak and holly veneer plywood floor. I'm considering refinishing with TotalBoat Halcyon finish and was wondering if anyone has any experience with it? We live on the boat full time so the floors are in need of a refinish as some of the old finish has worn through.

[tkeithlu]

Well, I do have a comment or so. You don't say where you are, but if you are near a metropolitan area, you might check in with the people who refinish residential floors. They have the specialized tools and the experience to make refinishing quick and not terribly expensive.

There's myth out there, one I used to believe, that somewhere there is a super hard varnish available only to the people who refinish gymnasium floors. Nope. Gymnasium floors look good because no one grinds sand-loaded sneakers into them.

Good luck with your project. I bet it will be beautiful.

[skipmac]

Researching this as well but my main concern is non-skid properties more than super hard, wear forever finish.

But regarding hard finishes, there are products that are sold for gym floor finishing that advertise wear resistance (but of course we all know how accurate and honest ads are). Also my son in law is a builder and does a LOT of floor finishing and there are some products he swears by. Will ask him to tell me (again) the brand.

I'm investigating the use of non skid additives. I found an interesting non skid additive that is kind of clear when added to varnish. Looks similar to microspheres or something one would add to epoxy for a thickener. My idea would be to add it to the finish coat and paint it only on the light colored holly (really maple these days) where it wouldn't show but still make good non skid.

[gonesail]

some will argue this .. but use varnish .. not polyurethane. varnish gives a better grip to boat shoes and bare feet. also I would not use a water based varnish .. not as durable.

[bwindrope]

I've done the floors in my house and on my boat with DuraSeal. Stuff is ridiculously immune to damage but hard to find. Way better than any of that Home Depot crap. Our dog runs around on it full time with long nails and it doesn't even show a scratch. My solution to slick floors is to have bath mats in one spot and I placed adhesive grip strips on a really sloped part of my sole near my head. In places that are flat, it has not been an issue. Just make sure you fully remove all the old varnish with a chemical safe strip or sand it deeper than you think, as when you apply the new varnish any old stuff will show up strongly and show marking. Good luck.

[CaptainMarkS]

Originally Posted by felizcortez

I have a teak and holly veneer plywood floor. I'm considering refinishing with TotalBoat Halcyon finish and was wondering if anyone has any experience with it? We live on the boat full time so the floors are in need of a refinish as some of the old finish has worn through.

@felizcortez, what did you end up choosing? I'm in the same boat (pun intended) looking to refinish my soles and other wooden bright work. I like the idea of a water based polyurethane that doesn't require sanding between coats. Totalboat Halcyon might work, but I'd prefer advice from someone who has experience with it. Thanks!

[bil56]

I used glazing for wooden stairs, two-components PU,
good wear resistance, non-slip

[CaptainMarkS]

Originally Posted by bil56

I used glazing for wooden stairs, two-components PU,
good wear resistance, non-slip

Which brand PU? Water or oil based? How many coats? Thanks!

[JimsCAL]

I refinished my plywood teak and holy sole two years ago. Stripped it then used Minwax semi-gloss oil-based polyurethane. Was a bit concerned it might be a bit slippery, but that does not seem to be the case. And since it's designed for interior hardwood floors, it should stand up well.

[felizcortez]

Originally Posted by CaptainMarkS

@felizcortez, what did you end up choosing? I'm in the same boat (pun intended) looking to refinish my soles and other wooden bright work. I like the idea of a water based polyurethane that doesn't require sanding between coats. Totalboat Halcyon might work, but I'd prefer advice from someone who has experience with it. Thanks!

I would use something else. It hasn't held up and total boats response was I should have done 10 coats which wasn't what was listed in the datasheet. We also tried it outside and it failed within 4-6 months. So I would avoid Halcyon.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by JimsCAL

I refinished my plywood teak and holy sole two years ago. Stripped it then used Minwax semi-gloss oil-based polyurethane. Was a bit concerned it might be a bit slippery, but that does not seem to be the case. And since it's designed for interior hardwood floors, it should stand up well.

Mine is a veneer that needs work. I wasn't sure if it was thick enough to sand.

What did you use to strip?

Did you sand?

Did the oil based poly give off a lot of fumes? (marine varnish is horrible in closed spaces IMHO).

[h20man]

Originally Posted by Shrew

Mine is a veneer that needs work. I wasn't sure if it was thick enough to sand.

What did you use to strip?

Did you sand?

Did the oil based poly give off a lot of fumes? (marine varnish is horrible in closed spaces IMHO).

"Did the oil based poly give off a lot of fumes? (marine varnish is horrible in closed spaces IMHO)."


AND a fire hazard......

[JimsCAL]

Originally Posted by Shrew

Mine is a veneer that needs work. I wasn't sure if it was thick enough to sand.

What did you use to strip?

Did you sand?

Did the oil based poly give off a lot of fumes? (marine varnish is horrible in closed spaces IMHO).

I used Citristrip. The orange stuff from Home Depot. Got 90% of the old finish off then a bit of sanding to get the last remnants off. Wiped down twice with paint thinner (otherwise the poly will bubble) and ready to go. I did not find there to be much smell from fumes from the Minwax Poly at all.