teak and holly sole

[patrick e. boole]

if anyone has sucessfully put down a teak and holly sole in their cabin with the teak and holly plywood please let me know your results and what kind of adhesive and techinques you employed. my wife will not truly love this boat unless i put down this new floor. my email is polox@aol.com. thanks the rug just doesn't cut it.

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina]

I'm no carpenter

Gimme a piece of wood & I can refinish it like nobody's business but carpentry is definitely not my forte. I've seen the process done before, though, & it didn't look too easy to me! Getting that plywood shaped correctly to form along the curve of the sole is going to be a chore, not to mention cutting juuuuust right so it fits properly - ugh! My dad installed teak & holly when they built their boat (from a bare hull) and it was a source of frustration for him a couple of times (and he's built houses for years!).Sorry, I can't be of more help, Patrick. Hopefully someone else will have a good suggestion.LaDonna

 

[Bob Camarena]

Can be done, but..

The existing sole is full of compound curves which plywood won't bend to fit. You will probably have to do some shimming to simplify the shape, which means that you'll lose more headroom than just the thickness of the plywood. If you're close to 6' tall or more this could be a problem. They're pretty, but in my opinion, teak and holly soles are one more thing to scratch and re-finish, especially if you sail where sandy feet are common. Check out the Catalina 30 International Association's Mainsheet index, there was a Tech Talk article on this a while back. There's a link to the Association's web site in this web site.

 

[Brad Elbein]

Teak & Holly Sole

The previous owner of my boat put one down, and I hate it. It looks pretty enough--except for the places where there are compound curves in three dimensions and he didn't do it quite right and there is water staining. I'd prefer the carpet, personally, for two reasons: first, you can take carpet out and clean it. Second, carpet is not slippery, and wood is. Getting into the v-berth is very tricky because of that curve along the hull just opposite the head.

 

[Ron Betso]

Teak & Holly Sole

I installed a teak & holly sole in my 1987 Catalina 30. I used 1/4" teak & holly plywood you need two 4X8 sheets to do the job. The 1/4" is plyable enough to make the required compound curves. I used construction cement and scews to fasten it to the sole. My one mistake was not sealing the underside of the plywood where there are some water stains. otherwise it was pretty easy to enstall and looks like original factory flooring.