Salon tabletop peeling clearcoat

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
I know there have been posts about interior finish before, but wondered if anyone had a magical fix...
I have a spot on one leaf of the salon table about the size of a beer can ring where the clear coating has begun to peel. The problem is that the delamination, if you want to call it that, is beginning to migrate. The immediate question is how to stop that, or if all of it is stripped off, what has anyone done to refinish? the coating itself almost looks like it was a clear laminate of some kind rather than a varnish or lacquer.

I wish I had seen the problem before last winter layup so that I could have worked on it over the winter. Right now,I'm thinking in terms of a temporary stopgap solution.
At boat age ten, I doubt that Beneteau is going to warranty the interior finish...
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Doug, you don't have a boat issue, you have a wood issue. Strip the top of the table and refinish it. Only thing to do. I am not a woodworker, I usually mess up anything I do related to wood (but I'm a good electrician and mechanic, though!!! :)). So I can't help with that, but I've had good experience with urethane coatings, just have to find one hard enough for a tabletop. I'm sure some other skippers here will have good advice. Good luck.
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
You are right, it is some kind of two-part coating, very thick. I stripped mine a few years ago with a sander and applied MAS low viscosity epoxy. It applies like varnish.
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
as Stu said... strip it and do it right.

someone may have used polyester resin on it... and polyester resin is not waterproof and will allow moisture into it, and then it will delaminate from the wood....

a urethane finish will be easy and durable, but also as Gunni did, an undercoat of epoxy will seal the wood as epoxy is waterproof, but it should have a couple top coats of something else to increase the UV resistance.
bar top epoxy is clear and will remain crystal clear for years when its not subject to sunlight, as opposed to regular epoxies that will yellow within a few months, and quicker depending on how much uv rays get to it...

on most of the wood I repair/refinish, I will strip it to bare wood, give it one hand rubbed coat of epoxy (with rubber gloves on), and let it set 24hrs... then i will wash it with soap and water... then I use a scotch brite pad to knock any raised grain down, and give it a few coats with either a varathane product or epifanes, which is my spar varnish of choice...

the epoxy seals the wood and adheres to it better than any other product and creates a hard base to help prevent dings, dents and deep scratches into the wood itself.... the washing removes a blush residue and the sanding with the scotchbrite pad knocks down the grain so the top coats can stick and have a smooth glossy finish.... the top coats give long term UV protection.

the single coat of epoxy will not noticeably yellow, but will seal the wood.
but left uncoated without adaquate topcoats of an appropriate product, the uv rays will degrade the epoxy and cause it to sun rot and so you will lose any sealing effect that it could otherwise give.

this finish can last for years without any further maintenance.... and very unlikely that it will ever experience the delamination like you have now.
 

arf145

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Nov 4, 2010
484
Beneteau 331 Deale, MD
One thing you'll need to watch for is that Bene has (mostly I think) used a stained varnish, so stripping will require some staining along with the new coating.
 

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
There is no stain in the Beneteau factory catalyzed finish. However, minwax 'golden oak' will match the finish color.
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Doug,
As you know, there are multiple ways to finish, with a variety of products.
I don't know if you have seen Beneteau's publication entitled "Wood Repair Techniques". It has several recommended products and sources. If I had to refinish my table, I would lean to a polyurethane finish because of its hardness. I plan to refinish my companionway ladder at some point and will likely use poly. I am not familiar with the catalyzed epoxy finishes. I would bet that would be good also as long as you take the necessary safety precautions of using proper respirators & good ventilation.
Hope this link to Beneteau's publication helps.
http://www.intersessions.com/411/WoodRepairTechniques2003.htm