Teak and Holly Sole

[Tony B]

I am back working on my salon sole. It tool a back seat for a while but I resumed work yesterday.
Attached is a photo of my 'Test Fit' for the 8 floor panels. Next step is to final sand and finish.

What would be a good finish for this interior sole?

[bstreep]

Tony,

We've been contemplating this for a while. I think I've decided that the folks that make yacht finishes probably know what they are doing. I've looked at gym floor products, and other allegedly wonderful products. Ultimate Sole is gone (I suspect that the product didn't like water all that much - that's what all of the gym floor folks have told me). I think - but I'm not sure - we are going to use Interlux Perfection on ours.

[Anonymous7500]

I used Cabot Polyurethane. I applied 5 very thick coats with light sanding between coats. I don't know how it will hold up, but it sure looks nice.

[ReMetau]

Check out Fabulon.

[Caribsailors]

I encapsulated all my pieces in clear epoxy, West 105 & 207, two coats on all surfaces, and then finished surface with 3 coats of Bona Traffic, Satin, anti-skid, two part
http://www.bona.com/Global/Countries...%20Traffic.pdf
Very easy to apply. One gallon, hardener and applicator pads were the same cost as 1 quart of Interlux Perfection. At least here anyway

[TheOffice]

I'm refinishing mine. Be sure to epoxy the bottom and edges or you will be re-doing this in 5 years! I'm also epoxying all surfaces, and then will use clear Cetol.

[Tim R.]

Nice work. I did the sole on my Ericson a few years ago. You see a write up in the projects section of my signature. I used water based Bristol finish and hated it. I suggest you try to find some Gym floor finish as it has some anti-skid properties.

[Caribsailors]

Very easy to apply. One gallon, hardener and applicator pads were the same cost as 1 quart of Interlux Perfection. At least here anyway

Cheers

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by Caribsailors

I encapsulated all my pieces in clear epoxy, West 105 & 207, two coats on all surfaces, and then finished surface with 3 coats of Bona Traffic, Satin, anti-skid, two part
http://www.bona.com/Global/Countries...%20Traffic.pdf
Very easy to apply. One gallon, hardener and applicator pads were the same cost as 1 quart of Interlux Perfection. At least here anyway

I talked to the technical folks at Bona, and they DEFINITELY recommended against using their products on our boat, unless we were OK with a finish that needed a lot of maintenance. The product looks great, but doesn't like to be wet, they said.

They were very honest. Said that they knew of people who used it on boats, but that they didn't recommend that use.

[Caribsailors]

Interesting..... well I guess I'll be doing it again. Ah well an interesting experiment. I'll report back.
Cheers

[Russt1950]

I put on 4 coats of Minwax spar varnish. Sanded with 220 in between coats, then put Ephanes Rubbed effect for the last 2 coats. Looks great but I just did it so I dont know how it will hold up.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by TheOffice

I'm refinishing mine. Be sure to epoxy the bottom and edges or you will be re-doing this in 5 years! I'm also epoxying all surfaces, and then will use clear Cetol.

Ditto! When I bought my boat it had black mold on the backsides. So I wet sanded and bleached them and coated them in epoxy after a good drying out. They lasted for 8 years until I redid the whole decking.

I have a keel stepped mast so the fresh water runs down right under the panels. The new panels are coated now too.

[Idylles15.5]

Just noticed the topic. Did you use .5mil teak and holly plywood or did you make real panels? If it's the .5mil ply it won't last no matter what you do. Once you dent it and break past the vaneer layer it will be toast unless you seal it. Thats why it always rots outside the doors to the heads/showers, base of the entry hatch and galley around the sink area. I'm in the marine carpentry/fiberglass/paint business, so maybe I could give you a few ideas. I just vacume bagged my own new cabin sole and I used 1/2" Okoume mahogany marine ply as the base and I then epoxy resined 1/4" teak which I ripped in my shop. You can also use white maple as a substitute to holly if you are going to seal it. The white maple comes in long dimensional boards so you can rip long strips which you can't do with holly. The Okoume will make the panels bullitproof and will not rot. Traditionally you are supposed to leave the holly raised above the teak. This is what created the cabin sole grip, not non skid particals. The shiney cabin sole does look good, but thats really the all it does once it's sanded smooth and finished like a bowling alley. Leave the holly a tad bit higher in the set up and you will have a ll the grip you need.

[Waltthesalt]

I used pre-made panels with no raised part for grip. What I did for grip is after varnishing the lot I taped over the teak part and applied varnish with non-skid on the holly part.

[Tony B]

I used 1/4" T&H plywood and glued it to 3/4" birch cabinet grade plywood. Each panel was then wrapped with a 1/4" teak strip all the way around. There are no exposed edges of plywood. The whole thing, top and bottom, will be coated with whatever I finally choose as my finish. My sailboat is 37 years old and the cabin sole is T&H plywood with 1/4" strips of solid teak all the way around and still in decent condition so I have the same expectations with this project.