A friend has a 43' Bene about 10 years old, the interior finish is peeling off in sections large and small. Worst area is exposed to UV light from companionway hatch but it's peeling in dark places too. It appears to be a thick "plastic" coating used as finish, anyone seen or have any experience on how to address this ?
Beneteau interior wood
- Thread starter Calif. Ted
- Start date
Was a manufacturing defect in the finishing process during that era. When the peeling occurred when the boat was still in the initial warranty phase, Beneteau actually sent techs to the boat and stripped down to bare wood and refinished free of charge. One of the Beneteaus that I frequently chartered had this happen & Beneteau refinished it. Oh course, they will not refinish a ten year old boat, at least not free. Only option is to strip it to bare wood & refinish. So far, I have not seen this defect on mine.
Thanks Big, that confirms my fears, My friend lost her husband last year after a long illness and a group is helping her get the boat back where it should. We'll get an opinion from the local brightwork expert and maybe send Bene a nice letter with this quote from their website and send some pics of their "Nobility and elegance".
Of wood and men
Generations of men and women, with a love of wood and work well done, have succeeded each other at Beneteau’s cabinetmaking workshop, for nearly 40 years. With modernity and rigour they have turned a craft-based organisation into an industrial organisation, while preserving the trade’s nobility and their broad expertise.
Tables and doors, companionway steps and furniture, fiddles and other decorative pieces are formed, stained and polished in the 27,000 m² cabinetmaking workshop, bestowing the interior of each boat with nobility and elegance.
Of wood and men
Generations of men and women, with a love of wood and work well done, have succeeded each other at Beneteau’s cabinetmaking workshop, for nearly 40 years. With modernity and rigour they have turned a craft-based organisation into an industrial organisation, while preserving the trade’s nobility and their broad expertise.
Tables and doors, companionway steps and furniture, fiddles and other decorative pieces are formed, stained and polished in the 27,000 m² cabinetmaking workshop, bestowing the interior of each boat with nobility and elegance.
Starting to see this on my 2004 Bene 323.
The finish begins to “delaminate” along panel edges, or worse in an area where the finish gets nicked. You’re right, the finish literally starts peeling off in sheets that look like clear plastic.
As a stopgap along panel edges I have applied some superglue. That works as a temporary fix but isn’t very pretty. I have a spot on my dinette table that got damaged and began to peel. I did the super glue bandaid, but the entire table leaf is going to have to be stripped and refinished.
The big problem is going to be the cabin partitions and wall panels.
Beneteau published a 7 page document on refinishing. Its an involved process. I have it in my ibooks. send me a private email and I will forward it.
The finish begins to “delaminate” along panel edges, or worse in an area where the finish gets nicked. You’re right, the finish literally starts peeling off in sheets that look like clear plastic.
As a stopgap along panel edges I have applied some superglue. That works as a temporary fix but isn’t very pretty. I have a spot on my dinette table that got damaged and began to peel. I did the super glue bandaid, but the entire table leaf is going to have to be stripped and refinished.
The big problem is going to be the cabin partitions and wall panels.
Beneteau published a 7 page document on refinishing. Its an involved process. I have it in my ibooks. send me a private email and I will forward it.
I posted the Beneteau USA guidance document for interior wood here:
https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Beneteau_411_54720442.pdf
https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Beneteau_411_54720442.pdf
I refinished the companionway ladder last year because it was worn and had a few dings; the sealer was also starting to delaminate from wear and the fact that the steps get wet often. The bottom step above the engine battery box is removable so I refinished it in my garage at home. I used a scraper to remove the top coat of sealer and sanded to get down to bare wood. Use sanding sealer and stained with a mix of Min Wax Sedona Red & English Chestnut to get the desired color. I sprayed it with a few coats of Mohawk lacquer with light sanding between coats. I wasn't pleased with the results, the finish was too rough exhibiting a light orange peel as described in the article that Gunni posted. When I did the remaining stairs onboard, I used MinWax spar urethane spray as a sealer and was pleased with the results. After final coat, I brushed it lightly with fine steel wool and buffed it with Aqua Buff compound. After redoing the companionway ladder, I can appreciate the labor that it will take to redo the entire interior. This job will take a major commitment in time for the DIY or going to cost several thousand to have someone do it. Problem with someone doing the job for you is to find someone who is going to do it correctly and not make a mess of things. Check out "Interior Wood Finish" in the archives for the exact procedure that I used and photos of the results.
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Doug,
At least with the table, you can remove it and do it at home. Needless to say, doing any refinishing onboard makes a real mess. Even with a vacuum assisted random orbital sander, it got messy when I was redoing the companionway ladder. And, more importantly, as you well know, you don't want any dust around when you start spraying the sealer. I would really like to know the exact procedure that Beneteau's people use when they performed the warranty work. On the boat that I chartered many times (2005 Beneteau 331), the interior had to be refinished under warranty; apparently the sealer started delaminating soon after the boat was delivered. Beneteau sent a crew from their facility to do the work at no cost to owners. The results looked great; I would not have noticed it if the owners hadn't told me about it. As I mentioned previously, I haven't noticed any problems with the finish on my boat, yet; however, I have seen photos that others have posted showing entire sheets of sealer that are literally peeling off of bulkheads. If that happens, the only remedy is to refinish.
At least with the table, you can remove it and do it at home. Needless to say, doing any refinishing onboard makes a real mess. Even with a vacuum assisted random orbital sander, it got messy when I was redoing the companionway ladder. And, more importantly, as you well know, you don't want any dust around when you start spraying the sealer. I would really like to know the exact procedure that Beneteau's people use when they performed the warranty work. On the boat that I chartered many times (2005 Beneteau 331), the interior had to be refinished under warranty; apparently the sealer started delaminating soon after the boat was delivered. Beneteau sent a crew from their facility to do the work at no cost to owners. The results looked great; I would not have noticed it if the owners hadn't told me about it. As I mentioned previously, I haven't noticed any problems with the finish on my boat, yet; however, I have seen photos that others have posted showing entire sheets of sealer that are literally peeling off of bulkheads. If that happens, the only remedy is to refinish.
This boat has the full assortment, what first caught my eye was a large sheet that's lifted but there's various size dings. One area that looks like the finish has failed but not lifted.
I knew this wasn't going to be easy, 2 part catalytic lacquer on African Douka wood and some parts can't be removed.
I once took all the wood out of a Catalina to refinish in 30 minutes with a screw gun.
I knew this wasn't going to be easy, 2 part catalytic lacquer on African Douka wood and some parts can't be removed.
I once took all the wood out of a Catalina to refinish in 30 minutes with a screw gun.
If my archive search is correct I think it’s this one - Interior wood finish
Dave, thanks for researching & locating my original post.
I refinished the companionway ladder approximately five years ago. Continuing to hold up well. Not unexpected that the ladder would show signs of wear over time.
Thankfully, the remaining surfaces in the cabin are holding up well, with no signs of delamination.
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We have a 2004 Bene 393 and the warranty work was done on the woodwork before we purchased the boat. What a huge undertaking that would be. As mentioned before, Beneteau sent out crews of workers to perform the refinishing at a huge expense. They only refinished the accessible areas because we have large areas inside hanging lockers and other storage spaces where large sheets either are peeling or have already peeled. The refinished areas are gorgeous and have been trouble free for over 10 years. I hope your friend can get hers back to beautiful.
Beneteau fabricates and stains /finishes interior wood components for every boat (even those previously manufactured in USA) in a highly automated facility in France. Apparently there was a glitch in the automated finishing process; either with the stain/sealer products or the application & drying process that caused the sealer coat to delaminate. Affected boats manufactured around 2004-2005.