Cabin Sole Plywood

[Wandering Star]

Any thoughts about best place to purchase a single sheet of plywood (marine grade) with a teak/holly surface? I can se Robbins do them but £500+ a sheet I can’t afford to go that route. If that’s the fair market price, any thoughts on a different approach to creating a new cabin sole such as carpet laid on plywood or whatever, at present the sole is completely missing from the boat Ive just acquired and the job is top of the extensive job list.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Don't think it will come out cheaper but plywood ( marine grade then something like Amtico floor covering on the top. Amtico is the premium make but there must be others even standard strip flooring from B&Q.

 

[Poignard]

Any thoughts about best place to purchase a single sheet of plywood (marine grade) with a teak/holly surface? I can se Robbins do them but £500+ a sheet I can’t afford to go that route. If that’s the fair market price, any thoughts on a different approach to creating a new cabin sole such as carpet laid on plywood or whatever, at present the sole is completely missing from the boat Ive just acquired and the job is top of the extensive job list.

What size piece do you need?

I have a few pieces of Robbins Elite and Super-Elite under the bed and one, or more, might be suitable for you.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Steptoe strikes again

 

[Poignard]

Steptoe strikes again

Oi you!

If yer don't want the whelks don't muck 'em abaht!

And get orf me barrow!

 

[Poignard]

Ignore the jibes of that imperfect ablutioner!

If you do as I did [see linkk below], you won't need very large pieces of plywood.

Which socket set?

 

[Poignard]

Incorporated in the previous post for the sake of good order, and naval discipline.

 

[Stemar]

Incorporated in the previous post for the sake of good order, and naval discipline.

Isn't that against the rules here?

 

[Poignard]

Isn't that against the rules here?

Bound to be. If not, a retro-active rule could no doubt be made.

 

[DownWest]

At the request of the owner, I carefully fitted a vinyl floor cover to his cabin sole. All sorts of corners and odd bits to get round.
Delightful guy, boat was called Snotty, and, it was green. Got some comments from Brit sailors, But, his son was a mid shipman, now Lt Cm.

 

[Tranona]

Any thoughts about best place to purchase a single sheet of plywood (marine grade) with a teak/holly surface? I can se Robbins do them but £500+ a sheet I can’t afford to go that route. If that’s the fair market price, any thoughts on a different approach to creating a new cabin sole such as carpet laid on plywood or whatever, at present the sole is completely missing from the boat Ive just acquired and the job is top of the extensive job list.

There isn't a sensible source - even the Robbins is not real teak.

It is however possible to create a similar effect by using normal WBP (12 or 15mm depending on how large the panels are) and gluing on strips of teak veneer like this thewoodveneerhub.co.uk/collections/constructional-wood-veneer/products/teak-constructional-wood-veneer Needs cutting to the desired width and sticking down leaving a 4mm gap for caulking (cream would be good). Photo shows similar laid on the coachroof of my GH. For floorboards would need sanding and sealing with Ronseal floor varnish. Lot of fiddly work but not expensive and looks good.

 

[Minerva]

Can you use some of that faux teak decking roll of EVA foam stuff? Either over ply or potentially some foam core with a few layers of glass on top?

 

[LittleSister]

I am of the view that a fancy wood finish sole is unnecessary. Some basic waterproof (WBP) ply with a different finish will do the job fine and outlast you. Possible finishes include carpet or paint (or anything else you fancy)..

I once purchased a small boat that had carpet laid below. I thought it would be impractical but easily changed. To my surprise it did prove practical and it even stops you tramping moisture or grit through the cabin. It also made the boat cosier than it might otherwise be and reduces noise, but I still thought it wouldn't last long before becoming horrid, but it never did. To the extent that when one part of it was damaged I found an offcut of similar carpet and replaced it, cutting it to shape with a Stanley knife and sealing the edges with IIRC Copydex (dries clear and stops the exposed threads from unravelling).

Two boats later my latest boat also has carpet laid through most of the boat. Again it works fine. Unlike the previous one, which had separate pieces of carpet glued to each of the various sections of the ply sole (which lifted to give access to the bilge, which I used for storage), the latest one has larger sections of carpet - one for the forecabin, one for the saloon - laid loosely over the GRP sole that has a couple of smaller ply panels (access rarely required) in it, and it is held in place by the shape of the bulkheads either side, projecting 'posts' in the doorways, and the mast support post in the centre(which is accommodating by a matching sized circular hole in the carpet and a slit from that hole to one side so the carpet can be fitted in place and removed.

In both the above cases, the carpet was just ordinary cheap short-pile synthetic carpet - nothing special. (I wondered whether the fancy 'kitchen' carpets you can get that are washable etc. might be ideal for a future project, but someone told me that they are quite slippery. I've no experience of them, so don't know whether that is true.)

The boat between those two had a painted ply sole. That boat has a traditional styled interior with lots of varnished teak etc., deep red curtains, and might have been a bit over the top or gloomy with a varnished wooden floor, but the creamy yellow-painted sole set off all that varnished wood a treat, and actually drew specific compliments. The paint lasted very well for many years and miles of cruising, but would have been easily repainted if need be. (Influenced by my experience with the carpet on the previous boat, I added a small non-slip mat at the foot of the companionway steps to catch moisture and grit.)

 

[harvey38]

Any thoughts about best place to purchase a single sheet of plywood (marine grade) with a teak/holly surface? I can se Robbins do them but £500+ a sheet I can’t afford to go that route. If that’s the fair market price, any thoughts on a different approach to creating a new cabin sole such as carpet laid on plywood or whatever, at present the sole is completely missing from the boat Ive just acquired and the job is top of the extensive job list.

Robbins also do a teak and holly 'Plastic veneer', I have four new ply sole panels to replace the Jenja game I currently have with the 12 squares. The ply panels are cut, reinforced with 2x2 on the underside, I just need to bond the 'Veneer' then trim the edges with 6mm, routed Sapele strips to ensure a snug fit.

 

[wonkywinch]

If you're going to glue plastic flooring to the WBP then other makes are available including Karndean and Polyflor. The latter do some interesting marquetry style edging.

I've used both products in my houses, Polyflor a bit cheaper than Karndean.

 

[ducked]

In one of our fami;y-home flats my parents installed artificial grass in the bathroom. Dunno where they got it, but it seemed to be quite quick-drying.

Perhaps on long ocean passages such would relieve a craving for the sight of green fields

Cf the "go and sit under a tree" seasickness cure

 

[Stemar]

Our Snapdragon had a rather manky carpet below when we bought her. I replaced it with carpet tiles, thinking it would be easy to replace a section if it got damaged. I think I replaced 3 tiles over the 18 years we had the boat, but it was getting towards time to replace the lot when we sold her.

 

[alahol2]

We use something very much like this. Doesn't absorb water so pretty much dry all the time.
If it starts to look grubby: take it out, hang it up, power wash, put it back.

 

[Aeolus]

I glued 4x46mm dark hardwood stripwood separated by 4x4mm lime wood strips onto my very scruffy plywood cabin sole. Matt or satin floor varnish. Looks really good and, so far (4 years), has worn well. Plenty of wood that, if in the future I need to sand it, no risk of going through a veneer. Has the added advantage of being easy to apply to a non-flat cabin sole.

Richard Burbidge STW1001 - 10 DHWD STRIPWOOD 4 46 2400 [PK 10] - previously FB178 - Stripwood - 2400mm Dark Hardwood - Mouldings
Lime Strip 4 x 4 x 1000mm

 

[Wandering Star]

Just to say I appreciate all the helpful ideas and aren’t ignoring the thread! I’ve only viewed her once but she’s being delivered to her new home by road on Tuesday when I’ll start work on her and make a decision on which idea for the cabin sole to adopt. At present she doesn’t have a sole at all, I’m going to make a cardboard template for starters. And before comments on the picture, Yes, she’s a doer upper!