Ru88ell
Well-Known Member
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Last edited:
Cedar duckboards - leave natural or varnish?
- Thread starter Ru88ell
- Start date
Seajet
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My boat has teak slat cockpit seats; I always used to varnish them to look good but in reality that makes them much more dangerously slippery to stand on; now I let them go grey.
FWB
N/A
+1
Varnish on horizontal surfaces is prone to making them slippery plus they take an age to dry when rained on.
prv
Well-Known Member
Kindred Spirit came with varnished teak slats, but the varnish was lifting in many places so I stripped it all, originally with the intention of oiling the wood or using one of the newer porous stains. Well, the woodstain looked horrible on the small piece I tried (thank goodness I didn't start with the big ones) and by this point I needed to put them back on board and was worried about oil transferring onto clothes, so I left them bare. That worked out fine.
If Russell's were teak I'd say leave natural, but I don't really know about the durability of cedar.
Pete
Gordonmc
Well-Known Member
Varnish is unlikely to take well to cedar. Its a lot oilier then even teak or Iroko.
I once painted a cedar-clad house and had to use aluminium paint as a primer for that reason.
Think about roof shingles on US/Canadian houses which last years.
Apart from which, leaving them to weather naturally will be a lot less repetitive work each season.
I once painted a cedar-clad house and had to use aluminium paint as a primer for that reason.
Think about roof shingles on US/Canadian houses which last years.
Apart from which, leaving them to weather naturally will be a lot less repetitive work each season.
Ru88ell
Well-Known Member
The ones I'm replacing have been around for quite some time. They have had some coating on, but it's worn away and left bare cedar which has gone grey and looks OK. Some stats had split which is why I looked to replace. I've ended up getting all new cedar, and increased the thickness of the slats a little. I'll just leave it weather naturally and see how it plays out.
westhinder
Well-Known Member
My house is partly covered in cedar, and the doors are made of cedar. All left bare, and after 17 years still in perfect order. The only maintenace they get is once a year a wash down with either salt water or a mild detergent and a scotchbrite pad. I would never treat cedar with varnish or paint. I am not certain cedar is the best wood for a place where it gets knocked, as it is very soft, you can easily make dents in it with your fingernail.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Since you gentlemen know about timber, I hope you won't object if I drift the thread a bit...quite a lot actually...
...I need to find something for use as a prop (or 2) to stop the Osprey's rear deck sagging when weight is on it. The last owner cut away the rear cockpit bulkhead, which I'll replace, but it won't help the area c.18" behind the bulkhead. I could cut hardwood rods to size, or maybe GRP some aluminium piping between the keel-line and the flexing deck 15" above.
The deck isn't soft from damp or impact - just unsupported from below. Plus I once had to lean over the transom to haul the rudder up, and the deck above the missing bulkhead cracked like a gunshot. I realise it isn't meant to support human weight just there, but I'd prefer not to have to worry should circumstances require weight to be applied at that spot.
I used iroko for reinforcing a damaged thwart, and so far it's been a good repair. It seems a lot tougher than the shower-curtain tubing too, though much heavier as well.
What would you gents use?
...I need to find something for use as a prop (or 2) to stop the Osprey's rear deck sagging when weight is on it. The last owner cut away the rear cockpit bulkhead, which I'll replace, but it won't help the area c.18" behind the bulkhead. I could cut hardwood rods to size, or maybe GRP some aluminium piping between the keel-line and the flexing deck 15" above.
The deck isn't soft from damp or impact - just unsupported from below. Plus I once had to lean over the transom to haul the rudder up, and the deck above the missing bulkhead cracked like a gunshot. I realise it isn't meant to support human weight just there, but I'd prefer not to have to worry should circumstances require weight to be applied at that spot.
I used iroko for reinforcing a damaged thwart, and so far it's been a good repair. It seems a lot tougher than the shower-curtain tubing too, though much heavier as well.
What would you gents use?