Deck Flooring in Cabin

[Nereussailor]

Are there any boat builders in your area. Maybe you could contact them and see if they either use teak and holly plywood or if they know of a distributor in the area. There has to be something between Norfolk and Charleston. Do a search on yachtworld.com for boat builders or teak and holly plywood in North Carolina. I did a search for places that carried teak lumber on there and found two right in my town. I drive right by one of them everyday on my way home from work.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

No shortcuts here!

Nereussailor, I think Scof25 is referring to the subfloor, not the teak-and-holly plywood. The subfloor won't be repaired by any application of any kind of finished flooring. Scof25's problem sounds like the structural plywood has begun to rot. This is what I meant to warn about in my post, above.

The only true fix for this is to rip out the rotten/rotting/damp/'mangy' subfloor and replace it with a proper, marine-grade, solid-core, epoxy-impregnated structure. Anything less than this will most likely contribute to a repeat appearance of the problem, at some time in future. I did this job on my boat (the rotten subfloor was one reason the PO got rid of the boat). There are pics of some stages of it on my blog.

Nereussailor suggests locating a boatbuilder. I am one, by trade and 42 years' experience, and I contend you won't find a respectable, responsible boatbuilder who will tell you, with certainty, much differently from what I just said. Fortunately, replacing the subfloor is not such a terrible job to do, even for the backyard amateur; but I strongly counsel one to study up on the appropriate methods and materials to use in doing this job. A poorly job here would be akin to painting over rust on a car: the problem's still there, only, for a while, you won't be able to see it.

I'll be happy to help more if you need me.

* * *

 

[Nereussailor]

Yeah John, You're right. I should have posted for my reply to go to Kito. I do see what scof25 is talking about though. Not replacing the subfloor wouldn't accomplish much. It's a lot bigger project than mine was, but mine was really easy. The hardest part was fitting a new access pannel to the bilge. It still fits a little tight, but if things get hairy, I know it won't be flying around the cabin.

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

Oak? --no.

Home depot 3/4" oak ply
3/4" aspen
1/4" router bit
jack plane
circular saw
table saw
can of teak stain
sort through the ply for a piece with straight grain that looks like teak
use the old floor as a template and cut out the new piece.
mark the places for the "holly" matching the old floor
route out 1/4"' groves for the aspen "holly" 1/4 deep
rip the holly 1/4" wide by 3/4" deep
stain the oak plywood avoiding the groves
glue the aspen in the groves, it will stick up 1/2"
after the glue dries hand plane the aspen down to the level just above the plywood
finish with water proof sealer of your choice

The new section is in the sun on the right.

Bill, your work looks impressively well-done; but I'll admit I have concerns about the choice of materials.

Why do so many people believe oak is appropriate for modern boatbuilding? It resists penetrating epoxy, splits, and rots like it was meant to. Warships and merchantment of old lasted 5-7 years before they were declared deathtraps and dismantled or burned. One reason-- they didn't have penetrating epoxy (duh). Modern wooden boats are framed in much more epoxy-sympathetic woods such as koa, lauan, and other semi-softwoods that soak it up like sponges.

I'll refer the intellectually curious to the admonition I made in the earlier post, about the declining market value of boats subjected to unconventional fixes by amateur fixer/owners. Caveat emptor.

* * *

 

[robertsapp]

Apply this:

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|2276179|2276198|2276201&id=1758378

With this:

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|10918|2303278|2303282&id=1034479

 

[DianaOfBurlington]

Robertsapp--

Apply this:

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|2276179|2276198|2276201&id=1758378

With this:

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|10918|2303278|2303282&id=1034479

I confess I sort of like it. So long as the epoxy is a truly watertight bond and applied over the whole area (not just in spots or along the edges!). Use a stuff roller (dry) or a wide squeegee to spread and press it all out. Best would be to apply it to a well-epoxied plywood panel and then attach the panel, such as Nelson attached his.

However I'll keep my preference for real wood any day!

 

[woodster]

where is Clemens is that in south carolina......if so how far are you from Anderson sc......

regards

woody

well i didn't get an answer here so i can't help you.... but would be more than glad to.....if you are close to Anderson SC and willing to drive there to pick up some teak and holly material ...

regards

woody

 

[robertsapp]

I confess I sort of like it. So long as the epoxy is a truly watertight bond and applied over the whole area (not just in spots or along the edges!). Use a stuff roller (dry) or a wide squeegee to spread and press it all out. Best would be to apply it to a well-epoxied plywood panel and then attach the panel, such as Nelson attached his.

However I'll keep my preference for real wood any day!

I'm actually redoing the cabin sole on Eagle right now using Lonseal teak and holly. You apply the epoxy with a notched trowel, and once you roll out the vinyl, you have continuous contact. Even the edges are tight and well-adhered once I trimmed them flush. Truth is it really looks pretty darn good, and shouldn't require any of the future care and maintenance that wood needs. I'll post some pictures when I'm finished in a week or two.

It's not a cheap solution though. For our H336, I think we have about $600 tied up in the job, and that's doing the work ourselves. We'll have some left over though, if anyone's interested in making an offer. I ordered 11 lineal feet from Defender (it comes in a six foot width) and for some reason the nice people there sent me 14 feet. So I'll post the dimensions of what's left when I'm done, but it should be big "L" shaped piece that's about two feet by 14 feet the long way, with the short side being about 3.5 feet by 6 feet.

 

[kito]

well i didn't get an answer here so i can't help you.... but would be more than glad to.....if you are close to Anderson SC and willing to drive there to pick up some teak and holly material ...

regards

woody

Sorry Woodster...didn't see this post. I am in NC around the Winston-Salem area. I think I am going the vinyl teak/holly route. At 6'5", I want the thinnest material possible. Vinyl is only 1/8" thick compared to nearly 3/4" for the plywood. I appreciate your offer though. Thanks

 

[robertsapp]

I ran home at lunch and took a quick pic of what I've done so far. This is about 2/3rds done, I have three more sole sections to do. Not looking too bad, and it will be nice not to have to worry about getting a little water on the sole, because it's vinyl over epoxy. Oh, and no more varnish!

 

[woodster]

Sorry Woodster...didn't see this post. I am in NC around the Winston-Salem area. I think I am going the vinyl teak/holly route. At 6'5", I want the thinnest material possible. Vinyl is only 1/8" thick compared to nearly 3/4" for the plywood. I appreciate your offer though. Thanks

well thats ok ...i can get it in 1/4..1/2..and 3/4 inch thicknesses 4x8 sheets and it the same stuff that hunter uses along with several others ......

regards

woody

 

[KVNJR]

I ran home at lunch and took a quick pic of what I've done so far. This is about 2/3rds done, I have three more sole sections to do. Not looking too bad, and it will be nice not to have to worry about getting a little water on the sole, because it's vinyl over epoxy. Oh, and no more varnish!

Dang Robert, that's looking really good! Did you re-use your existing sole panels or make new? If re-using old, did you have to do any removal of old material so as to not build up additional thickness?
Props on the job!
Ken

 

[Rick D]

What I Did Years Ago

Lonseal didn't have the two part epoxy then, although the regular adhesive product (installed by professional) has held up fine. Here's the link:
http://hunter.sailboatowners.com/in...d=267&cat_id=43&aid=7572&page=article&mn=40.5

 

[robertsapp]

Dang Robert, that's looking really good! Did you re-use your existing sole panels or make new? If re-using old, did you have to do any removal of old material so as to not build up additional thickness?
Props on the job!
Ken

I used the old panels. They were still solid, they were just ugly. The previous owner had stained them a dark walnut color, or maybe even used brown paint, I'm not really sure. They looked terrible though. I took the finish off with a belt sander and then applied the Lonseal. None of the sole panels in a 336 have to slide under any interior cabinets or fixed furniture, so any thickness issue should only consist of the sole standing just a little (maybe 1/16th of an inch or so) proud around the outside edge where the panels set in molded recesses in the floor pan.

 

[H30Gary]

Robert -
Nice! How are the panels reattached to the floor - wood screws and finish washers?
Thanks!
Gary