Checked Wood and Varnish

Hello all,

Long time lurker here finally making a first post. So I bought my first boat! Its in pretty good shape for the most part, no leaks or wood rot, no major repairs needed. However it appears that the inside was all varnished but then left in the sun for who knows how long. Anyways, now the wood is checked and the varnish is peeling so I'm wanting to sand it and then just do oil for the inside of the boat. My question is, how much sanding do I need to do? Do I need to get all the varnish off? With the checking it becomes rather difficult to do. I'm sure that this has been answered on here before but I figured I'd start a new thread since I will most likely have other questions along the way. I appreciate all that I have learned on this forum and look forward to any input you veterans have. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on July 16, 2015 at 8:18am

Brett,you might want to visit: http://westcoastwoodenboats.ning.com/forum/topics/my-wooden-boat-ge...

I assisted Steve Putnam in a restoration of his Don Hill boat over the last couple of years. On the interior of his boat he removed ALL of the varnish with a heat gun, scraper and sandpaper. It only took a few days! We discussed the options of: boat soup, Daly's Seafin Teak Oil, fiberglass cloth laminated to the wood with epoxy, paint, and crying. He chose the Daly's Seafin Teak Oil. You can look at pictures on Steve's page here to see how it turned out.

The outside of his boat was suffering from peeling varnish and checking, the uneven drying of the winter growth rings versus the summer growth rings. After Steve sanded the outside I laminated six ounce fiberglass with System Three epoxy, we sanded it applied another coat of epoxy, sanded it again and applied Kirby's enamel over that. I believe we did three coats. Steve just took his maiden voyage a couple of weeks ago. He keeps it covered when he isn't on the river and it looks great. We used multiple coats of the Daly's on the chine caps and gunnels. It is easy to apply and seems to protect well. It does require fairly frequent applications to keep it looking as it did when new. However it only takes a few minutes to apply and you don't have to remove it before applying more. As we all learned in "Karate Kid", wipe on, wipe off!

Use the search engine above and see what others have done, what the opinions are what to do and more. There's plenty of discussions already done. It's best to ask a question like "what should I do to the interior of my boat?" to get the most answers.

Rick N

Permalink Reply by Brett McKinnon on July 16, 2015 at 10:53pm

Thanks for the reply Rick, that restoration project will be a great resource for me.

I suppose I should include a bit more information on my project. I am a college student and don't have much summer break left, so I'm trying to finish this asap. I am also low on funds so I'm trying to do things as cheap as possible, but still I want a good final product. The outside of the boat has some checking too, but I don't think I'll fiberglass it. Which leads me to another question.

If I remove all the chipped paint, will a light sanding, primer, and paint do the trick?

Also I have no idea what the shoe material is on this boat. Its not UHMW or fiberglass, it almost looks like a smooth version of truck bed liner or something. I'll have to post some pictures. I welcome any other advice on low budget restoration that anyone has to offer. Once again thanks for you input Rick.

Brett

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on July 17, 2015 at 12:26am
Brett, you are most welcome!
Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on July 17, 2015 at 7:25am

Brett, if you are looking for the least expensive and fastest way to refinish your boat it will be paint such as Kirby's. Sand all surfaces and brush on the paint. Then you only purchase one item other than sandpaper. The second choice would be oiling the interior with Daly's but you haven't addressed the checking. When will you be using the boat? When will you have your next opportunity to repair your boat and have funds? Perhaps you can find some inside storage until you can work on it and avoid further damage. It took Steve and I two years and quite a few hours to complete his boat and well more than $1,000!

Rick Newman

Permalink Reply by Brett McKinnon on July 17, 2015 at 9:23am

I might have underestimated the realistic timeline of this project, haha. I was hoping to have the boat ready for this steelhead season on the Clearwater. I have about another 6 weeks before school starts back up and I do have some money to spend. I really think that I would like to oil the interior and paint the outside.  I began sanding last night. So is fiberglass the only way to fully tackle the checking issue?

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on July 17, 2015 at 2:48pm
Several coats of paint may control it. Fiberglass, epoxy and something to protect the epoxy from UV exposure will stop it. I am just north of you in Spokane perhaps we can fish together sometime.
Permalink Reply by Brett McKinnon on July 24, 2015 at 11:10pm

That would be awesome Rick. Thanks for the advice. Almost done peeling varnish and planning to start sanding tomorrow. I'll probably just go without fiberglassing the outside. I know it would be better, but this boat is more of a means to an end, if it can make it 2 or 3 seasons then I will be satisfied. I'll post some before and after pictures when its completed.

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