Interior Wood Finish

[gulfcoaster]

We have a '87 32-3. I've been on numerous sailboats that have a flat teak interior varnish finish or no finish at all which I assume needs to be oiled. The interior of our boat appears to have a slight semi-gloss finish to it. We also have a friend who has a '89 34. He has the same finish. Did Ericson offer different options of interior wood finishes? It seems like the options were 1. oiled-no finish, flat varnish finish, semi-gloss varnish finish. I like ours the best but I'm curious as to what to apply to match it. Min-wax has an interior semi gloss polyurethane that may be the answer. Any help would be appreciated. I have some areas where the varnish has worn through and I would like to repair them this Fall.

 

[Loren Beach]

Our '88 boat came with an oiled interior finish. They also seemed to have used a light cherry stain to blend in, somewhat, the various shades of teak solid pieces and veneers.
Over the years we are slowly (glacially...) refinishing the interior. We have been cleaning the surfaces, then restoring the original natural "color" with TeKa A & B. Last is several coats of varnish.

I have seen the occasional Ericson interior with a factory varnish job and understand that this was offered as an option. What % have it is unknown.

The "look" desired is always going to be subjective.

I prefer a semigloss varnish and the Admiral prefers gloss. So far it's all gloss.

YMMV.

Loren

 

[jreddington]

Loren,

Tried Googling but couldn't find the finish you referred to as TeKa. Do you have a link or reference?

I'm refinishing the interior of Lady J along with replacing the sole (and trolling this forum for hours to get tips on the flooring).

I've started by removing all doors and sliding panels. I figure this is a good place to start as I can do my first steps at home in a controlled environment, before I work in the boat.

Stripped and cleaned them with Amazon products which have worked pretty well. Key is that this stuff does not seem to have a significant odor so I won't get overwhelmed when I get into the enclosed spaces.

Just getting ready to layer on the Epithanes but was wondering if what you mentioned could help even out the color since once the varnish goes on I've pretty much locked myself in as to any color variation.

Fair Winds,

Jim R.

 

[Loren Beach]

I did not recall the vendor name. Oops.
http://www.marinetex.com/TE-KA.html

LB

 

[jreddington]

Loren,

Thanks.

I did find it on Jamestown Distributor's site. I thought it might be some kind of stain but looks like I've already donethe same think with the Amazon products.

On to the Epiphanes.

Jim R.

 

[EGregerson]

finish

I have an '87 as well with i think the same finish as yours; I too would really like to know exactly what it is; i was about to take a bin door to the paint store to see if they could match it; not just color or tone but composition; I just have my doubts about getting the perfect match. And if u don't get the 'perfect match' you'll have to do the whole interior. or just have a beer.

 

[MarkA]

Wow, my '78 interior has every finish! The batons lining the hull are oiled teak. The fiddle rails and trim around the settees and cupboard doors are glossy varnished teak. The bulkheads and other large flat areas are some type of flat or satin finished teak veneer--I don't know what they used. The cabin sole is a satin finish.

 

[treilley]

Our boat had the oiled finish and was looking really poor and it had soaked up some diesel smell from a spill with PO.

We stripped existing, replaced veneer and re-coated with Varathane oil based semi-gloss poly. We were not as smart as Loren and did it all in one shot ;-) After years of therapy, I am finally feeling better!

See the link below for more details.

http://www.tkronaboat.com/Projects/Ericson 35 Projects/index.html

 

[ref_123]

Interlux 60

We have 32-3 1986. We successfully used Interlux varnish #60 (based on Loren's and other people advices) on multiple surfaces. Looks good, easy to apply and matches the satin finish used throughout the boat. Cherry stain might have been there at some point too - but oxidation and UV damage took care of it long time ago... We use E-Z off oven cleaner to remove the old varnish - again, thanks to this site for the great hint.

Regards,
Stan

 

[pick]

I have an '86 32-3. Think it had some type of varnish. I've been using Epithanes Rubbed Effect which I like.

Mike

 

[bayhoss]

I sanded the entire interior woodwork of my 28, put two coats of gloss, sanding between them and then promptly decided that I did not like it. Sanded it all down and reapplied two coats of satin, again sanding between coats, had a couple of beers and decided that I liked it. I will never do it again.

Best Always,
Frank

 

[bayhoss]

forgot to add info - I used Minwax helmsman finish. looks pretty fair.

Best Always,
Frank

 

[exoduse35]

I re did the entire inside of my 35-2 with Epifanes gloss and am very happy with it. The hard part was eliminating the "stains" left by the P/O when he took all those items off the wall that had hung in place for all those years.Edd

 

[jreddington]

I re did the entire inside of my 35-2 with Epifanes gloss and am very happy with it. The hard part was eliminating the "stains" left by the P/O when he took all those items off the wall that had hung in place for all those years.Edd

I'm curious on how it went. I'm presently revarnishing with Epithanes. I first pulled out all doors and other access panels to first go through the process at home in a controlled evironment, prior to tackling the rest in the cabin.

I didn't want to do any sanding since this might go through the veneer that is on most panels.

I first used the Amazon stripper. Left on for a few hours, then used a putty knife to scrape the flat areas and a scuff pads on other areas. Wet scuff pad to clean off and then hosed down and dried. Repeated for a few areas that still had some old varnish residue. All panels looked pretty good except for a couple "shadows" from attached plaques and one bleached area from some unkown chemical. Use a small bit of stain on that spot to darken and now it's just barely visible and is at the bottom of the slider under the stove so is not in a high visibility area.

Then used Amazon teak cleaner on the panels and per instructions, waited a day (actually a day and a half).

I have so far put on three coats of Epithanes, drying a day or two between coats. Per instructions, thinned with Epithanes brush thinner 50%, 25%, and 10%. Instructions says sanding not needed between coats. Before first coat, wiped all surfaces with acetone to pull off surface oils. Also used a tack cloth on the surfaces just before each coat.

Unfortunately, the surface after three coats is a bit rough. There is still grain texture which is OK at this point, but there is addtionally, a slightly "sandy" texture. I think I will probably give it a light sanding before moving on to the unthinned build-up coats.

Is this texture "normal" at this point in the process?l Will a light smoothing sanding at this point correct this? Or should I just go on to the next coats and hope they level out and smooth the surface?

I want to make sure I work out all the "bugs" in this process before the greater challenge of working on all the surfaces in the cabin.

 

[mherrcat]

I don't think I would like a gloss finish on the interior; the spectral highlights from any lighting would be too intense, in my opinion. Satin for me!

Also, trying to get a glass-like finish (no grain coming through) is going to be very difficult without using some kind of grain filler on the wood before varnishing. I mean VERY difficult.

 

[Emerald]

When varnishing below, I think a good technique is to apply all your base coats as gloss and then do a final coat in satin, so let's say 3-4 coats gloss with a satin coat on top. That way you don't muddy the wood/grain with build coats of satin, but get the toned down look that is easier on the eye and more forgiving on the prep. I have found some oils also provide a nice satin/semi-gloss finish. I'm using Daly's SeaFin Teak Oil below for a finish with a nice sheen to it that is easy to maintain. A link :


http://www.dalyspaint.com/catalog_seafin.html

A place where I use high gloss varnish below and like it very much is the sole and the Nav. table. And despite what one might think, I haven't found it to be slippery when wet.

 

[exoduse35]

How it went....I sanded all the wood with 220 to start. then bleached it several times and re-sanded with 320 till the sun spots blended in as mush as possible. then 2 coats of 50/50 varnish and thinner. After that, sanded with 400 followed by eight coats of varnish, I think I went 1 a day for 3 days then sanded again after letting it sit a week then repeated. The top two coats were after sanding at 600 and 1000. then I wet sanded the top with 3200 and polished with wax. I originally intended to do the walls as satin for the top coat and the solid trim in gloss. As Emerald said, if you build in gloss it keeps the grain clear all the way out, and the flatter stuff looks more cloudy. I have always admired those old wooden boats that look like they were dipped in glass and thought that the trim would hold up for a good while inside the boat, and was going to be a great accent to the satin bulkheads. As I got to the end of the project I decided that the all gloss look was pleasing so I never did the satin coat. It has been about 5 years now and still looks as good as the day I finished as I keep all the light out when not on the boat. The covers on the outside wood have also extended the varnish life to 3-4 years with only touching up the edges once a year so I plan to shoot for the full glass dipped look on the outside next year when I redo the outside. It was not that much work to sand. the big problem is keeping the dust down and out of the paint. That is why I chose the Epifanes for teak... it doesn't need sanding between coats so much if you stay in the label's window to re coat. A good tip I was given is paint naked. it works! Your clothes are always full of dirt & dust. It sounds like a lot of work to do so many coats but I think I did the whole thing in about 2 or 3 hours each evening after work and the whole project took a month, half of that was preparing the wood and half watching paint dry so to speak. On the 1970 boat the bulkheads were a ply wood with the entire (at least) layer being of mahogany and the doors and trim were of solid mahogany and teak except for the large closet doors which were a 1/8 mahogany ply with solid frames. I had no sand through issues put then did not do a lot of sanding on the wood itself after the old varnish came off, And it seems to me that I may have loosened up the stubborn parts with Jasco stripper but the fumes were so bad that I kept that to a minimum Have fun. Edd

 

[exoduse35]

Paint naked...and other tips!

Dust is the enemy! thoroughly vacuum the boat two days and the day before you start varnishing. Get a hose long enough to keep the vacuum outside as it will pick up small dust particles then pump them back out past the filter. Use lots of tack rags and wipe each surface just prior to varnishing. Buy a good brush... if it did not cost more than a quart of varnish it is not the right one! Do not wash out the brush, keep it suspended in a container of thinner and do not let it dry out. then wipe and clean it just prior to starting the next coat and then begin on a scrap till the solvents leach out of the brush and you are getting pure varnish again. Do not shake the varnish can! try to avoid getting air bubbles into it. pour slowly and do not use the can as a container unless you will finish the whole can in one coat, and never pour varnish back into the can. Paint the entire length of the grain going from top to bottom then move horizontally (assuming the wood grain is vertical) go back 10 minutes later and remove any runs then leave things alone. start farthest from the hatch, when you get there... leave. Keep the boat warm but sealed and with as little air circulation as possible, fans are a bad idea for a good finish. use a hair net and face mask, not for fumes but to capture what you exhale. Try to limit movement while in the boat as not to stir up any dust. That is about all I can think of for now, Edd

 

[Shamwari]

Naked - sounded good to me

Edd
I just phoned my wife and told her she needed to varnish the boat naked this week ..........
and now I probably need to sleep on the boat myself tonight.

 

[exoduse35]

Well if your wife is like mine it may not be all bad. The point is that the clothes you are wearing are full of dust and many people tend to bundle up so as not to get paint on themselves. This is a case where less is more and it does work against the common thinking but does make sense if you take a cloth and shake it in the right light and see the dust cloud it makes. Besides why does your wife have to do the varnishing? Edd