Table refinishing / reconditioning

[stevemitchell]

I've noticed my table in the main salon has started looking less than stellar after this last season. It almost looks like heat damage (which it's not) to the varnish or whatever is on it, along with patches that just look weirdly worn.

I'm guessing I need to use some sort of wood or restorer to help bring it back to a consistent surface and then potentially seal it? I'm terrible at wood-related things, hence why I'm posting here.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Bar Top Epoxy is helpful as a final coat. It would be helpful for you to tell us more about your table. Is it laminate or all wood? Any inlays? Does it have fiddles or is it flat? Got any pictures? What kind of wood?

 

[njlarry]

Yes pics would be helpful. Whatever finish you choose, save yourself a lot of time and effort by taking it to a furniture stripping place to remove the old finish. Varnishing is much more fun than sanding.

 

[stevemitchell]

Sorry was looking for pictures today. It is all wood from what I can tell. No inlays in the table, but it folds down, and has some complicated edges. The edges look really good, it's just the central portion of the table that looks rough. That's probably because it's always available and the center section is always available.

There's no way I want to remove it - it's around the mast.
Pictures attached below.

 

[jssailem]

Interesting lighting Steve. Is is practical as well as pretty? I am looking for ways to improve the ambiance in my salon. The ceiling lights are harsh.

 

[njlarry]

Since the mast goes through it, only the center part is worn and it is a different color anyway, I would just sand the top of the center part down to wood and refinish that. It will look a lot better. You can refinish the rest later if it still looks like it needs it.

 

[DougM]

I have the same table on my 323. I'm nowhere near the boat right now, but I thought the section of the tabletop forward of the mast support was removable.
The finish on the tabletop is some sort of a slightly tinted coating that appears to be more of a plastic than a laquer or varnish. My experience is that the finish is starting to separate from the veneer, on one of the leaves, and it comes off in large patches. I really wonder if there is any kind of stripper that will safely remove that finish.
Apparently, this has happened to large areas of the finish on some Beneteaus interiors and is really a factory defect. At this point in history, they do not warranty the repair and its big bucks to have the interior completely refinished. I really don't know if there is a good way to do small areas of repair/refinish with a readily available product.
I'm wondering what I might find on my boat when I get back to it. Its been on the hard since September 2015 due to an illness in the family. The boat is shrink wrapped, but at this point its been through 2 winters and one summer without being opened up.

 

[BigEasy]

Steve,
Check out the archives for a publication as to the sealer & stain that Beneteau recommends. The advisory recommends a pre catalized spray laquor available from Mohawk Industries. Do a forum search for "Beneteau wood refinishing." I believe that Gunni's post 3474 has the Beneteau publication "wood Repair Methodology" that you can print. Regardless if you decide on a polyurethane sealer from a big box store or the Mowhawk sealer, the Beneteau publication has some good reference information. Let us know your results. I plan to start refinishing my companionway ladder treads soon.

 

[stevemitchell]

Interesting lighting Steve. Is is practical as well as pretty? I am looking for ways to improve the ambiance in my salon. The ceiling lights are harsh.

The lighting is very practical. I wrote a bunch on it at https://www.sailbits.com/blog/2016/07/ambient-led-cabin-lights/

I am super picky about the quality and temperature of my light. I even replaced all my overhead halogens (documented here https://www.sailbits.com/blog/2016/04/halogen-light-replacement-cree-leds/) with something that was LED for power savings, less heat, but also a much nicer warm temperature.

The LED strips that you see in that picture are very functional - I can dim them to a ton of different levels, change colors to a red or blue when underway at night, etc. I also have the same setup in the owners cabin which is wonderful to leave on super low at night while at anchor so getting up doesn't require much light adjustment or stumbling around.

Plus they just look really, really nice.

 

[stevemitchell]

Since the mast goes through it, only the center part is worn and it is a different color anyway, I would just sand the top of the center part down to wood and refinish that. It will look a lot better. You can refinish the rest later if it still looks like it needs it.

Thanks but I definitely do not want the middle piece to look totally different - we use the table expanded (I can't find any pics!) a lot, and that would look super weird!

 

[stevemitchell]

I have the same table on my 323. I'm nowhere near the boat right now, but I thought the section of the tabletop forward of the mast support was removable.
The finish on the tabletop is some sort of a slightly tinted coating that appears to be more of a plastic than a laquer or varnish.

Doug - agreed it looks like plastic...

 

[stevemitchell]

Steve,
Check out the archives for a publication as to the sealer & stain that Beneteau recommends. The advisory recommends a pre catalized spray laquor available from Mohawk Industries. Do a forum search for "Beneteau wood refinishing." I believe that Gunni's post 3474 has the Beneteau publication "wood Repair Methodology" that you can print. Regardless if you decide on a polyurethane sealer from a big box store or the Mowhawk sealer, the Beneteau publication has some good reference information. Let us know your results. I plan to start refinishing my companionway ladder treads soon.

Thanks BigEasy - I will take a look around for that info and see what I can do!