Fixing Her Up - Upholstered Walls, Cushions, etc

[SailingAgain]

We just acquired a '76 O'Day 25, which is in need of a lot of love. We spent the day cleaning her out and making our list of improvements, and were looking for guidance on two interior items.

The walls look horrible (in the V Berth particularly). Now, I know I could replace the upholstery (or whatever you call it), but I would rather have a clean surface which wouldn't hold dirt, mildew, etc. Has anyone cleaned their walls and painted them? Any perspectives/opinions on tackling that?

Also, I don't think I will be sleeping on the interior cushions as they are. Like I said, this boat needs lots of love so I can't blow my whole budget on cushions/mattresses. I am thinking about using the current cushions as templates, ordering foam and then somehow create new covers. Any good recommendations on foam and where to get it?

Thanks for your input. Cleaning her out brought back memories of our previous O'Day and can't wait to get her ready for next Spring and take the kiddos out to learn sailing!

 

[repawn]

I ordered cushion fabric from sailrite - they also have great videos on how to make cushions. Foam I ordered from here: http://www.foamdistributing.com/HDR_1/hd36-regular-foam.html
The sewing is pretty simple. If you need a sewing machine you should be able to find a decent machine on Craigslist - look for something from the 60s or 70s it will be a bit stronger and likely about $25.00

 

[Brian S]

2 experienced old salts I know paint the interiors of their boats with semigloss ACRYLIC latex enamel. Very specific that it be ACRYLIC latex enamel.

If your 25 has that carpeting looking stuff glued inside, you'll have to remove all of that, and probably sand as best you can to get off the adhesive. The inside of that fiberglass will still be rough and textured, it won't be smooth like topsides gelcoat.

 

[Pat]

Go to the classified 'boats for sale' . There is an O'Day 25 that is one beautiful boat...
great interior....by classified I mean on this website....sailboat owners.com
Pat

 

[ronalddiebel]

Any idea why this particular paint? I would think an epoxy would be the way to go.

 

[SailingAgain]

Thanks!

Thanks for the tips on Sailrite (awesome videos!) and the foam recommendation.
Also, thanks for the paint tip!

Not just to make some decisions and get the sewing machine out

I wish there was an affordable cushion option other than remaking. Got a quote of $2700 + shipping.

 

[SailingAgain]

Any concerns about this foam and exposure to water?

Foam I ordered from here: http://www.foamdistributing.com/HDR_1/hd36-regular-foam.html

 

[Ritdog]

My wife stripped the fuzzy material off the foam on our first 25, and then grape-stomped the foam with some detergent and Febreeze in a kiddy pool, rolled it dry as possible, then let it dry for 3 weeks, checking for moisture, squeezing the bottom edge as needed tdo get the water out. - they came out well! --No smell....The foam is what costs. Then had new covers made for about $400.

I stripped the fabric hull liner off my new one last fall, scraped it down with a putty knife, vacuumed well, then rolled contact cement on both the hull and some Reflectix foam insulation (about 5/16th inch) stuck the foam to the hull, then did the same for white marine vinyl and the foam. Did well.

I started to use 3M 99 trim adhesive, which as been recommended, but the vinyl just peeled off the foam. Waste of time .

Supposedly the aluminum on each side of the foam gives you a HUGE radar reflection, but I have to check that on the water next year.

 

[Brian S]

Regarding the paint - This is interior paint, not exposed to elements. No need to get spendy for epoxy/polyurethane, even 1 part. Also, it's on a rough surface, so you don't need a paint that lays down extra shiny. I think the Acrylic Latex Enamel, because it's easy to work with being water based, no VOCs, and holds up well for interior application.

 

[SailingAgain]

My wife stripped the fuzzy material off the foam on our first 25, and then grape-stomped the foam with some detergent and Febreeze in a kiddy pool, rolled it dry as possible, then let it dry for 3 weeks, checking for moisture, squeezing the bottom edge as needed tdo get the water out. - they came out well! --No smell....The foam is what costs. Then had new covers made for about 400

I thought about trying to clean, but they had been exposed to rain for quite a while. I'm not sure cleaning will be too effective.

 

[Brian S]

You will probably get better results just replacing foam. It's very hard to clean mildew out of all the interior nooks and crannies of open cell polyurethane foam...

 

[Sunbird22358]

We were lucky on out old CAL 21, she came from the factory with the inside of the hull and the underside of the deck painted. The surface was smooth since CAL used a layer of fiberglass cloth for the innnermost layer of the hull layup, O'DAY seems to have used woven-roving (thickly woven glass material) for the inner layer, I know my DS II is that way. To really get the best look you will need to "plaster" the inside of the hull with an epoxy-wipe, basically that is just epoxy resin, thickened with a fairing filler powder and smoothed onto the surface. After it cures it can be sanded smooth and then before painting you will want to wash it with soap and water or a de-waxing solvent to get rid of the epoxy "blush" a waxy residue that forms on hte surface as it cures. Some brands of epoxy resin seem to not get that residue (can't remmeber if it is System3 or MAAS Epoxy?) but WEST-SYSTEM usually does get the residue.
If yo udon't mind the texture of the woven-roving, a good semi-gloss paint (white or off-white is typical) will still look pretty good, I think hte acrylic or latex option is better since it is usually less of a fume problam while painting, still a good idea to run a fan to keep fresher air moving through the cabin while you work, a box fan in the hatch opening helps to draw the fumes and smell out. Many owners have had good luck with one of the special mildew-resistant Bathroom paints for hull interior.

For new cushions for the berths, another option if you don't want to do the work yourself, is a local car/RV upolstery shop. We bought new cushions for our CAL 21 that way, less than 1/2 the cost from a "Marine" cushion place.

Now for a bit of a Nautical lesson: there are no "walls" on a boat, the cabin "dividers" (OK, they act like walls, I guess?) are called Bulkheads, the inside of the hull surface is called the CEILING (old woodenboat lingo) and hte underside of the deck and cabin "roof" is called the OVERHEAD. Hey, we knew what you meant anyway!

 

[Jackdaw]

The walls look horrible (in the V Berth particularly). Now, I know I could replace the upholstery (or whatever you call it), but I would rather have a clean surface which wouldn't hold dirt, mildew, etc. Has anyone cleaned their walls and painted them? Any perspectives/opinions on tackling that?

If you paint, try Interlux Bilgecoat. VERY durable marine interior paint, and covers imperfections.

 

[Technodad]

Hello "Sailing Again"

I have an 81 Oday 23-2, it was really bad inside when I bought it so I decided to redo the interior.
I started by stripping all the wood out of the inside including the bulkheads, this sounds like a huge job but it isnt, everything is held in with screws and it all comes out and back in easily.
Now, hold your breath, I went in with my pressure washer and blasted out all the hull lining that was adhered to the walls and cleaned everything, this worked really well.
I purchased "hull liner" material from "your auto trim store" (see link below).
I got the ivory color and it worked out to be amazing stuff. The material is sort of stretchy without spring back, it forms to all the bumps and corners and is a breeze to apply, I used spray cans of contact cement and sprayed the hull then the material, the just laid it on. It might be better to brush cement on as there was a lot of sticky air inside.
After it was on I trimmed it all up with scissors and a knife.
This hulll liner material is ideal because it has no backing to trap moisture, it has a lovely soft thick feel and looks great.
Here are a couple of pics to see how it looks.
If you need any more info just let me know.

Oh yes, they sent me a free sample of the material.

http://www.yourautotrim.com/huhfa.html





http://www.yourautotrim.com/huhfa.html