Interior Lumber

[AllezCat]

So the refit is going well.
Demolition is so fun and easy.
Now to put it all back together - but different...

I have completely gutted the bathroom area.
Need support lumber for floor, and interior shelving.
Not sure about sole - it can wait.
Home Depot has red oak - perfect sizes etc...Which means I can have it in 1 hour.
Have read threads re covering with epoxy etc...
Is it suitable for this task?
if not - where to buy mahogany in Florida? Will be driving from North Florida to Miami over the weekend.

cheers

[sabray]

I don't like red oak. It is open celled heavy doesn't glue as well as other woods rots stains etc... Yellow pine or fir would be better for cleat or support structure.

[AllezCat]

Originally Posted by sabray

I don't like red oak. It is open celled heavy doesn't glue as well as other woods rots stains etc... Yellow pine or fir would be better for cleat or support structure.

Thanks - rotting not good under bath head and sink...and for open shelves.
Are Yellow pine or fir at Lowes or Home Depot?
thanks

[sabray]

Hard yellow pine is often used for porch decking so they may have some.

[Sand crab]

Southern Yellow Pine is the standard wood for framing in the southeast US. It is dense and kinda heavy but strong. You can get it pressure treated and that is what is normally used for decking because it's cheap. Cedar is also used for decking and readily available but not as strong. But if you are going to seal the wood with epoxy then it really doesn't matter what you use. I wouldn't pay the extra cost for oak if it's not going to be seen. BOB

[minaret]

I would not use lumber from home depot in a quality boat, it is all extremely young growth that is heavily kiln dried, and will warp, cup, twist, and check on you in the worst way, as well as being more susceptible to rot with a pronounced crown in a given length. Good quality labor costs so much that it's crazy to scimp on materials. For structural beams use white oak, preferably quarter-sawn VG. For finish work use mahogany or a nice local option, cypress for instance looks great and is very rot resistant, easily available in Fla. Find quality old-growth wood that has been sticker-dried and it will last. Home depot lumber isn't worthy of the name.

[David_Old_Jersey]

At the risk of a slight derail (I think OP is referring to wood that also provides a nice finish?)........


..........but FWIW on my boat I was very surprised to find Pine (rough sawn - 2 x 1?) had been used to batten out the headlinings (and cabin sides). No paint or treatment - just naked wood glassed to the cabin sides, albeit only well above the waterline and non-structural. The boat was built as a "quality" vessel, and the rest of her construction bears that out

I was even more surprised that the pine was all still in perfect condition..........40 odd years later so I guess the builder did know what he was doing .......which is more than could be said for the foam covered panels attached to them .

I only mention because wood is a surprisingly (?) resilient material

[vintageray]

I've been looking for decent lumber in NC to replace supports under my deck. Need 2"x3" and 3"x3" 's. Finally gave up and covered the leaking deck with dynel until I get to Florida and will use cypress. Found a sawmill near Tampa that sells 2"x3" x 8' stringers for $3.50.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

At the risk of a slight derail (I think OP is referring to wood that also provides a nice finish?)........


..........but FWIW on my boat I was very surprised to find Pine (rough sawn - 2 x 1?) had been used to batten out the headlinings (and cabin sides). No paint or treatment - just naked wood glassed to the cabin sides, albeit only well above the waterline and non-structural. The boat was built as a "quality" vessel, and the rest of her construction bears that out

I was even more surprised that the pine was all still in perfect condition..........40 odd years later so I guess the builder did know what he was doing .......which is more than could be said for the foam covered panels attached to them .

I only mention because wood is a surprisingly (?) resilient material

Any wood that is 40 years old was by default of higher quality than anything you would see at HD today. They still had real wood back then. Since then it has all been cut down. 40 years ago even cheap crap lumber was what we would call quality old growth now, they used to use the good stuff even for making pallets and the like. Part of why there is very little left. Timber from what are essentially saplings still has open,loose grain, and is soft and weak compared to older growth. And the large scale industrial kiln drying process completes the job, making timber that is pretty useless for boatbuilding in my eyes.

[roverhi]

Somehow I doubt you are seeing pine. It's probably Douglas fir in older boats. Way better wood than I see at the lumber yard these days. Seems like Hem Fir or Hemlock is the new framing material and it's not as hard, strong, or holds fasteners as well as the older framing material. This may be applicable to the West Coast as Pine out here is a material of absolutely last resort for framing where strength and durability are concerned.

Personally, for cleats and other out of sight construction, I'd use treated fir if I could get it. Stuff is virtually rot proof and as long as the scantlings and fasteners are robust enough, will hold up well. If I really wanted to do it right, would opt for real mahogany. It's hard, strong and really holds fasteners. This is not the stuff from the far east typically billed as Phillipine Mahogany. That stuff is worse than the current fir construction lumber for rotting, etc.

[Rocketman]

Depending on what you are doing, Starboard should not be overlooked, you can buy it reasonable, comes in 50X96 inch sheets, in almost any thickness, and it comes in many colors and finishes. 1/4 inch starts at about $150 PER sheet and 1 inch is about double that. It works like wood with the same tools you would use for wood but will never rot, and doesn't need to be finished. I have not found any glue that will stick to the suff. You have to screw everything together. If you go to an outdoor furniture builder, he can get it for you, way cheaper then you can buy it yourself, because he probably uses a lot, and buys in bulk.

[Target9000]

AllezCat,

It is always tempting to hit a big box store like Lowes or HD because we know right where they are and what is there in them. However, I think you should look around and find a lumber yard. A dedicated lumber yard. Florida probably has one near you no matter where you are. Call around and ask all the different yards what they have. Pay special attention asking if they have teak and marine ply on hand. Those yards are the ones that will typically cater to boaters and I'd check them first.

As to your woods... I think you have a high likelihood of finding cypress and it is very nice looking and rot resistant. For the structural pieces that won't be seen I'd use epoxied marine ply for its strength. Most lumber yards will carry mahogany as well. Black locust is also a very hard and strong rot resistant wood.

I remember wanting to cry reading about your poor cat getting dumped. I demand photos of the refit to alleviate my emotional wounds. :P

Tate

[Ctrich]

Having started building boats in wood at 14 I will throw in my 2 cents...

Cedar is a great boat wood, I can show you boats that have lasted 70 years here in the rainy PNW. Its very light and strong .Its big draw back is does not hold fastness as well as Douglas fir, the other great boat wood. On the interior of my boat and most big boats constructed for the US we use cedar. My solution was to not use any fastners. The polly urathains are so strong now that the glue joints are stronger than the wood its glued to. Try some destuction tests if you wish, PL400 or Vulcan is great. If you want to use screws then drill a large pilot hold , add a few drops of epoxy and then set your scew, it will last forever. Big items , like bulkhead faces I did use bolts taped to the steal bulkheads.
A warning on homedopo wood, they sell plywood made of "spruce" (pine) which can not be used in the marine environment or their solid wood they call "spruce", it will rot so fast you can watch it shrink.
A warning on Chinese multi layer ply wood. They use 4ft by random lenths to laminate their plywood together. The 4 ft ends meet in the center of the sheet, they are not staggered. A friend started to use it found the plywood breaks in half with very little bending were all the thin layer ends meet, On inspection all 10 sheets were the same. It also smells really bad.
x2 for Roverhi on the Mahog, great stuff, but pricey. All the wood you can see in the boat is Mahog.
Good luck on your project.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by minaret

Any wood that is 40 years old was by default of higher quality than anything you would see at HD today. They still had real wood back then. Since then it has all been cut down. 40 years ago even cheap crap lumber was what we would call quality old growth now, they used to use the good stuff even for making pallets and the like. Part of why there is very little left. Timber from what are essentially saplings still has open,loose grain, and is soft and weak compared to older growth. And the large scale industrial kiln drying process completes the job, making timber that is pretty useless for boatbuilding in my eyes.

Fair point

[Sand crab]

I've been in construction for 40 years. I'm no fan of the big box stores but there is nothing wrong with their materials and because the framing lumber is indoors it can be dryer than a standard yard. The hardwood selection is a good price and is S4S which means surfaced all 4 sides. At the hardwood lumber yard it is mostly unsurfaced which we laughingly call SnoS or surfaced no sides. It's good rough sawed wood but you have to spend the time to make it pretty. I will guarantee AllezCat doesn't have a planer or jointer. He did say he was looking for "support lumber for the floor". Standard construction grade lumber would be fine but I would use whatever the Catana factory used and make it look like it is original. It doesn't matter what type of wood is used as long as it is sealed with epoxy but this may be unneccesary if the area underneath is dry and why bother if the factory didn't do it. Catanas aren't known for their wet bilges except for possibly in the engine compartment. They are known for their high quality. BOB