Travesty?

[paul culver]

After seeing Martin King's photos of his boat rehab I am seriously thinking of lightening up the interior of my E29 by painting the teak veneer hull liners white. In general I have tried to minimize any changes to the original design but this one really appeals to me. Do you think it would be a travesty? If not, are there any pitfalls I should be aware of in prepping and painting the teak?

Thanks

Paul

 

[S Ellis]

Paint it!

I wouldn't hesitate to paint it out , especially if the wood is water stained or marked up in any way. I painted all the bulkheads, and woodwork on my 32 and just left the trim pieces, drawer fronts, etc. natural. Brightened up the whole interior, and made it way easier to keep clean, especially in the head. Just be sure to use a good primer and quality paint. On the main bulkhead we first put on a textured vinyl wallpaper, and then painted over it. Adds some interest to a large expanse of white. Don't use white...go with an off white.

 

[Chris Miller]

fwiw

just as a fwiw, since you are soliciting opinions-
I personally wouldn't purchase a boat that had interior teak painted.
just my $0.02
Chris

 

[Frank Langer]

And another opinion--I would also be very hesitant about painting the interior. Many sailors who buy these older boats also like the more traditional look of teak, rather than the more "sterile" look of modern plastics or paint.

Before we bought our current E30+, I showed my wife a picture on Yachtworld of a C&C 29 that I thought might be a good buy and meet our needs. As soon as she saw the white inside with only some limited teak trim, she dismissed it as not nearly as attractive as other boats I had showed her--we didn't pursue it.

We have had lots of compliments on the teak in our E30+, including comments that it doesn't look dark like some teak interiors (the large hatches and good lighting make a difference).

So I would also caution about painting the teak. But I would consider replacing the vinly headliner with a white hardboard and teak trim, as someone on this site has done--it looks great, and the white ceiling brightens the cabin a bit more.

Frank.

 

[Loren Beach]

We are about half way through a long term project to lighten up our factory-oiled teak interior. We have taken doors and trim home to clean and bleach with Teaka A and B and then layed on coats of varnish. The difference in light-ness is *quite* noticeable.
I just rehung the head door this morning. It is visibly more golden than the darker slightly-reddish look of the original bulkhead around it. (Ericson reportedly used a light cherry stain to blend in all the different teak pieces and grains when they put oil finish on.)

Stripping the interior wood in place is a bit of a hassle, though. Lots of wet rags and plastic to catch drips when using the Teaka chemicals. It seems to take about two applications. Next I sand it with a dustless sander ducted to my Fein vac. The resulting surface is a bit rough in places, but by the second coat of thinned varnish it fills in and starts to look very... rewarding.

Loren

 

[jmcpeak]

It's your boat, do what you want. I say if it helps you enjoy it more, go for it.

And to Chris's point - remember, you can always sand and restain the teak, it's only paint!

The only travesty you could perform would be to not sail her!

 

[jkenan]

I recently did that to mine. My teak liners were badly damaged, with some delamination, but mostly cut up by years of adding and removing stuff by PO's. So I cut new liners out of Okeume 1/4" ply, 1st coated in a few coats of epoxy, then painted with a barrier coat, and finally painted with interlux brightsides flattened down a touch.

I also added puck lights (with a mohogany base of my own construction since I wasn't willing to cut into the Balsa so they would fit) mounted to the roof liner just above those panels, with a red bulb for night adjacent to bulkhead, and a white one about two feet back, same on port/stbd. On either side of the companionway underneath the matching cabinets (one for radios/iPod/Binocs, and the other for Sunscreen/Spices - built as a polygon so shelves are level - fun!) I mounted a 2-position nav dome light which also allows for red night lighting. The night lighting is really quite nice, and the ambiance is very relaxing while anchored or docked at night. It is also great for our 18 month old who is set up for sleep in the main salon when we have to move about.

Anyway, I like you, am inspired by Martin's achievements, and plan to continue making some improvements. Below are some pics of my interior work, as well as some salon hatches I recently built that are being fitted into place (no lens installed yet, nor are they fastened to the hinges, but you get the drift...)

Best of luck with your projects,

 

[Chris Miller]

It's your boat, do what you want. I say if it helps you enjoy it more, go for it.

And to Chris's point - remember, you can always sand and restain the teak, it's only paint!

The only travesty you could perform would be to not sail her!

just pointing out a possible issue for resale
and I agree sometimes the dark interior gets overwhelming...
Chris

 

[jkm]

John

Those picture look great.

Very nice boat

On the issue of painting I have kept my boat very stock and I'm at the turning point. All the issues about resale are probably valid, but I figure by the time I sell Penquin I won't care whether I lose a few thousand or not.

I think my interior could use some upgrades starting with the cushions. I was somewhat blessed in that the PO had only removed the factory plastic from a few of the cushions. He never used the boat, it sat in the same slip for almost 30 years.

I just feel it's dated and time for an overhaul so painting out some of the wood might just be in order

John

 

[Loren Beach]

Having seen a couple of painted-over teak (?) interior panel sections, I would only caution that the original veneer is very thin, and plans to sand it down later might run right thru the surface.
Also, the ones that I looked at had checking along many of the grain lines in the surface and frankly looked bad.

OTOH, a friend bought a 30-year-old Islander that had been to the South Pacific, and the PO had first varnished the teak cap rails and then painted them white. After my friend removed the white paint, the teak was in excellent condition for varnishing again. (Here in the NW the clear finish will last a *lot* longer than it would have in the tropics.)

If the original teak or mahogany surface is shot, then a restoration would likely involve putting a new layer of veneer on top before varnishing, anyway... so painting the old surface would not harm the "value."

Like any surface coating, preparation is everything, but you knew that...


Loren

 

[paul culver]

Thanks for great input on both sides of this issue and nice work John K! Did you get your hatch hinges dipped and replated or did they just clean up that well?

I've decided to try a digital photo mock-up of before and after painting appearences before I go any further with this. Hopefully I'll be able to post the results next week.

--Paul
E29 "Bear"

 

[rwthomas1]

As long as you don't do anything tasteless and the job is done right I don't see how its going to affect the value of an older boat all that much. Go for it. My two cents. RT

 

[Kevin Johnston]

Interior Spaces

By adding an number of framed mirrors and some tile in the head we created an illusion of more space on our E27. Other sailors get aboard and can't believe how much room our boat appears to have but again it is all in the magic of mirrors. Take a look.

 

[jmcpeak]

John - looks great! How much time did that take?

What did you do with the ceiling?

I'm thinking that bamboo project Gus did, looked really nice.

 

[jthistle]

Paint and more paint

I'm on board with the painting. My 1972 E35 needs alot of work and I dont think there is too much loss of character if the interior gets a quality remodel.

Try to keep the trim pieces,drawer fronts and some locker doors. Don Casey claims that AJAX can work as a lightener. Anyone try this?

I'd love to see some more snaps of lightened and remodled interiors.

Cheers
Jason
1972 e35 #268