Refinishing the cabin stairs

[patrice]

Hi All,

Maybe like me, and somme others, you are tired of the look of the original MkI stairs.
I refinished mine last spring, and really enjoyed it this summer.

I have put some step and pictures in the wiki

http://www.c34.org/wiki/index.php?title=Cabin_stairs_refinish

enjoy.

[Sue Clancy]

These look great!  Did the silicone change colors or get dirty this year as you stepped on it?

[patrice]

HI,

Actually it handled the summer nicely.
The advantage of the silicone to be beige, it kept it's color without fadding.
And is easy to clean the steps, just run a wet cloth.

[Noah]

I like the visibility contrast too, as kind of a safety thing.

[Stu Jackson]

Great idea.  From November 1988:

http://www.c34.org/mainsheet/images/Pg20+21a.jpg

We did it back in 1998 when we bought our boat.

Nice job.

[mregan]

I did the same last summer but I used black silicone.  I ended up putting strips of non stick tread on them afterwards.  Found when our feet were wet, the stairs got slippery.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : If you look in the Mainsheet tech notes (w/pictures) you'll see that some of us used strips of anti-skid.

That gives contrast as well as safety from slipping!!

A thought

[KWKloeber]

I did the same last summer but I used black silicone.  I ended up putting strips of non stick tread on them afterwards.  Found when our feet were wet, the stairs got slippery.

I was thinking that if the sillycone was slightly convex (maybe shape a plastic spreader to remove the excess?) it would be more anti-skid?  Wonder how easy/difficult it would be to raise them slightly and still make the finished job look good as ?

Ken K

[kwaltersmi]

That looks really good.  I might have to add that to my fall/winter project list, but I'm a little concerned about the durability of the silicone.  I suppose it's a cheap enough project that even if the silicone doesn't wear well, it can be removed or redone.

[mregan]

I've had mine on now for 2 seasons (black) and it has worn well.  I thought having it would give the stairs a little more traction with wet feet but it didn't help at all so I added the anti skid which helped immensely.

[patrice]

I did the same last summer but I used black silicone.  I ended up putting strips of non stick tread on them afterwards.  Found when our feet were wet, the stairs got slippery.

I was thinking that if the sillycone was slightly convex (maybe shape a plastic spreader to remove the excess?) it would be more anti-skid?  Wonder how easy/difficult it would be to raise them slightly and still make the finished job look good as ?

Ken K

HI,

Actually this is what I wanted to do at the begining, I used a transparent plastic packaging box that small fruits come in from the grocery store.  I cut a strip and on one side cut a semi round shape in it, thinking to scrap the exess silicone and give it the shape.
The issue was, when scrapping, the angle I was holding the scrapper was varying, making the bead to be wavy.  Not the same level.
If I was to redo, I would make some kind of support with the required angle to hold the scrapper in a fix angle.
Since I already had the silicone applied, I did not had time to play around.