How easy to sort this water damage on wood?

[davethedog]

Hi all,

Been. looking at a possible next boat and it is a 1988 vintage blue water vessel and had a look around today a bit closer and saw some water damage to the woodwork. So, the question is how easy to repair this and make it look good?

Thanks and we like the boat but aware it needs a fair bot of work!

DTD

 

[Wing Mark]

That would probably look a lot better, but not perfect, with a strip, maybe stain, and re-varnish.
The worst bit you could cut in a bit of veneer?
Or you could paint it, cover with vinyl, fabric or whatever.
Main thing is to be sure it won't happen again?
And that the wood is still sound.

 

[Tranona]

Very labour intensive. If you are certain the leaking window has been fixed then strip the coating off with a chemical stripper (or maybe a hot air gun and scraper) - you may need to experiment to find out what is effective. Then clean any staining with bleach or if severe oxalid acid, lightly sand and refinish. Sounds simple if tedious but almost certainly the veneer in the damaged area will then be a different colour and you will need to find ways of colouring with stain to get the whole panel the same. You will probably have to experiment with different coatings to find one that blends with the rest of the boat. I have done quite bit of this sort of thing in the past with varying success. Particularly difficult when the original builder has gone to lengths to match veneers and finishes. Sods law means water damage is in highly visible places such as this where they hit you in the face, so any less than perfect repair might actually look worse than the damage!

That is obviously an old boat judging by the last century Sailor radio and this sort of damage is not unusual given the poorly sealed windows that were common (and probably still are on some boats) and has been left like that because previous owner(s) have bottled out of doing the job! The best way of doing it is to take all the windows out and strip the whole panels back to bare wood and start again - or even replace the ply with new. Well worth looking at some of Concerto's posts with his videos and presentations on how he has done similar things on his Fulmar.

 

[lustyd]

the leaking window has been fixed

Seems as likely to be condensation on old alu windows given it's along the whole length so may never have been a leak, just years of moisture with no maintenance on the wood.
My mind goes in two directions here. 1 - it looks sound and sailable so buy it and sail. 2 - it needs some love so strip back, maybe remove the window and get it nice. The chosen direction depends on budget and desire to get out on the water.

 

[davethedog]

Thanks all as the owner, that we know well, says it is not a leak but from condensation and the boat is a 1988 northwind 47.

 

[Concerto]

Very labour intensive. If you are certain the leaking window has been fixed then strip the coating off with a chemical stripper (or maybe a hot air gun and scraper) - you may need to experiment to find out what is effective. Then clean any staining with bleach or if severe oxalid acid, lightly sand and refinish. Sounds simple if tedious but almost certainly the veneer in the damaged area will then be a different colour and you will need to find ways of colouring with stain to get the whole panel the same. You will probably have to experiment with different coatings to find one that blends with the rest of the boat. I have done quite bit of this sort of thing in the past with varying success. Particularly difficult when the original builder has gone to lengths to match veneers and finishes. Sods law means water damage is in highly visible places such as this where they hit you in the face, so any less than perfect repair might actually look worse than the damage!

That is obviously an old boat judging by the last century Sailor radio and this sort of damage is not unusual given the poorly sealed windows that were common (and probably still are on some boats) and has been left like that because previous owner(s) have bottled out of doing the job! The best way of doing it is to take all the windows out and strip the whole panels back to bare wood and start again - or even replace the ply with new. Well worth looking at some of Concerto's posts with his videos and presentations on how he has done similar things on his Fulmar.

I hear my name mentioned again.

The prceedure described is just about right. Remove the windows and seal them properly first. Make sure all existing finish is removed. I nor prefer a chisel with a back edge. I achieve this using a small diamond grinding machine. Then sand with the grain using 180 grade paper. Check for any finish with water to see if absorbed. Areas with finish will not take up any water. Use the cheapest supermarket bleach as this will have no colouring or perfumed added. Start using a solution of 6 parts water to one of bleach. This will be fairly slow process, but might need increasing to 3 to 1. Only leave for about an hour befoe washing off with clean water, bottled water is great for this.

This PowerPoint presntation is worth looking at. https://wiki.westerly-owners.co.uk/images/2/25/Interior_Woodwork_Concerto_PowerPoint.pdf
To see the almost complete result then watch this short video.

 

[Daydream believer]

Clean & abrade it. Mask the height between windows so you have a horizontal band round the cabin & paint it white. Bit like a "go faster strip". Will lighten the area a little as well
Edit
I see #2 suggested similar. If the staining is from condensation etc it will be easy to re paint whereas re varnishing may never be correct. With all due respect, the fact that you have asked, suggests that it is not one of your greatest skills so may never be right, unless you spend hours working on it. Being on a boat there are probably lots of other tasks that could better use your time.

 

[ashtead]

It might be an interesting project for others to learn about if you have the time . I assume you are based somewhere warmer than say Concerto so the absence of windows and working outside etc while doing repairs might make the time pass more quickly - if you plan to live aboard and are retired it might be achievable based on comments if any required materials can be sourced. Maybe draw up a list of items needed first to cost the job and ignore the time factor though as otherwise you might not ever do it ? A north wind 47 sounds like a boat worth investing the time in but guess it depends on what else is needed?

 

[davethedog]

Thanks all as it is here in Gran Canaria so the weather not really an issue and now just waiting to see how much they want for the boat as needs some work to the GRP as well but has a good spec list and been around the world with the current owners, so we will see!

All comes down to how much they want for her!

 

[Skylark]

All comes down to how much they want for her!

Bearing in mind that I have both feet firmly planted in the AWB camp, I’d say that a bit of condensation damage is pretty trivial if the rest of the boat passes muster. A Northwind 47 looks like a fine vessel, well worthy of investing your time in.

 

[[2574]]

I owned a Nauticat which has a very similar window/interior liner configuration. I agree with the former owner saying that it is not leaking windows but condensation damage. In fact I believe that the damage arises from the outboard side of the teak faced veneer liner with moisture passing through the ply and causing the visible damage via the back of the veneer. This I think arises because because cabin heat transfers through the ply liner and meets cold air from the outer GRP pilot house/window frames structure causing unseen condensation on the outboard of the liner surface. At least that’s how it arose on our Nauticat. I took a cover it up approach by overlining with teak veneer.

bu the way, I replaced all of the pilot house windows on our Nauticat and it was a surprisingly easy job, they are not sealed with mastic but simply sealed using rubber compression seals in the aluminium frames. So removing those windows to work on the problem would hopefully be straightforward.

 

[harvey38]

Thanks all as the owner, that we know well, says it is not a leak but from condensation and the boat is a 1988 northwind 47.

The vinyl on our ply linings had discoloured so ended up removing the windows to release the linings, they were rotten in places so new ply and vinyl. The timber on the aft of the saloon had been chopped and badly discoloured so easier to cut a ply sheet, cover with the same vinyl, fit it them fit a new door frame. A big job but well worth the effort.

 

[howardclark]

I’m presuming it is ply - it will be almost impossible to get anything like the original finish back. I think you would have to consider staining rather dark to get an even finish- might be better to consider replacing windows and painting?

 

[Blueboatman]

The tell tale is the horizontal whiter lines showing through on pic 3 , which is the cross grain behind .
I’m not entirely sure that will magic away but sometimes I have , sometimes not so well?

The purist would ( might consider anyway!) removing the wood and stripping it as Concerto describes then epoxy sealing it on all sides then putting it back . And if unhappy with the work THEN add solid trim pieces horizontally
Nice solid boat in principle ( but they all take hours and money !)

 

[davethedog]

What about taking the windows out and then covering the wood with something like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Q5GG2...ding=UTF8&th=1

As sat here in our current boat and realised we have something very similar on our top parts by the saloon windows.

 

[Tranona]

Vinyl type liners are often used on cheap(er) boats because it is cheaper and easier to hide imperfections. Does not suit a quality boat where they have gone to the trouble of using expensive wood. Pity about the inability to control the condensation and other dampness which would eventually ruin fabric based linings as well. If going to the trouble of removing the windows then replace the panels with wood, but protect them better and run a dehumidifier when humid.

 

[davethedog]

Thanks for the reply and we will see if we can agree a decent price for the boat as very nice but needs some tidying but very well specced with parasailor, new teak deck etc then may see if can repair back to wood , else will try to cover them up .

 

[Concerto]

Thanks for the reply and we will see if we can agree a decent price for the boat as very nice but needs some tidying but very well specced with parasailor, new teak deck etc then may see if can repair back to wood , else will try to cover them up .

Best of luck.

 

[lustyd]

Arguably a lot of boats use vinyl liners because it looks great and is easy to clean. Not everyone likes acres of wood, especially in this new millenium! It's not necessarily cheaper, I'd have thought the opposite actually