I purchased a 1980 Hunter 30 this past fall. Am very excited about it and am anxious to get on board and start some projects. It has been bitter cold up here so I have not been able to do much on her yet as she is in a yard about an hour from me.... One of the first project I need to do is a very thorough cleaning, inside and out. She was on the hard for the past 2+ years due to illness with the PO. During that time there was approximately a 3 month period when she had about 8 inches of rain water just sitting in the cabin. Fortunately she was tilted towards the stern so the water was mainly covering the main part of the cabin floor and did not really get up to the wood under the benches. However, I do need to replace the plywood that the stairs are attached to that serves as the removable front for the engine. The big issue is that the teak and holly floor is very dark where the water was covering it. I am considering replacing it completely, but would like to try to clean it first and see if it will be "liveable" at least for this first season that I will be enjoying the boat. Anyone have any suggestions as to the best method for cleaning a cabin floor? Any specific cleaning substances that anyone has found works best?
Cleaning cabin floor
- Thread starter Don Greenglass
- Start date
Don, where the teak and holly is water stained, I think you're going to have to refinish it. The veneer is only about 1/16" thick so you have to be really careful with it and don't sand it too much. The wood will probably have to be bleached with a mild oxalic acid solution where it's water stained. Then you neutralize it with borox and hot water before refinishing with a good marine wood finish.
Do you know where I could get Orange Oil? Lowes? Is there a brand name for it? If I can avoid replacing or even refinishing the floor for a bit, that would be great....
Although I do dream about that Plasteak product and would love to put that down in a lighter color. It would certainly go far to brightening up the cabin... I suspect it might be a bigger project than I would want to tackle this spring....
Thanks for your help guys... much appreciated.
Although I do dream about that Plasteak product and would love to put that down in a lighter color. It would certainly go far to brightening up the cabin... I suspect it might be a bigger project than I would want to tackle this spring....
Thanks for your help guys... much appreciated.
Does the Plasteak still only come in 6 foot widths?. I have a H30 project boat I would love to use that on but having only 6 foot width is expensive and wasteful.....for a 3' wide cabin sole anyway.
Don, unless the veneer is rotted it does not have to be replaced. If it is water stained there is no cleaner that will renew it. That I can guarantee. You have to get it down to the bare wood and start over. Just be careful and don't take a belt sander to it. It's a lot of work sanding off the original finish but that top layer of veneer is pretty thin and you don't want to sand through it. So that means doing it by hand or with an orbital sander with 320. And once you can see that the finish is off it switch to hand sanding. The stain will still be there (wood will be darker where it's stained) but that can be removed by bleaching.
Refinishing is lots of work, very little money. Replacing is lots of work, lots of money.
I just got done refinishing all the teak in and on our H22 (photo included below). I spent 3 days JUST on the cockpit table to get it to look like new again. But the total cost of refurbishing that table was less than 10 bucks in materials. At one point in the boat's life the cockpit drains had gotten plugged with leaves and the end of the table, about 1/4 of the way up got stained dark from being in water (the table folds down against the rear of the cockpit). You can't tell it after I got done with it.
Refinishing is lots of work, very little money. Replacing is lots of work, lots of money.
I just got done refinishing all the teak in and on our H22 (photo included below). I spent 3 days JUST on the cockpit table to get it to look like new again. But the total cost of refurbishing that table was less than 10 bucks in materials. At one point in the boat's life the cockpit drains had gotten plugged with leaves and the end of the table, about 1/4 of the way up got stained dark from being in water (the table folds down against the rear of the cockpit). You can't tell it after I got done with it.
Kristin.... It looks terrific.... Not sure I would have the patience to do that, but to have that sort of results would be worth it... Once I get back on the boat I will look at it closer and try to determine just how much work will be involved.... Am holding off on the Plasteak partially because of costs as I am not sure what other, perhaps more pressing, projects might arise in the Spring, seeing as she has been out of the water for some time.... Thanks for the picture... Would love to see the floor of the cabin if you have one...
This is one source of Orange Oil. It is local here. They will ship sampler pints.
http://www.citrusdepot.net/shop/orange-oil/
http://www.citrusdepot.net/shop/orange-oil/
I bought my H30 in the same condition as yours except for the fact that mine sat level and all the wood 6 inches up needed to be redone. It took me a whole winter to redo everything. Most of it cleaned up really good except the floor. I ended up getting a sheet of plywood that was teak and holly veneer and replacing it. At the time, the price wasn't bad. (I want to say about $150 a sheet) I really could have used more than one sheet, but didn't want to spend the money for two, and I only needed a small piece for the area in front on the head. One sheet covered it, but I had to run the stripes the opposite direction in the head area. I don't even notice it but I'm sure others would. If It stops raining here tomorrow, I'll see if I can get some pics.
The rest of the teak was cleaned with a teak cleaner that I picked up at WM. It is probably a marine version ($$) of what KristinKaye mentioned.
The rest of the teak was cleaned with a teak cleaner that I picked up at WM. It is probably a marine version ($$) of what KristinKaye mentioned.
The so-called teak cleaner is simply a mild oxalic acid solution (like Bar Keeper's Friend). It is the active ingredient in every marine high dollar teak cleaner I have seen. You should neutralize it though after you bleach it with oxalic acid to prevent the acid from eating into the wood fibers too deep, and borax powder in hot water works good for that.
Check on Mohawk site thay have restoration stuff for wood.I'm in process of changing veneer in galley and countertop with corian. Hope everything will be ok.I strip old veneer teak and want to replace with cherry like on hunters after 2007.I don't have wood floor my boat is hunter 30 1979.
I read for some product removing black and water white marks from wood I will try to find and let you know.
I can't take credit for the idea Don, we have a Cat 30 that sat neglected and full of water for many years. There is a distinct water line high on the cabinetry that serves as hommage to it's past. In all seriousness sometimes history is best not forgotten, and the world doesn't need to be "perfect" though we may wish it to be. Sometimes it is ok to have a "pimple on the end of your nose"
I am refinishing my 88 Hunter 30 floor right now/this winter. I did not sand them down, I used a heat gun and scrapped the old varnish off, then very lightly sanded and cleaned with de-natured alcohol. Then applied about 4 coats of Sikkens (which does not require re-sanding after each coat), then a single coat of Epifanes clear varnish (1 can of each should do you). Using the heat gun takes a while, as it heats the varnish and loosen/melts it enough to scrape off, its not like melting butter, but it does come off. Check out You Tube for different methods on how to refinish your floor. The Pics are a few of my before/after shots. My boards are still in my house waiting for spring before I install them for good. Hope this helps.
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They look terrific KB.... Inspires me to try that on mine.....
However, I was on the boat this weekend.... A tad bit cold and getting colder each day, as it is 6 degrees outside my house right now. One of the floors boards on the starboard side near the galley appeared to be rotted through. Was too chilly to spend time really examining it thoroughly, plus I wanted to get back home in time for the football games.... But seeing that rot, I am not sure I will try to bring it back up to snuff or just go ahead with the plasteak. Am going to wait for warmer weather or until I have enough time between travels to spend more than an hour on board and do a thorough inspection....
I thank you all for your imput. This site is terrific and all of your thoughts and suggestions have been very helpful.
However, I was on the boat this weekend.... A tad bit cold and getting colder each day, as it is 6 degrees outside my house right now. One of the floors boards on the starboard side near the galley appeared to be rotted through. Was too chilly to spend time really examining it thoroughly, plus I wanted to get back home in time for the football games.... But seeing that rot, I am not sure I will try to bring it back up to snuff or just go ahead with the plasteak. Am going to wait for warmer weather or until I have enough time between travels to spend more than an hour on board and do a thorough inspection....
I thank you all for your imput. This site is terrific and all of your thoughts and suggestions have been very helpful.