Internal Bulkhead Rejuvenation.

[Wandering Star]

Right folks, Ive rashly bought another doer upper. Boat seems solid enough but the internal woodwork is badly neglected. I believe the majority of it will be a simple affair of lightly sanding down and then treating appropriately- a long tedious job but I’m up for that. However the main saloon bulkhead is incredibly dark, I’m unsure what the underlying wood is but I’m guessing it’s a fairly light teak veneered covering?

I suppose I should point out the boat in question is a Sadler 29.

So any advice on what I’m looking at here and thoughts on the best method to strip back and destain this horribly dark bulkhead would be welcome. I can’t find any YouTube links so if anyone has a link that too would be welcome.

 

[Tranona]

Paint it white and just strip back the trim which will probably come up a bit lighter. you could try stripping a small area to see what it is like, but my experience is that it is very difficult to get large areas of veneered ply looking good.

Different style of boat in the photo but shows what can be achieved with the combination of white and varnished hardwood trim. Probably a good idea to break up the expanse of white with some pictures

 

[Wandering Star]

Hadn’t thought of doing that Tranona, could be a good idea especially if the surrounding wooden trim bits are solid teak and can be sanded back quite harshly - would make a pleasant contrast.

 

[justanothersailboat]

I'm wary of "paint it white" over boats that weren't designed in the painted style as someone did that to "spruce up" my boat and I really wish they hadn't. Bits went flaky, other bits got deep into the grain and were hard to cleanly remove. It doesn't seem to have worn as well as a good lacquer does and once the white got shabby someone (...else?) painted over it again and it all got rather sad. Also, I've seen boats where ply has been painted to disguise water stains on bulkheads and now I'd be wary of buying one like that.

A lot depends on what previous owners have done to the bulkhead. If it was stained dark at build time before initial lacquer, better learn to love a dark boat. (I have seen more than one dark Sadler for sale so not sure if this was a thing). If it's a later coat you may be in luck. Try a carbide scraper. Usually the original veneer is thin enough that you have to be a bit careful with power sanding. There's a nice presentation somewhere out there by the chap who owns Concerto about how he did his, back to bare veneer and then a really good lacquer job, it looks great. Mine had too much painted-over underlying damage to get to the same standard (and I had less time to spend on it than he did), but came up nice enough except one patch that I will be covering with a drinks cabinet.

A friend of mine has a boat where he re-veneered a lot of the original ply with a light-toned teak veneer (I think it's manufactured, it's very very regular) and it looks fantastic. But he is a bit more skilled than I am and I am not sure if I could match it.

 

[Wandering Star]

I'm wary of "paint it white" over boats that weren't designed in the painted style as someone did that to "spruce up" my boat and I really wish they hadn't. Bits went flaky, other bits got deep into the grain and were hard to cleanly remove. It doesn't seem to have worn as well as a good lacquer does and once the white got shabby someone (...else?) painted over it again and it all got rather sad. Also, I've seen boats where ply has been painted to disguise water stains on bulkheads and now I'd be wary of buying one like that.

A lot depends on what previous owners have done to the bulkhead. If it was stained dark at build time before initial lacquer, better learn to love a dark boat. (I have seen more than one dark Sadler for sale so not sure if this was a thing). If it's a later coat you may be in luck. Try a carbide scraper. Usually the original veneer is thin enough that you have to be a bit careful with power sanding. There's a nice presentation somewhere out there by the chap who owns Concerto about how he did his, back to bare veneer and then a really good lacquer job, it looks great. Mine had too much painted-over underlying damage to get to the same standard (and I had less time to spend on it than he did), but came up nice enough except one patch that I will be covering with a drinks cabinet.

A friend of mine has a boat where he re-veneered a lot of the original ply with a light-toned teak veneer (I think it's manufactured, it's very very regular) and it looks fantastic. But he is a bit more skilled than I am and I am not sure if I could match it.

Yes, I can agree with your opinion, I’m still prevaricating. I’d definitely prefer to scrape or sand the varnish off provided it comes back “good as new”. I don’t mind the effort it’s just that if after all the effort the bulkhead still looks horrible with age related stains etc, varnish won’t cover the blemishes whereas paint will!

I’m now thinking along the lines of veneer - by all accounts though vertical surfaces are very difficult to veneer and I’m probably not skilled enough to make a satisfactory job of it.

 

[Jim@sea]

I bought a 1986 boat and the internal bulkhead was in poor condition, I just bought some thin plywood, lightly sanded it with 1200's wet and dry, cut it to shape and glued it on, then varnished it. looked like new.

 

[yoxyn438]

For the bulkhead, if it’s teak veneer like you suspect, I’d go gentle—start with a chemical stripper like Nitromors (the kind that’s veneer-safe), then light sanding with fine grit, maybe 240 or higher. Oxalic acid could help with the dark staining too, works wonders on teak. Just be sure to test a small patch first.

 

[Moodysailor]

Being in the same boat (pardon the pun) with our project boat, I appreciate the conundrum. I completely get the desire not to paint it, but the reality is that sometimes the surface is just so poor on the wood that paint or recovering/replacing is the only option - anything else would look rubbish.

We have this with the aft bulkhead in our deck saloon - years of wear, tear and UV have left various stains on the wood but being marine ply it is structurally good. We are also not in love with the masses of golden varnish that has different amounts of aging so will paint much of the interior and varnish the trim pieces. If we had the time & skill, we would re-veneer everything a nice light wood finish, teak and sapele are too dark for us.

 

[michael_w]

Template and cover the knackered plywood with white formica.

 

[justanothersailboat]

Quite a bit depends on whether you want "looks like it's been through a lot, but is now loved and cheerful" or whether you want "as-new gloss". Doing up a boat is much easier if, like me, you're happy enough with the softer option.

I don't think it makes sense to write it off as unrescuable without having a go at the surface to see if it's just a coating problem. The surface was probably originally lacquered and this is quite hard. Sometimes someone's put a varnish or stain something over it and you can just scrape back. Sonetimes lacquer goes opaque and pale from sun exposure and you just need to scrape it off to find lovely teak underneath. And sometimes there's damage only in parts and you can cover it up with a picture or something.

I wouldn't go straight for chemical stripper as using the stuff in a boat on a large area is grim work. Also they took the good stuff out of Nitromors and it's feeble now. Owatrol (different chemical approach, caustic) may be ok but it's a bit runny. Scraper a bit first.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Yes, I can agree with your opinion, I’m still prevaricating. I’d definitely prefer to scrape or sand the varnish off provided it comes back “good as new”. I don’t mind the effort it’s just that if after all the effort the bulkhead still looks horrible with age related stains etc, varnish won’t cover the blemishes whereas paint will!

I’m now thinking along the lines of veneer - by all accounts though vertical surfaces are very difficult to veneer and I’m probably not skilled enough to make a satisfactory job of it.

Oxalic acid will remove the worst stains.

 

[Wandering Star]

I bought a 1986 boat and the internal bulkhead was in poor condition, I just bought some thin plywood, lightly sanded it with 1200's wet and dry, cut it to shape and glued it on, then varnished it. looked like new.

Jim, what width plywood did you use - sounds as though it should provide a similar result to veneering but be much easier way of achieving it. How did you go about it? Did you make (say) 3 templates using cardboard first? What adhesive did you use? How long did it take you? Sorry for all the questions but seems to me this is the way I may go!

 

[pandos]

Have a look at this stuff. I painted some of my boat where it was very bad and beyond sanding and bleaching.

Had I seen this stuff earlier I would have used it.

I bought a few square meters, and I tried a small piece and was very happy with it apart from the colour. But they seem to have many variations and I am sure I would have been able to get a better match.

I am not sure these are the guys I bought from..
Architectural Wrapping Supplies | Vinyls & Window Films

 

[wrr]

My boat is made of teak (above the waterline) but the internal surfaces are painted to enhance the light in the saloon, see attached. That bulkhead is a large reflective surface which would be better painted in a light colour to enhance the luminosity in the saloon.

 

[Tranona]

Jim, what width plywood did you use - sounds as though it should provide a similar result to veneering but be much easier way of achieving it. How did you go about it? Did you make (say) 3 templates using cardboard first? What adhesive did you use? How long did it take you? Sorry for all the questions but seems to me this is the way I may go!

I have done that in the past. Same boat, different angle and the coachroof sides and top part of the bulkhead are recovered using Sapele faced 3mm door skins. They were originally very dark, almost black veneer which looked no better when stripped. The white below and varnished veneer scheme worked well on that boat and have used the same on my current boat. The white paint is Dulux Satinwood on special primer. The photos were taken about 20 years after the work was done. No deterioration in the paint or the Ronseal varnish!

 

[Rappey]

There is a quicker alternative to painting. Wrap it ! Self adhesive comes in many colours and styles.
There are rolls of imitation wood, some look ok but never seen it for real so have not tried it..

 

[pandos]

There is a quicker alternative to painting. Wrap it ! Self adhesive comes in many colours and styles.
There are rolls of imitation wood, some look ok but never seen it for real so have not tried it..

#13

 

[Rappey]

#13

I somehow missed that bit of your post .
I bought mine from the range around £6 per roll. They dont have the wood effects though.

 

[Minerva]

I somehow missed that bit of your post .
I bought mine from the range around £6 per roll. They dont have the wood effects though.

If you’ve used it to good effect, do you have photos to share of the result?

 

[Wandering Star]

If you’ve used it to good effect, do you have photos to share of the result?

And also does the adhesive stick well to wood? I’d always thought varnish nyl wrapping was for shiny surfaces like Gelcoat or painted steel (cars)?