Need help refinishing cabin sole.

[Alex Mead]

Hello - I have a 1985 Pearson 36/2 and would like to refinish the cabin sole. The cabin sole is teak and holly veneer and I believe has never been varnished, just oiled. Over timehas become extremely dark, so I would like to sand and refinish with a satin polyurethane. Any advice on sanding and the type of finish I should use?

[Charlie]

I can't offer help b/c I didn't do such a good job but I can give you some warnings!

1) The veneer is very thin. Keep the sanding to a minimum.

2) If you strip the floor make sure to get all of the agent used to strip the floor out of any joints before you varnish the floors. If you don't the agent may (as it did on my boat) come out of the joints and discolor the wood under the varnish.

3) Teak has a tendency to bleach by sunlight. If an area has heavy sunlight then it will be bleached while an area that is shaded will retain the honey color of teak.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by Alex Mead

Hello - I have a 1985 Pearson 36/2 and would like to refinish the cabin sole. The cabin sole is teak and holly veneer and I believe has never been varnished, just oiled. Over timehas become extremely dark, so I would like to sand and refinish with a satin polyurethane. Any advice on sanding and the type of finish I should use?

I recently did the companionway steps, and am thinking about the sole this winter.

Here is what I did :

Strip with conventional stripper.

Scrape the stripped varnish off.

Thoroughly wash the wood with soap and water, then use compressed air to dry and get the gunk out of any grooves and crevices. Leave in the sun till thoroughly dry.

Sand.

Apply a light coat of stain - I use Varathane Golden Mahogany. This is to darken faded teak a little. Sounds like you don't need this.

3 coats of Minwax fast-drying polyurethane in satin. This stuff is great to work with - very happy with this varnish. I sanded lightly between coats followed by another blast with the air.

The only thing I did wrong was that in a couple of spots the scraper I was using bit into the wood causing a dent. Next time I will use a cabinet scraper. These are far less likely to damage the finish, so I've heard.

Here is the thread on Sailnet I started :

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...way-steps.html

It includes some discussion on doing the sole.