Repairing Damp Damaged Wood

[Vegable]

Condensation Damp has got into the interior woodwork of my Westerly. Before I touch it and make a mess of it can someone please advise me on the best way of refurbishing this please.
I assume it is Teak faced plywood and the condensation damp has got between the layers of the plywod. Looking closely at the panel I think I can remove this whole door panel fairly easily.
I have access to bleach, oxalyic acid, coloured crayons, filler, my own beeswax, and sanding tools, but don't have much experience working with wood and wood finishes.
Thoughts and suggestions welcomed please.
Thanks

 

[Stemar]

First cure the condensation - or the leak, it looks like a lot of moisture for condensation, then dry it out and see what it looks like.

 

[Concerto]

You will certainly need to dry the wood out before you do anything. Then gently remove the original lacquer (Morrells 450 low odour high build acid catalyst lacquer at 30 % sheen). The wood may still be darker and you will need to bleach it. Use the cheapest supermarket thin bleach at a dilution of 10 parts water to 1 of bleach. Apply and leave on for 10 to 15 minutes and wash off with fresh water. If this has not made a big improvement then repeat but leave for longer. If that has not worked, then increase the concentration to say 6:1. Eventually the darkness will reduce. This is not an exact science, but trial and error.

The Morrells lacquer is still available and I bought 5l of lacquer and 5l of thinners for about £60. This should be enough for all the internal woodwork on my Fulmar. Once mixed it has a pot life of over 24 hours but once applied can be recoated in about 3 hours. It is designed to be sprayed but can be brushed with a very acceptable finish. I was advised to use a new synthetic brush and use it for nothing else. I will be applying some in the next few days.

Morrells are suppliers of finishes to mainly the furniture industry and have branches all over the country. I have just finished taking my floor boards back to bare wood and refinishing with a Morrells water based flooring varnish. Not bad for 40 year old flooring.





https://www.morrells.co.uk/products...0-low-odour-high-build-acid-catalyst-lacquer/

 

[Vegable]

HI Steve & Concerto,
The wood is dead dry at the moment and was when these images were taken. The condensation was from when I was staying up in Arisaig during previous winter months sleeping on the hard for 2 weeks at a time in very cold weather - i.e. "couldn't walk on deck because of ice" cold!
The surface of the worst bits is very rough and "crinkled" and I'm wondering if the teak ply has lifted away from the rest. How do I gently remove the original lacquer? With Nitromors, I still have a tin of the original version of it, or just by gently sanding?
Thanks a lot for the link to Morrells. Your flooring has come up nicely.
Mike

 

[peteK]

You sure its not a leak from the deck above?

 

[Concerto]

Mike, if the ply has lifted slightly then this will have to be fixed back before any work is started. I have a similar situation but in a less obvious position. I will be using some gorilla glue as it if quite fast setting. I may have to split the veneer along the grain to ensure the glue gets into the edges. If you are not in a hurry to get it done, let me try fixing my lifting veneer which I anticipate will be completed within the next month. You may be interested that I did a fuller report on the WOA Forum on how cleaned and varnish the cabin sole with additional photos.

 

[Catalina36]

HI Steve & Concerto,
The wood is dead dry at the moment and was when these images were taken. The condensation was from when I was staying up in Arisaig during previous winter months sleeping on the hard for 2 weeks at a time in very cold weather - i.e. "couldn't walk on deck because of ice" cold!
The surface of the worst bits is very rough and "crinkled" and I'm wondering if the teak ply has lifted away from the rest. How do I gently remove the original lacquer? With Nitromors, I still have a tin of the original version of it, or just by gently sanding?
Thanks a lot for the link to Morrells. Your flooring has come up nicely.
Mike

Damage to veneer like that can be a pain and may not be possible to hide fully. It's often because the end-grain wasn't sealed properly in the first place. You could possibly add an additional thin strip of the correct-coloured timber, say 60mm by 8mm to cover it completely, right across. Properly chamfered, hardly noticeable.

 

[Quandary]

It looks more like sapele or perhaps cherry than teak to me but that may just be the image I am getting on my laptop, on further inspection the first larger scale photo is more like teak. I think the suggestion to cover it with a matching trim batten similar width to the door framing might be by far the easiest solution.. If you want a short strip of teak about 12 mm. approx thick by about 60mm wide I might have what you need in my garage which you would be welcome to if you drop a sum similar to the postage cost in the handiest RNLI box. You might have to plane it down or chamfer the ends to avoid overlapping the stiles.

 

[Vegable]

How am I certain it's not from a deck leak? Because it's on both the port and starboard sides of the cabin just at those points and nowhere else and I had to towel the headlining in the mornings during those winter months. I've also taken the boat up to Iceland since then where on the way back the whole of the boat from bow to the mast was submerged in seawater numerous buttock clenching, wishing I'd taken up golf, times and the inside of the boat stayed bone dry. And I don't mean the odd wave coming on board, the bow was burying itself! On the plus side it's given me enormous confidence in the boat after that experience.
Thanks Catalina36. A good suggestion if it's that bad. A bit of careful chamfering will finish the top nicely.
Thanks Concerto, I'll have a look on the WOA site.
Thanks Quandary. Boat's now based in Pwllheli and now I'm unlocked I can go and remove the panels and start to invesitgate the damage more closely. I'll remove the panels and come back to you if I need to, but thanks for the offer. Hope the house painting of a couple (?) of years ago went well. (I suggested using Dulux Trade).
Thanks everyone.
Mike