Refinishing Beneteau Companionway Ladder

Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Time to refinish my companionway ladder. The steps are made of veneer covered plywood.
I will definitely refinish onboard as its too much trouble to disassemble. I plan to strip the existing coating, sand lightly, stain, and reseal with polyurethane. Finally, new non skid strips will be applied to prevent slips if the step surface is wet. I am really not interested in covering the steps with vinyl.
So, here is my question. What is the best method of stripping the old sealer from the surface of the steps? .
1. Sand--- I have a random orbital sander and can attach a vacuum. I don't want to
get too aggressive because the surface is a thin veneer. Also, want to keep
the dust to a minimum.
2. Heat & Scrape--- I don't have a lot of experience using a heat gun. My concern
is overheating the veneer that might cause cracking or delamination.
3. Chemical Peel--- My concern is that the chemical would penetrate into the veneer
causing delamination.
If the steps were fabricated of solid wood, I would have no concerns whatsoever; however,
because of the plywood veneer, I am somewhat tentative about best method of removing the old sealer. Any thoughts / suggestions?
 
Last edited:

Gunni

.
Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
Unless they are really beat and deeply scarred I believe you are over doing it. The original finish is a tough pre-catalyzed lacquer finish. There is no stain. Pull the anti-skid, mask and sand med down to fine, smoothing the existing finish and then after clean up spray it with Mohawk pre-cat. Buff between coats with fine steel wool.

I redid my companionway steps last year, adding agressive anti-skid to the treads. Too many slip fall incidents by crew on that smooth wood. See here. In preparing the tread surfaces I found I could have made them look new without stripping the entire finish.
 
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Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Thanks Gunni, definitely worth a try to refinish before I strip the entire surface down to the veneer.
The edges will have to be sanded aggressively, because I want to attempt to remove some moderately deep dings. Doesn't really matter on the edges because the plywood laminates are visible and have no veneer banding there. What's the difference between the Mohawk pre-cat and lacquer brushed from a can; Is the Mohawk that much better? Is it better than polyurethane? Finally, I am not sure what type of nonskid you used. I purchased a roll of 1" seafit non skid tape to replace the tape that Beneteau had applied. Definitely need to do this project; I have also busted my butt a few times slipping on the slick wood surface.
 
Jul 19, 2013
384
Pearson 31-2 Boston
I redid our ladder three years ago and used treadmaster pads for nonskid.
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|2276179|2276198|2276203&id=1495827
These have held up very well and look good.

I would think you want to finish with a marine varnish with UV protection, matching whatever finish is in the boat interior. Otherwise all your work may not last very long.

As for stripping, I have been using this stuff http://www.homedepot.com/p/Citristr...and-Varnish-Stripping-Gel-HCG73803T/100141801
and it works very well with no particular downside.
 
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Likes: BigEasy
Jun 8, 2004
2,841
Catalina 320 Dana Point
Also I much prefer synthetic "steel" wool, it's a lot like a plastic 3M pad and doesn't leave a mess of steel particles around. Might be all you need to use on the tread surfaces also.
 

Gunni

.
Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
B.Easy; not sure the difference, just know that the original finish is pre-catalyzed lacquer and it was spray applied, and reacts to a hard finish . As you know it is extremely hard and durable. I used Treadmaster sheet, custom cut to fit the tread surface. I know it is not as pretty as bright-finished wood, but the crew likes the grip and tell me it looks ship-shape.