floor paint and wood staining

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floor paint and wood staining

Postby samdivita66 » Mon Mar 30, 2020 11:18 am

Hello! I am seeking to begin some refurbishing of my 1965 DS1. The floor paint has been chipping away. I'd like to scrape and paint. Can someone recommend a quality paint product for for the floor? Also, my wood decking and trim needs to be redone. I'd like to sand and varnish. Recommendations for products? Thanks! Sam
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Re: floor paint and wood staining

Postby GreenLake » Mon Mar 30, 2020 4:51 pm

Sam,

let me address these separately. For the floor (i.e. inside of the hull), the consideration has to be that there is likely to be standing water at times and many paints that would otherwise be fine will have strong objections to that kind of treatment. On my boat, the damage initially was confined to underneath the wooden floorboards. In some cases the latter had rubbed through to the laminate. My solution at the time was to get a transparent gelcoat paste. EverCoat, I believe, is the brand name. Their transparent ("neutral") gelcoat is formulated to cure in air. I used that to build up the areas the floorboards had been resting on and extended it a bit across other badly worn paint areas (after removing loose paint). Then I covered things up with the floorboards and went back to sailing. Nowadays, I leave the floorboards at home, so a new coat of paint on top of the gelcoat repair wouldn't go amiss, but I've not been able to bring myself to launch into a full repainting project.

For deck and seat surfaces I would not hesitate to use Petit's EasyPoxy paint. I found it easy to apply and it becomes very durable, but you must let it cure for a couple of weeks at least (initially it can be rather soft). I did my transom with it, so it handles some exposure to water, but probably not standing water. There are specially formulated "bilge paints" that should handle the water, you might also look at pool paints.

Now, onto the wood trim and floor boards.

You essentially have three options there:
  1. Oil: a wood oil is easy to apply and to touch up, but is not glossy and will require frequent maintenance (which can be very quick). Oil will not keep moisture out as well, but would allow the wood to dry out again most easily of these options. Because it penetrates, it's not damaged by scraping or dropping something on it.
  2. Traditional varnish: varnish would be more durable, but it doesn't seal the wood completely, so it continues to swell and shrink with changes in humidity. As a result, the varnish will eventually crack and you will need to sand and reapply. On a sharp corner like the top of the coamings, it can be scraped off, and may suffer from being walked on (floor boards).
  3. Epoxy seal, before varnish: if you completely seal the wood (including any openings) with an epoxy product, (such as ClearCoat from SystemThree) you would stop the moisture cycling and provide a very firm ground for the varnish. The varnish is still needed because epoxy doesn't tolerate UV, but it will last much longer and you can use polyurethane ones that can be pretty strong and scratch resistant (I've used Satin WR-LPU from SystemThree, for example). I did my coamings and thwarts (boards connecting the CB trunk to the seats) this way and it's held up for many seasons (with occasional touch up of the PU - it handles a lot of use, but something sharp will scratch it). If the epoxy ever fails, it will take the most work of all three options to get it off and restore.

I've now also done the little wooden shelf that was under the transom deck this way, and am working on doing the floorboards as well.

I'm not sure whether I'm doing the right thing with the floorboards, because the epoxy seal method requires something like perfection in making sure there's no way for water to get past it. I think that's probably impossible to achieve for the floorboards, because of all the fasteners. And floorboards are likely to be awash at some point, so that water would have a good chance to get to any little point that's not perfectly sealed. I'm committed to this approach at this point and will eventually see it through and report here. A the moment, I've stopped using these altogether because I can do without the added weight in racing.

For things like coamings, thwarts, and transom shelf, I can report that it did indeed help to sharply reduce the annual maintenance required. With the catalyst provided, the WR-LPU cures into a very tough surface, well suited for sitting on (like for the thwarts). The sharp top edge of the coamings is a bit of a problem, there are small defects from scrapes and nicks, but I'm usually able to touch them up locally. (I've learned to use a short strip of electrical tape below the tiller: if I lean on it, it can make contact there).

Generally, the three options have an inverse relation between the ease of maintenance and frequency of required maintenance. Oil, you would just wipe on, but may have to do that more than once a season. On the other extreme, Epoxy sealed varnish (PU) is really tough and requires no maintenance other than repairing any damage for years. If / when it needs to be replaced, it will be a massive undertaking. I tried varnishing the floorboards and other trim after sanding them down to bare wood and was dismayed when just a couple of seasons later I was faced with the same task again, that's when I switched to the epoxy seal method.

Hope this doesn't overload you with choices, but there it is.

I store my boat covered and I think humidity cycling rather than UV exposure is the main factor that leads to failed varnish. If you keep your boat uncovered under a Texas sun, you may possibly not be able to replicate my experience.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: floor paint and wood staining

Postby jalmeida51 » Mon Mar 30, 2020 9:59 pm

I used Interlux Interdeck Non Skid paint on my floor due to I have no floorboards. I put 2 coats on it. I did put extra mineral sand in the paint to give a good non slip surface. It stands up to sitting water and wears well. It just takes a lot of time to dry between coats, at least 2 days. On the coamings and the thwart I used Pettit's Captain Varnish 6 coats and I don't have to touch it up for about a year in the hot Florida sun I also use it on the tiller. Nothing looks better than varnish on bright work. I do admit it is work to keep it looking good.
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Re: floor paint and wood staining

Postby samdivita66 » Tue Mar 31, 2020 11:04 am

Thanks for the very thorough response. This certainly helps me to make some informed decisions.
I like the wood oil option for the wooden decking/trim. Do you recommend a brand?

Thanks,
Sam
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Re: floor paint and wood staining

Postby tomodda » Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:44 pm

Penofin
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Re: floor paint and wood staining

Postby samdivita66 » Tue Mar 31, 2020 5:24 pm

Thanks for the recommendations!

Sam
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Re: floor paint and wood staining

Postby Paddyt » Tue Jun 02, 2020 9:05 pm

I will add my 2 cents for what it’s worth. I found an exterior tung oil years ago for my east facing front door that got direct sunlight in the mornings. Very easy to apply and You can actually make it a high sheen if you apply multiple coats. I have been using the oil now for anything wood I make especially if it stays outside. I apply quite a few coats and I can usually stretch maintenance coats to every couple years. Maintenance is super quick and easy too. Sutherland Wells is the manufacturer, here is a link:

https://www.sutherlandwelles.com/shop/e ... diumlustre

They have a section on how to apply for boats, but I’ve used it so long now that I know I can get away without using the sealer but I’m sure it would be an added benefit. Here is a picture of one of the thwarts I made last summer, I took it off about a month ago to start working on the boat.
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Re: floor paint and wood staining

Postby samdivita66 » Fri Jun 26, 2020 6:20 pm

Beautiful finish! Thank you for sharing.
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Re: floor paint and wood staining

Postby GreenLake » Fri Jun 26, 2020 6:50 pm

@PaddyT Thanks for sharing your result for using oil.
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