Replacing Back Plastic Sliding Doors in Salon

[Joe and Carol]

Have read the projects about replacing sliding doors, how to remove them, etc.  What are suggestions of replacement material?

I have thought about gluing teak laminate over the plastic, using teak boards or a more decorative plastic?  Any ideas?

Joe and Carol
YachtaSea
1987 C34 TR
#244

[Mike Smith]

Joe -

I removed them, glued white formica over them and then re-installed them.  They look great!

Mike

[Todd Reese]

Joe,

If the are broken you know all you have to do is come down the dock and ask Joni, since I believe we have broken everything there is to break on the boat! If it is broken we can pick it up for you at Regal Plastic in KC. If you are simply talking about decoration, well I guess thats another JONI issue. But all the emergency gear is back on the boat "aesthetically pleasing or not"!

[George Pyrpiris]

I just replaced mine with 1/8" teak plywood (perfect width), cost $80 for a 4'x8' sheet.  I actually ended up replacing all the sliders throughout the boat.  Also, can be used to cover, as a skin, any areas that have blemishes.  One coat of amber varnish on the new teak plywood and the interior looks better than new.  Just got to attach knobs now.

[brant]

 I replaced mine, kind of a nuisance, but not too bad.  I didn't like the glossy black finish, so I got some matt black panels from a local plastic supplier. I didn't like having the original panels so long, so I used 4 panels on each side of the cabin, instead of two.  I left a little overlap, so that when all the panels are closed, it is not possible to see behind.  Then I cut out the middle of each one, leaving a 3 inch frame of plastic, and leaving rounded corners in the cutout.  Then I glued (glue gun worked fine) prewoven panels of cane on the back, covering the  holes from the backside.  A little stain on the cane before I glued them gave the cane a softer tone instead of the almost white that is the color of the cane as it came from the fabric store.  I was particularly interested in getting more ventilation into the compartments behind the panels, so that's why I went to the cane. Don't forget that the original panels are longer on one side of the  cabin than the other.

[Ken Juul]

To strengthen the area around the handles to prevent cracking I tried to glue a couple of wood strips to the inside/outside to add some support.  The plastic is very slippery, the hot glue only stuck for about a week.  I would do some experimentation on some scraps before I tried to cover the large sliders.  Nothing worse than having to go back in a week or two and start over.

[RV61]

When I replaced the black sliders instead of hardware I now have 3/4 " finger holes  drilled 2" from the ends centered.

[steve stoneback]

I removed the black plastic doors and used them as patterns to make new ones out of formica.  I wanted to lighten up the interior so I bought an off white which matches the interior.  I glued (with formica glue) two layers back to back so they are rigid enough and just slightly thinner than the old Plexiglas. I cut them to size after gluing the formica together. I drilled new holes for the pulls and reused them.  As you can see there are many options.
Steve

[Michael Algase]

If you're interested, I have material to replace these.  I bought a 4X8 sheet of the material several years ago, and had it cut to 8 strips 4' long X 1' wide for shipment to me.  You would just need to cut it down to size.

When I did mine, I epoxied doublers for the last 1.5 inches or so (sanded the surfaces to help with the bond), then redrilled for the handles. Good suggestion above to use thumb holes instead.

I can look for the leftover material if you are interested.  It was a few years ago, and I know I have moved it a few times since, so I just need to locate it. You would have to rip it to width and cut to length.  A good carbide tipped blade on a table saw does fine, and the long edges are captured in the tracks, so a routed finish is overkill.  A little sandpaper on the vertical edges does fine.

If you cover packing and shipping, I can ship it to you.

[Rick Johnson]

Dooh.....  Nevermind......

[Steve S.]

I went a little more traditional.   I removed the old black plastic and used it to cut bead board birch wainscotting I bought at Home Depot.  Needed to buy a full 4 x 8 sheet so that I could cut it so that the beads would line up horizontally.  The wainscotting is a little too thick so I had to use a router to remove about 1/8 inch of material on the top and bottom.  A little spar finish and just re-install the chrome handles.  Now the sliders match the light wood trim above them at the back of the upper shelves and behind the stove.