my floor boards are in bad shape and i took them off the boat. can I sand them to get out these weird black footprints (PO somehow did that) as well as other nastiess and then revarnished. on the advice of someone, i bought Rustoleum Spar vanish, only to read the can just now to read that it was exterior only (opps). also, there is black mold on the bottom of the board that was by the head, what do i use, besides just sanding, to kill that off and is there any reason not to put the polyurathane on the underside of the boards as well?
Yes will need to sand. And kill mildew/mold with a bit of diluted bleech. RE: standing: be careful on how aggressive you get, as they are just thin veneer over plywood. If they are pretty far gone (but verneer is still good enough to refinish)--and you want to get an even color--I would use paint stripper to remove all of the old finish, restain them to color desired or leave "natural". Then recoat with 5 (+/-) coats of urethane or marine varnish. Nothing wrong with using an "exterior" varnish on interior. It is actually preferred, as it wears better. I like to use Epifanes wood finish matte. It can be recoated within 72 hrs without sanding between coats. Also, Yes, put a couple of coats on the underside and edges too, to preserve against moisture.
Recommend a heat gun , gloves and a cabinet makers scraper used vertically , heat up the old stuff till it bubbles and scrape off old top coat and lightly sand , and use the sealer for the under side of floor boards several coats . Let cure 100% and flip over to top side and start your process good luck.
I redid mine last winter. I used both the heat gun method of stripping and the "green" stripper you can get at the hardware store. I would not use the green stripper. It requires you to wash the stuff off with water.
The result is the holly swells up higher than the teak and now the panel is not flat. i could not sand or scrape enough to get the raised holly level with the teak without ruining everything. So it is what it is.
The heat gun scraper method was better...BUT if you stop moving with that hot scraper even for a second you will leave a mark in the wood that you cannot sand out.
I killed mold on the undersides and sealed the panels all the way around. Boy did mine stink on the bottom side. Sealing for that reason alone was enough for me. I used Minwax polyurethane for floors. 6 to seven coats wet sanded with 400 between coats. Turned out awesome. I also followed advice to fill dents and defects with epoxy. Bad Idea. It will not sand and it will be darker than everything else. Better off to fill with the urethane.
If inexperienced, stay away from heat gun. Fraught with danger on veneer. If finish needs to be removed ise regular "strong" chemical paint stripper (wear gloves) and use bronze wool or chore girl pad and gentle careful use of paint scraper watch out not to gouge.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10826951@N04/15630825311/in/photostream/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/10826951@N04/15634336642/
that is how they look. i will try spraying with bleach and water, drying in the sun and then sanding, sealing all sides. and no heat gun!
We did ours a few years ago with chemical stripper, no heat gun and little if any sanding. Also used minwax urethane. I agree, heat guns are for the pros.
I redid these in my garage 3-months ago. They were no where near as bad as yours however... Just sanding and 6 coats of matte wood finish turned out well. There was some sun faded color changed spots but I did not want to bother taking the base finish off to even out the color. It's a 1990 boat and has years of lovely "character" to show for itself! 8)
wow! they look great! Stu, what kind of stripper did you use?
Carefully examine the edge of the plywood to learn the thicknesses of the top veneer before sanding.
Be careful, it is very thin and it is easy to make a mess of things.
Guys : Stripper maybe OK, just be careful that it doesn't dissolve the glue that holds the vainer to the plywood!!
A thought
i think i'm going to sand , with a much higher grit than i thought, and use a bleach mix. and put poly on both sides. thanks all
Quote from: anaisdog on October 27, 2014, 06:03:17 AM
i think i'm going to sand , with a much higher grit than i thought, and use a bleach mix. and put poly on both sides. thanks all
Suggest sealing the bottom side against moisture using the West Systems with clear hardener. I do that on the backside of teak access doors or anywhere else I need protect or make it easy to clean and isn't subject to UV. Much quicker than waiting for multiple coats of varnish to dry.
Ken k
like the 150 epoxy, Ken?
Quote from: anaisdog on October 27, 2014, 11:13:39 AM
like the 150 epoxy, Ken?
Actually I like Maas resin better, but that doesn't matter -- just the clear West 207 hardener instead of the stuff that's dark.
Or Mas resin with medium hardener, which is also clear.
FYI, you can use west hardeners with Mas resin at the same ratio you would use with west resin. The hardener determines the ratio, not the resin.
If they were real bad (deteriorating, not stained) you could use the low-viscosity mas penetrating epoxy.
Ken
P.S. - the 207 hardener is also blush-free, as are all the Mas hardeners.
thanks Noah, et al. Do I hand sand, with a block, or can I use a random orbital sander? thanks
anias : Do NOT use an orbital sander.
Use a finishing sander ONLY!!!!! And use it lengthwise - not across grain!!
then by hand with a sanding block should be more than gentle, esp since I'z a girl.
anias : Even girls can use a finishing sander, just use a fine (120- 140) grit paper and don't press down hard while sanding!!
A thought
even girls can single hand :-) i don't have a finish sander so i'll use a block.
Quote from: Ron Hill on October 27, 2014, 02:45:46 PM
anias : Do NOT use an orbital sander.
Use a finishing sander ONLY!!!!! And use it lengthwise - not across grain!!
Even finish sanders can be orbital -- yah have to know whether it is, or is in-line movement.
I had an old B&G 1/2 sheet sander that was both, flip the lever from orbital to in-line.
Ken
Any recommendations on how to fill a divot, dimple or gouge before you refinish?
the advice i got last night was just to add more vanish
It's hard to find an exact match with any wood putty off the shelf. What I've tried in the past with woodworking projects is to collect the sanding dust from the piece you are working on. Mix the dust with some Elmer's wood glue to make your own putty. Use that to fill in the scrapes and gouges. That might be your closest match, since you are using the same wood to make the putty.
that's a really good idea! i have bits of wood, from around the screw holes, which chipped out. i'll glue that back down
Quote from: anaisdog on October 30, 2014, 05:35:50 AM
that's a really good idea! i have bits of wood, from around the screw holes, which chipped out. i'll glue that back down
This is not seeing the extent or the severity of the gouges..... so take it with a shake of salt.
If you've done any wood finishing (varnish, staining) where wood glue has dripped onto the surface, you cannot match, even a bad match, of the virgin wood fibers. If you want it to look anywhere near the original, an option is replace the missing veneer.
You can buy teak veneer -- trim out the bad spot (presume it's an inch or two long?) using a metal straight edge and x-acto knife or razor knife, and sharp, thin wood chisel. Trim the teak veneer and glue or epoxy into place, sand to blend with the surrounding.
Alternately, carefully sand the gouge to remove sharp edges and splinters, and fill with clear epoxy (per previous post).
Then varnish with the remainder of the floor.
Ken
Noah, what grade of sandpaper did you use? thanks
It all depends on how much finish and/or wood you want/need to remove. Depending how much veneer has been removed already over the years, what is left could be very thin, so be careful. Mine was basically in good shape, so I treated it as a straight forward varnish recoat project: 220 grit, then 320 grit. For the sole I used Epinfanes Wood Finish matte, which does not require sanding between coats if applied within 72 hours between coats; a labor saver. I would apply at least 5 coats. It also comes in gloss as well.
i will then, but not starting until the spring. i have been warned that the varnish will not dry well enough, with the michigan cold coming up and i really should get the leaks fixed before i open the floors up. thanks
becki,
I thought you had said you previously removed the offending boards? If practical, best to do the work and varnishing at home -- under controllable conditions for finishing and lots of time over the winter. Check for any rot/weakness/delamination, repair if there is any minor -- and get rid of the mold and sand/seal the underneath and all edges before reinstalling.
What's the benefit of waiting to remove them before fixing leaks? if there's leaks and the sole is left in place, there's more of a chance of rotting them with condensation from below. Been there - had an entire sole on the race boat that had to be replaced this year because of rot to the plywood from dampness due to leaks (over many years) migrating to and sitting below the sole. $5k job to the owner.
-kk
I did remove them but then realized I don't have the space to work on them at the house/garage.