Modernising older boats

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j24jam

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We have slowly been updating our Saga 26 HT over the past couple of years and have finally had the new permateak flooring laid in the cockpit.

This has highlighted even more the tatty varnished teak finish around the cockpit.

What are peoples thoughts on the best finish to help modernise the boat without losing its character. Our first thought is the paint the area in red, white.. Any other suggestions?

(We dont think re-doing the varnish will look great due to the big contrast in colours between the fake teak and the teak)
 

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White with varnished wood trim looks good to my eyes - I have done both my renovations in this scheme. Examples
 

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KevinV said:
You could do it with vinyl wrap if you want to experiment? Much quicker and easier to do/undo than committing to paint
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I think a vinyl will get damaged too easily there from shoe scuffs, plus its hundreds of pounds to have done professionally (I wouldn't do it myself) compared to £50 for the painting option.

Although it is sensible in case future owner decides they dont like it, it would be a lot easier to return to the bare wood...
 
j24jam said:
We have slowly been updating our Saga 26 HT over the past couple of years and have finally had the new permateak flooring laid in the cockpit.

This has highlighted even more the tatty varnished teak finish around the cockpit.

What are peoples thoughts on the best finish to help modernise the boat without losing its character. Our first thought is the paint the area in red, white.. Any other suggestions?

(We dont think re-doing the varnish will look great due to the big contrast in colours between the fake teak and the teak)
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Hi Jam,

I have had similar considerations on our yacht. Its all personal preference. If you want to do white, I would do as full gloss so it looks like fibreglass. I think I used a resin type paint with catalyst (flowcoat?) when I did some white. Used multiple layers with sanding to get it nice and smooth which is almost achieves the fibreglass look. If it is a matt paint or a has texture like a house paint for me is stands out worse than old teak.

Your preference for both modern and character might be quite difficult. Teak is a large contributor to character; but this of course is subjective.

If you are even a little bit open to keeping the teak, I have also had great success with faded/damaged teak by: finding an appropriate timber stain by taking a sample to hardware store where there is someone helpful who will let you test everything on the actual timber to see if will turn it that nice matching teak colour. Sand back, stain the faded parts and add multiple coats of a quality marine varnish and it will look better than you might guess. I have used this method to correct solid teak that is faded and remains faded no matter how much is it sanded as well as teak faced ply where I have oversanded to an underlying timber that is much lighter in colour. Both are not noticeable so I continue to use this method to revitalise parts of my aging teak.

All the best.
Alex
 
geem said:
We painted the same part in our saloon with a white matt, two pack polyurethane paint. It's hard wearing and sets off our teak trim nicely
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I experimented with white gloss and soon switched to matt . Gloss seems to show all the imperfections.

White lightened up the saloon considerably. Chances are that the large areas are teak veneer and you can't sand very much to get a nice base finish for varnish.
 
Snowgoose-1 said:
I experimented with white gloss and soon switched to matt . Gloss seems to show all the imperfections.

White lightened up the saloon considerably. Chances are that the large areas are teak veneer and you can't sand very much to get a nice base finish for varnish.
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The teak veneer on my boat was thick.received_1836634426751599.jpeg
 
The varnished timber is teak veneer, it was in a frightful state but after stripping with a Bahco tool, very light sanding, finished with wire wool and five coats of Epifanes, it came back a treat, I've yet to finish the lower cabinets. I'd try a similar approach to your timber, then, if you're not happy with the results, slap some paint on it.
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Teak .... I have quite a bit to do on my latest boat ... it will be lightly sanded to just remove the weak silvering ... then stained to rich teak ... but no varnish as mine is benches / sole.
To get matched to new or similar ... you use a stain that is close but not quite as dark as the new ... apply - check ... apply again - check ... keep adding stain coats till you get the shade needed close - but allowing for varnish to slightly darken it as well.

As to van lining for deckheads etc. - ebay is full of suppliers - particularly UK ...
I bought a package deal of 20m lining with 10 spray cans of adhesive to fix.

I was worried about getting it right - but once I had the basic shape cut - used the old vinyl as template - it went up so easy ... I was stunned by the results !! Its 100x better than the old vinyl .... its soft / smooth to touch .. no condensation ... actually easy to clean ...
 
harvey38 said:
Another alternative is to use van lining material, very quick and easy to get a professional finish, I had a similar issue as yourself. It's hardwearing and easy to replace should the need arise.View attachment 163563
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A very neat, tidy, piece of work!

Sorry if this is a numpty question (or two), but is that foam-backed vinyl?

The headlining on our 1989 Westerly Falcon is suffering from a bad dose of age-related droop. We've removed the stuff in the forecabin, and it seems to my inexpert eye that it failed because the foam had distintegrated. The glue holding it to the inside of the coachroof still seems to be well adhered.

So I wonder why they use the foam-backed stuff?
 
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Ive been considering vinyl more since it can just be removed without much effort should we hate it after a year or so.

A couple of test patches stuck on this morning (Semi gloss and gloss- although can't really see much difference yet)
 

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NealB said:
That link shows carpet, doesn't it? I can't see one that looks your pic in #12.

Edit: again, 'scuse my ignorance, but where do I find your signature and your blog link?
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NealB said:
That link shows carpet, doesn't it? I can't see one that looks your pic in #12.

Edit: again, 'scuse my ignorance, but where do I find your signature and your blog link?
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https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Personal-Blog/Tolerance-of-Guernsey-103957188228197/

Click on the link above for the blog and the other link is lining, not carpet although it is a very poor illustration, we used the blue stuff :)
 
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