New Cabin Sole Boards

S

Sailfree

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 Jan 2003
Messages
21,672
Location
Nazare Portugal
Visit site
As part of the TLC my boat is getting I am replacing the worn cabin sole floor.

Replacing is with same 18mm teak and holly vaneer marine ply.

Would you varnish them with satin finish yacht varnish or roller 2 pack varnish. Thinking of appearance after a couple of years of wear and ease of future maintenance.
 
Did the same job about 8 years ago, and coated the boards with International UCP (no longer available) followed by 4 (?) coats of International Compass Gloss (which ran like a bitch), and they look a treat. They ARE NOT slippery, and about every two years, in the middle of the season, it takes me about 20 minutes to apply one more coat as I leave the boat. A two inch brush is perfect, and leaving the boat a week ensures it's fully cured and looks great.IMAG0003.jpg
 
Sailfree said:
As part of the TLC my boat is getting I am replacing the worn cabin sole floor.

Replacing is with same 18mm teak and holly vaneer marine ply.

Would you varnish them with satin finish yacht varnish or roller 2 pack varnish. Thinking of appearance after a couple of years of wear and ease of future maintenance.
Click to expand...

Neither. Use floor varnish which will outlast any of the other finishes and be non slip.

Alternatively if you have not bought the materials yet consider Robbins laminate finished board or get the laminate and make your own. No finishing required, non slip and will outlast you.
 
Tranona said:
Neither. Use floor varnish which will outlast any of the other finishes and be non slip.

Alternatively if you have not bought the materials yet consider Robbins laminate finished board or get the laminate and make your own. No finishing required, non slip and will outlast you.
Click to expand...
We looked at Robins boards at boat show and decided that laminate looked liked laminate and timber vaneer looked like timber so it 3 sheets of 18mm timber vaneer being delivered on monday.

I have ordered 6mm teak Iipping fot hatches thst open but friend persuading me not to bother as it breaks up white holly lines and not necessary. Any opinions?

So still canvassing opinions on best durable finish for timber. Also easiest to keep looking good.
 
Another one for floor varnish. I've never used it in the boat but have done several parquet floors with it. It's long lasting - like ten years plus in one house of kids crossing it all day every day - plus it's non slip and looks good. I've used both twin pack and single pack: no difference between the two other than cost.
My deck plates hatches are not surrounded by beading and seem fine but they are laminate not veneer.
 
Sailfree said:
We looked at Robins boards at boat show and decided that laminate looked liked laminate and timber vaneer looked like timber so it 3 sheets of 18mm timber vaneer being delivered on monday.

I have ordered 6mm teak Iipping fot hatches thst open but friend persuading me not to bother as it breaks up white holly lines and not necessary. Any opinions?

So still canvassing opinions on best durable finish for timber. Also easiest to keep looking good.
Click to expand...

Really difficult to get the stripes lining up perfectly by eye and hand but does look good if you get it right. Applying lipping can look odd depending on how big the hatches are and where they are located - and of course a lot of work to fit them neatly and maintain the necessary gaps for lifting.

Interestingly the hatches on my boat are just cut out of the middle of the panel by CNC. 3 of them are symmetrical for access to the keel bolts and I put one back 180 degrees out and the stripes were slightly out. so the panel was not quite aligned when it was cut.

You now have two recommendations for floor varnish. Looks horrible when you apply it as it is sticky and milky, but dries quickly to a hard slightly matt reasonably non slip finish which does not seem to crack scratch or fade. This is the sort of finish used on domestic floorboards in hard wearing areas or in public places like halls.
 
Tranona said:
Alternatively if you have not bought the materials yet consider Robbins laminate finished board or get the laminate and make your own. No finishing required, non slip and will outlast you.
Click to expand...

I realise that the OP is not interested in this option but thought I would make a comment. Before I bought my Sadler the previous owner had laminate sole boards fitted. It looks good to my eyes although clearly not timber. I have now owned the boat for more than 20 years and the sole boards remain immaculate, just as they were when I bought it. I have not carried out any treatment on them other than occasional washing.
N_Sporades_072.jpg
 
vyv_cox said:
I realise that the OP is not interested in this option but thought I would make a comment. Before I bought my Sadler the previous owner had laminate sole boards fitted. It looks good to my eyes although clearly not timber. I have now owned the boat for more than 20 years and the sole boards remain immaculate, just as they were when I bought it. I have not carried out any treatment on them other than occasional washing.
N_Sporades_072.jpg
Click to expand...

I agree. The laminate sole boards on my 2001 boat exhibited no wear when I sold it in 2015 despite 7 years as a charter boat.

However teak and holly I laid in my kitchen in 1996 with just Ronseal polyurethane on it lasted well. Just ripped it up and replaced with laminated oak. Also have teak and holly in the bathroom also from 1996. Could probably do with a refresher coat.

Worth remembering that 12mm laminate flooring is half the price of teak!
 
Tranona said:
Neither. Use floor varnish which will outlast any of the other finishes and be non slip.

Alternatively if you have not bought the materials yet consider Robbins laminate finished board or get the laminate and make your own. No finishing required, non slip and will outlast you.
Click to expand...

Yet another vote for floor varnish. Did both my previous Dehler 34s with floor varnish after stripping them back & both were immaculate when I sold them.

So I immediately overcoated both the cabin sole and the saloon table of current 35CWS with floor varnish to protect them. 12 years later still immaculate.
 
On my old Hallberg-Rassy, I always treated the teak and holly sole with teak oil, rubbed on with kitchen paper, left for an hour to soak, then rubbed off with lots of kitchen paper. Looked good for the 20 years I owned it.
 
Tranona said:
I agree. The laminate sole boards on my 2001 boat exhibited no wear when I sold it in 2015 despite 7 years as a charter boat.

However teak and holly I laid in my kitchen in 1996 with just Ronseal polyurethane on it lasted well. Just ripped it up and replaced with laminated oak. Also have teak and holly in the bathroom also from 1996. Could probably do with a refresher coat.

Worth remembering that 12mm laminate flooring is half the price of teak!
Click to expand...

+5 for laminate. Mine's now 17 years old and looks like new, apart from two or three dents. And it takes something pretty heavy with a sharp corner to even dent the stuff. Maintenance free and certainly looks better than chuffed worn teak+holly floorboards that cry "varnish me" every few years.
 
pvb said:
They look like that, but they're actually cut from separate sheets, but with great attention to detail in matching up the stripes.
Click to expand...

Better explanation than mine as to why the stripes are slightly out of line if you put the hatch back the wrong way round. Only fractions in it but enough to draw the eye, particularly as it was on the first one you see when coming down the steps into the cabin.
 
rudolph_hart said:
Yet another vote for floor varnish. Did both my previous Dehler 34s with floor varnish after stripping them back & both were immaculate when I sold them.

So I immediately overcoated both the cabin sole and the saloon table of current 35CWS with floor varnish to protect them. 12 years later still immaculate.
Click to expand...

What brand of floor varnish please?
 
I do appreciate how good laminate is for durabilty but to SWMBO its the same as a fake rolex.

You can see it's not the real thing - teak and holly floor even though that is just a vaneer!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top