Decking.

[glynsue]

Advice please, the first mate wants a non slip varnished floor in the cabin,
whats the thoughts please.
This is for our Buchanan 24ft Motor Sailer

 

[Rappey]

Thoughts on whether to have a varnished floor or thoughts on what flooring to use ?

 

[glynsue]

I did not put this well.
Is a varnished floor a good idea?
What non slip varnishes have been used successfully?
Floor is currently 12mm Marine ply painted bilge grey
which is quite depressing

 

[Tranona]

Yes. Use a domestic floor varnish which is non slip. However plain ply may not be attractive and the common teak striped ply has become hideously expensive even if you can find it.

 

[glynsue]

as the existing floor is in sections which are quite easy to manage
I will try a section, I have used a staining technique seen on repair shop
for the engine housing so I will post pics later

 

[DJA]

as the existing floor is in sections which are quite easy to manage
I will try a section, I have used a staining technique seen on repair shop
for the engine housing so I will post pics later

I had the same problem, grey painted ply floor. I stripped back the paint and ran a router along at 100mm centres to give the impression of a tongue and groove floor then varnished in oil based varnish with added International antislip granules, fine silica I think. Worked well and looks good

 

[DJA]

Found a photo showing the floor

 

[glynsue]

I had the same problem, grey painted ply floor. I stripped back the paint and ran a router along at 100mm centres to give the impression of a tongue and groove floor then varnished in oil based varnish with added International antislip granules, fine silica I think. Worked well and looks good

That looks a very sensible answer, one to ponder, thanks

 

[glynsue]

s hints please,
what thicknesses are needed
1, for the decking in the cockpit
2, for the cabin roof
3, for the fore deck, which has a curve
regards
Glyn
Buchanan 24 called Skye

 

[Tranona]

Are you talking about replacing the wooden decking?

 

[glynsue]

Excuse me I wrote this out badly,
the cockpit sole is currently badly fitting odd sheets of marine ply
which does not allow easy access to fuel shut offs etc.
and its all painted bilge grey. I would like to know the recommended
thicknesses of marine ply
The plan this winter is start the updating with the cockpit.
Later if the budget allows we will seek to replace the
cabin flooring.
In the future we will want to , if needed, replace the cabin
roof and the foredeck.
I asked sutch a general question so I can establish a budget

 

[Tranona]

OK. The actual thickness you use depends on the level of support from the bearers or beams. The norm for flat floors would be 12 or 15mm ply, the latter probably if they are lifting rather than glassed in or permanently glued down. Deck and coachroof present problems. First it is not a trivial job to remove old decking and then replace - I am doing this just now (or rather supervising somebody else doing the hard work) and we are only doing it to cure localised rot. Fortunately the deck on my boat is fairly flat and has close spaced beams so not a lot of bending required so is 9mm single skin with epoxy glass sheathing. The coachroof is different because it has a fair amount of camber so is from what we can see in the one repair carried out so far 2*6mm ply also sheathed. It would be impossible to bend 12mm in one go, but the spans are greater than the deck so 9mm which might be persuaded is not thick enough.

Although good quality ply is expensive it is the labour, either your own or paying for it that is the killer. On my previous wooden boat which was a similar design by the same builder the decks and coachroof were not sheathed and there was quite a lot of localised rot which I repaired in a piecemeal fashion using a variety of epoxy based techniques with success in that over the 30 years I had the boat only 2 areas needed further remedial action.

 

[glynsue]

Yet again , thankyou.
I will check all the areas for local rot and as you hinted epoxy
the offending areas.
Currently all the flat floor is liftable, so I will
budget 15 mm .
We are opting (I am told) for a varnished finish so would
Bilge paint be ok to seal the reverse sides .
I am going to spray the Varnish at my workshop after
cutting and sanding and I am going to use
Factory floor varnish, does this need any additional
grip?

 

[Tranona]

International Danboline fine for underneath and end grain. domestic and commercial floor varnishes are usually sufficiently non slip without additives. Try a sample panel first.

Alternatively consider overlaying with 1.5mm structural teak veneer strips stuck down with an adhesive sealant like CT1 and payed seams with Sika 290, particularly for the cockpit. available from here thewoodveneerhub.co.uk/collections/constructional-wood-veneer/products/teak-constructional-wood-veneer

First photo shows the cockpit and aft deck of my old boat. The two floor panels are 12mm overlaid with 4mm teak faced ply and the seats are 1.5mm in this case laid on epoxy. The teak decking was nominally 4mm teak strips laid on Saba. The cockpit was done in 1996 and the deck in 2014. Photo taken in 2019. Good looks maintained by a cockpit cover when the boat was not being used and an overall cover in the winter.

Second photo shows 1.5mm strips laid on CT1 on the coachroof of my current boat last year

Hope you find this useful

 

[glynsue]

With your attention to detail I have been able to show and explain
to my wife what we are trying to achieve and the effect the options
will have on the budget