Diesel Soaked Plywood - Can I Scrub and Paint ?

[summercamp]

I have marine plywood knees that support my cabin sole. Two of them also extend down to the bottom of the keel. At some point they have been soaked with diesel due to a leaky diesel tank. I can scrub them but that doesnt' get rid of all the diesel and the smell. Is there any type of paint that I would stick? Any other ways to get rid of the smell short of replacing the plywood?

Thanks!

[SkiprJohn]

I would try an oil based primer after you have cleaned them as much as possible with bleach and then rinsed the bleach off and got them dry. If the paint adheres then a few coats and a top coat ought to help.

[Pacificcatalyst]

I've been having good luck using Rust Lock as a primer. I think that it's a Petit product. Read the can carefully about over-coating instructions.

I've also used Mar-x-ite as a sealer/primer.

Both are forgiving and seem to work well on compromised surfaces.

[delmarrey]

Contact these guys. They can tell what to use.> Enzyme Products | Solvents | Cleaners

Biosafe 60 Broad spectrum hydrocarbon degrader with a special appetite for #4, #5 and #6 fuels, the best choice for basic soil remediation where tanks have been removed. Very effective when used in a Biopile.

[Cheechako]

Look at it this way... your plywood wont rot!

[Me-and-Boo]

One thing to try that is real cheap -

Build a barrier of some type to hold kitty litter against the wood. Replace the kitty litter occasionally. This will take time. But, it is cheap and will work.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Pacificcatalyst

I've been having good luck using Rust Lock as a primer. I think that it's a Petit product. Read the can carefully about over-coating instructions.
I've also used Mar-x-ite as a sealer/primer.
...

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, summercamp.

Neither product seems particularly well adapted to this application; but I have no specific experience.

Pettit #6980 RUSTLOK Steel Primer
➥ http://www.pettitpaint.com/fileshare...ds/1698006.pdf

X-I-M Bonding Primers/Sealers (Mar-X-ite)
➥ XIM Bonder

Good luck!

[Pacificcatalyst]

Mar-x-ite sticks to everthing I've used it on, including green Ipe (a very oily hardwood) and everything I've used over it has stuck well.

Many marine wood workers are using Rust Lock as a primer on new wood, where others may have used either penetrating epoxy or Red Lead in the past.

Both products dry VERY fast, and can be recoated almost immediately.

I'm not suggesting that you use any of these products without reading up on them or testing them.

I would use a couple of coats of Rust Lock over your cleaned-up and dried plywood, with an overcoat of whatever oil-based paint you have around.

I would not use any bleach to clean the wood, due to bleach being an oxident. In other words, it is a rust/corrosion accelerant. You want to see SS rust? Use a strong bleach mixture to clean it. I would be concerned about the impact of the bleach on any hidden fastenings.

[Pacificcatalyst]

After reading the link that GordMay posted re: Mar-x-ite I wouldn't use it on the oil-soaked playwood. I would go with the Rust Lock.

[David M]

I wouldn't use anything less than an epoxy barrier coat...but after I have scrubbed the surface of the wood with a strong detergent and given it enough time to dry.

The smell of Diesel leeches through lots of things. It won't leech through epoxy though.

[Wotname]

If you go for an epoxy product (and I do recommend that), don't just clean the plywood, rather sand it aggressively with a course grit say 40 or 30 grade and vacumn the surface before applying the epoxy. It won't hurt to thin the first coat a fair bit and then build up wet on tacky.

You will need as much mechanica adhesion as you can get.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Will never get all the diesel out of the wood - unless you cut or chisel it out, but, as said, it won't rot!

My solution (for the smell) would be a thorough clean and then a decent oil based Primer - and then some bilge paint. Won't last forever, but in a low wear environment shouldn't just fall off!