Fixing cabin sole water damage

[zstine]

Originally Posted by djousset

I am in the middle of this same project, the sanding did a great job (I went very slowly.....) Now that they are back to beautiful I want to choose the proper finish. What did you use? I'm not sure I'm a fan of the previously super-shiny finish so am leaning towards semigloss poly. Are the newer water based poly products up to the task or is traditional poly best?

In addition to my above reply. I used a satin finish. It is more forgiving and less slippery than gloss. If you get dust in the finish (you will) you can use 000 bronze wool to rub it out on a satin finish. gloss is more difficult to fix. I would not recommend steel wool because any little pieces not cleaned up leave rust stains.

[ParL]

Originally Posted by chasfgr

As suggested it's not sufficient to try and fill it.

Obviously the bilges have overflowed at some time and come over the boards.


I finally used high quality carpet tiles, with oak floor veneer where the tiles missed.
Has lasted over 30 years, with occasional new carpet tiles

My boat has suffered the same fate, and I have been considering a supporting layer of <mumble>, and vinyl kitchen tiles on top (or a 100% synthetic "wood" click-type flooring). The question is what to put under it, thus the <mumble>.

[Rumrace]

Beautiful work zstine

[JPA Cate]

@WaltPinkler,

Sorry you found the mush, but it was as I thought it would be. Good luck with the repair job. When you re-do it, do make it so you can secure and open the cabin sole for inspecting underneath.

Good luck with it. You may be able to re-use some of the sole, after the soggy ply is replaced, so don't just chuck it in the tip, till you know for sure it is unusable.

Ann

[WaldPinkler]

I dug out the rotted ply from underneath with a chisel. A painful job. I did tear out the whole settee and cut the rotted ply floor there. It gave me hand access under the floor.

I cut pieces of cardboard as a template for new ply and epoxied them in. It's solid enough with the beams.

The teak has come up nicely. Used nasty paint stripper and a few sessions with oxalic acid then some sanding made them acceptable. Small gaps filled easily with the floor finish. It all looks great and waterproof now. There's only a slight darker mark where water stained the larger cracks. Not very noticeable. I'm happy.

[marcjsmith]

let hope that since its been a year, he's figured it out...


that being said. don't be afraid to sand (carefully) and refinish the boards. did that on my moody over the last few weeks, cheap and relativity easy project. if you can remove the boards and do the sanding outside..


even with a veneer and being careful you can breathe new life into the old boards


F@#%ing auto rotate...argh

[krid2000]

Before/after photos or it didn't happen :-)

Dirk
(facing the same issues)

[djousset]

@zstine: I used satin as well, went slowly and they came out beautifully. Reinstalled (and covered) until launch.

[Scaramanga F25]

You may find that a satin finish is softer and scratches easier than a gloss.

[spotfire]

Well I while back I went through the same routine, but chose a different process.

It's too easy to sand through, so I used stripper and a scraper to remove the varnish from one of the smaller pieces. I found this to be quicker than sanding. I had some spots that still had oil or dirt, so I used teak cleaner to remove the spots. The cleanup worked and I reused the pieces

Some of the other pieces were too beat up so I had to replace them.

I never wanted to have to do this again so I started with one coat of penetrating epoxy to seal the wood, then finished with 6 coats of varnish.

Its lasted for ten years now.


Good luck

[marcjsmith]

Originally Posted by Scaramanga F25

You may find that a satin finish is softer and scratches easier than a gloss.

but easier to repair and touch up though.



also glossy surface shows every single imperfection. satin finish not so much.


if you use a satin finish. stir the container well before applying... dont ask.....

[Pat_D]

Great stuff from you all.
Question, given 1/4" teak and Holly over 7/16 ply...the ply is separating, and the teak from the ply.
People mention glue--whats best to hold it all together? Epoxy? Wood glue? Or...

[JimsCAL]

If the ply is delaminating, I wouldn't bother trying to save it. But if it's just a few spots where the teak is coming loose, then it's probably worth the effort to try and save it. I am a fan of Titebond wood glue for jobs like this. Titebond III is waterproof and Titebond II is water resistant but easier to use.

[Bowdrie]

Should one want a dull/semi-gloss finish, (on anything,) it's better to use gloss to do all the build-up coats, then for the last 1>2 coats use your semi-gloss.
It makes a more durable finish.
Should you start with semi-gloss on bare wood you'll be effectively married to it forever unless you go back down to bare/clean wood.

[WaldPinkler]

Here's a picture of ripping out the settee at the time.

And a picture of today. It's all good. I still haven't fixed a small gap under the bottom of the settee wood but that's for another day.

I pulled a few small teak boards at the end and replaced ply coated in epoxy.

I used some swedish matt floor finish called Loba. I love it. After a year or so with sand under the mat and whatever then it doesn't look scratched. It was waterbased and so easy to brush on. It levels out so well and doesn't smell. Using varnish on the rest of the wood is such a chore compared to it.