Tarting Up Cabin Floor

[HappyandBroke]

My poor cabin floor is looking very sad and weary (a bit like the owner after xmas!) and Ive decided to give it a new lease of life by rubbing it down with the new belt sander my son brought for xmas. However what would you paint on it after!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

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[Ric]

Be careful with a belt sander! They are vicious and will take off a lot of wood very quickly - try on a test sample before you let it loose in your boat. Although belt sanders are very useful things, they are not the best tool for the job you have in mind. I would use an orbital sander for that.

As for recovering the floor, I did my boat with carpet (I probably shouldn't have admitted that!). I made sure it was a material which is dirt repellent and dries out very quickly. It is held down by pop-studs. It makes the cabin very comfortable, and unlike the original floor boards is completely non slip when in bare feet etc. Not everybody's taste I admit, but I have found it a great improvement over the past few years.

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[VirgoVoyager]

I agree with Ric - go easy with the belt sander! A lot depends how much material actually needs to be removed before the floor looks OK. If the wood is badly marked/deeply stained then it could take you quite a while with an orbital and it would be worth practicing with the belt version. I have a small belt sander which seems to be fairly predictable - the bigger ones can be vicious, though.

I would also vote for carpet - you can't beat it for comfort!

Good luck

Stuart

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[pugwash]

Pop studs on the floor hurt!

I got away from the family over Christmas by taking to my shed and sanding and varnishing all my floorboards. Now they look great but are going to be far too slippery. Does anybody know if a mat varnish is less slippery than gloss? Has anybody tried granules in varnish?

I thought about carpet but wonder if Velcro is better because pop studs under bare feet will hurt. Will a sticky rubber undercarpet work on a floor space of five by three ft?

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[paulrossall]

I used my belt sander and then used about 6 coats of International polyurethane varnish. I fitted a piece of carpet at the bottom of the companionway which has lasted 3 seasons (about 3ft by 3ft). I then had some carpet samples, all a similar colour, about 2ft by 1ft which I put along the cabin floor so that there were some wood bits still showing. You cannot just use varnish and leave the surface because it is very slippy when it gets wet. I did think I would carpet the whole of the floor and only used the carpet samples as a temporary measure but people have commented they look OK and they do keep your feet warmer when you get up. I now would not fully carpet the floor because it would not dry easily if it got wet.

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[Aeolus_IV]

Sorted our floor boards out with elbow grease when we bought her. They were so dirty that they were a single shade of dirt rather than the "stripped" result the builder had intended. Initially (once in the garage) plently of soap and water to get the dirt out then (hold on) paint stripper - the thick stuff like wall paper paste. This cleaned out the most of the remaining rubbish and left me with bear wood which I treat with teak oil. Nice clean floor boards which are non-slip. I wouldn't sand them, but you could try scrapping them as a last resort.

All the normal caveats,
Regards, Jeff.

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[Gunfleet]

You might find a cabinet scraper does a better job.

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[polarity]

If you want to retain a teak effect rather than use varnish you could use a preservative like Deks Olja (pron: Decks-olé) D-1. Then you have the teak preserved but still non skid. To freshen up next year, just wipe it down, dry it out and stick another coat on.

Paul

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<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.polarity2.com>http://www.polarity2.com</A>
Class II OSTAR/Transat 2004

 

[clyst]

Carpet ? What happens when you finish a watch in soaking wet oillies and boots do you leave them outside and put your slippers on prior to going below ? Doesn't the carpet remain damp ? 23 ft seems a bit small for fitted carpets .
Just interested !

Terry

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[MainlySteam]

Re: Pop studs on the floor hurt!

Another current thread covers the non slipping of varnish.

If one wants carpet, and it is much nicer to stand on with bare feet, then if one non slips the paint or varnish on the sole, carpet will, under most normal circumstances, stay secure on it and not slide. Velcro or studs are not necessary. On a very small vessel I would suggest the short pile marine carpets made specifically for areas that can get wet and which have a non absorbent non woven backing.

John

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[VirgoVoyager]

Ahhh! The joys! Slippers, cardigan, pipe, a nice book and a glass of wine! What more could a man ask for after a long and weary watch fighting against the elements (I would rather you didn't answer that)?

Seriously, the right kind of carpet (or should we call it "floor covering" to get away from the image?) is very practical - absorbs moisture and traps dirt so that one isn't sliding about on wet and gritty surface, improves insulation and keeps the tootsies warm. Once you have tried it, there is no going back!

Stuart

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[clyst]

Nice to see someone with a sense of humour !! wouldn't have one on my fine craft the tea -trolly wouldn't glide so well .
Cheers

Terry

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[VirgoVoyager]

Our favourite West Coast haunts occasional suffer from a bit of swell - without the carpet, the tea trolley would be all over the place!

Incidentally, I am delighted to see that your craft has a Stuart Turner. My Dad, when he was alive, was a great model engineer and built various ST engines - steam and petrol. I inherited his workshop and I know that there are some interesting castings in boxes with the ST logo on them....... what model of engine is it you have?

Stuart

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[MedMan]

We have had the same piece of carpet down for nearly 15 years and it still looks good. It is commercial grade Flotex designed for Kitchens and Bathrooms. It is 100% synthetic with a very short pile and is ideal for the job. It is fitted wall-to-wall (perhaps that should be locker to locker) and glued down.

Our boat is 35ft and, having a pilot-house saloon, the floor is well up away from any bilge water. Our first boat was a Hustler 30 and, in her, bilge water washed over the floor when we heeled over. Carpet would definitely not have been a good idea in her.

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[tcm]

hiya, and welcome etc.

as others sa, a belt sander will rip material off rather quickly. But it dep[ends what material you have as the cabin sole- many if not most modern boats will use a dimensionally more stable and lighter teak-faced ply, witht he facing only millimtres thick or even "fake"teak - none of which you can touch with a belt sander.

Carpet is good, and cheaper than a belt sander. Almost regardless of skintness, you can cut the carpet yourself and then get a carpet shop to edge them, you know, like they do if you gettem to make mats from offcuts of carpet. Don't hang on to the carpet for years - make a new piece and enjoy that new-boat pong (which is mainly a carpet smell) more often.

You may find that being a bitrubbery/plastic underneath, cheap carpet doesn't slip much anyway, but if it does you can back it with some grippy underlay used for floormats. You don't need this everywhere- just a few bits glued on here and there will hold it all firmly in place. The poppers are a bit useless imho, and if the carpet really was sliding on the wooden floor beneath, a few poppers won't hold it -it'll still feel slippery. The antislip stuff will stop it feeling as tho it want to move. IMHO (=in my humble opinion) poppers or double sided tape will only be needed if the boat is inverted (!)

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[muchy_]

Carpet

If your talking about the cabin floor and not the cockpit floor then I would go for a nice, warm, comfy carpet every time. Even on a small boat it makes sooooo much difference to the comfort of the cabin. As for keeping it clean, its only a small area to cover and you could replace the carpet every couple of seasons no probs.

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[clyst]

Its a P6 , Amal carb and coil ignition ,lovely little engine starts on the button every time and ultra reliable . having said that have broken 2 flywheel collets lately but have now replaced the complete crankshaft assy. Have a fair collection of Stuarts myself now.Simple and easy to work on but if you have an unreliable one just as well to ditch it !! Mine will start just by flicking the flywheel by hand .
Incidently I'v sailed many miles in a Virgo Voyager . A friend had one (fin) for many years .Fitted it out himself .Lovely boats plenty of room for a 23footer pity newbridge went bust!!

Cheers

Terry

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[Ric]

Concerning carpet and being soaking wet in oilies etc - well I should have mentioned that I sail in the Med and my oilies very rarely get used (only twice in two years in fact - and I do sail in winter too!). However, I quite often do nip down below after a swim or dive when soaking wet and a bit of water gets on the carpet but it dries out quickly as I carefully chose the material to be quick-drying. I suspect if you were sailing in a place where it rains all the time it might get a bit damp though...

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[VirgoVoyager]

I love these simple engines without complex electronics etc. I was brought up on them - mainly steam powered (my Father had a dream of building a steam launch powered by an ST - he built the engine, but never got round to the boat!), but petrol, too. Yours sounds great - and the wonderful thing is that they are so fixable!

Thanks for the comment about the Voyager - I am very pleased with it. Not a "yottie" boat, but great for cruising.

Regards

Stuart

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[Gordonmc]

The floors on my Hillyard are mahogany plank... just a tad cool on the feet on a January morning.
I use a couple of bathroom mats, about 1 meter by 75cm which are loop pile on a non slip rubber mesh backing.
They can be cut with scissors without fraying, wrung out when wet, thrown in the washing machine, generally abused and are cheap enough to throw away when you are fed up with the colour.


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