With what should I cover internal fibreglass mouldings?

yerffoeg

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I am refitting the interior of my 27 foot yacht.
There are extensive internal mouldings with a white gelcoat surface. Originally these were covered with wood laminate. After 30 odd years, the original laminate was cracked /peeling so I steamed it off.
What should I re-cover it with? I am not keen on extensive areas of bare gelcoat. I experimented with re-covering a small areaa with laminate but found it difficult to work with. What should I use instead?

Your help please.
 

jerryat

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Hi yerffoeg,

You don't say whether you want similar a 'hard' finish as before, or might change to a 'soft' finish. I assume, since you originally had a wood laminate covering, that the mouldings offered fairly flat surfaces. If so, why not just replace it with a similar laminate using modern adhesives like epoxies or even 'No Nails'?

If you want to change to a 'soft' covering e.g. Carpet or vinyl/foam backed vinyl, there is a big range to choose from. Various companies (like Hawke House Marine) offer both, as well as very good advice. They offer, for example, a special self-adhesive backed carpet, that can be applied directly to the (clean) laminate in boats. Other marine companies have their own ranges.

You may find a search on this forum beneficial, as there have been MANY previous posts dealing with this scenario, and suggesting all sorts of remedies!

Personally, I recently did my boat throughout with the latest foam-backed vinyl, which has a long life compared to the earlier versions. Got the vinyl and the specials glues required from Hawke House, and had excellent service, though it definitley wasn't cheap!!

Overall, in your situation, I think I'd go for a 'hard' finish probably using one of the modern laminates, if only because subsequent replacement (God forbid!!) 'cos of damage/wear would be much easier.

Cheers Jerry
 

FullCircle

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yerffoeg,
you need PBO from Jan & Feb 2004. I have just lent mine to one of the guys at Rice & Cole. Similar issue. You can borrow those when he is done.
Lynn and I reupholstered our 25 year old Jouet last year, and know what you are going through. Jerry's suggestion of Hawke House is good, as is Toomer & Hayter.
As an Essex bloke, are you Burnham-ish or North?

PM me if you need more.

Jim
 

Joe_Cole

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If your original laminate was a real wood veneer then I know what you mean!
If it was a "Formica" type material then it may just be that you need a bit of practice. If you can lay your hands on a router with an edge trimming cutter you can get a professional looking finsh to edges very easily.

However, having just finished doing my boat, I would go along with what others have said; think about a soft finishing. If you do then, as well as the other suppliers which have been mentioned, try Boyriven in Andover. They mainly supply the car trade but are not as expensive as the usual marine suppliers.
 

yerffoeg

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Many thanks,
I have not given up on the idea of redoing with a formica-type material which I was trying to use for the first time yesterday (many profanities!). There have been posts before on headlining and sidelining but vertical bulkheads are often covered differently. I am now seriously thinking of a soft finish. In his book 'This Old Boat' (generally excellent on boat renovation) Don casey recommends wallpaper!
 

Talbot

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My vertical cabin sides are covered in the same felt based carpet that i used for the cabin roof down to below the windows. I then have a piece of mahogany covering the join to the white gelcoat of the interior fixings. IMHO it looks pretty good and I have posted pictures of the results before on some of the headlining threads.
 
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