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Refinishing Sole - original finish not varnished

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 5:40 pm
by sforgey2
I have replaced a few boards in my cabin sole and now ready to refinish and restore the sole on my Freedom 32 Hoyt.

I am not sure what the original finish was, probably an oil of some sorts, isn't varnished. In my boat nothing is varnished down below, just left natural with some type of oil. We have been using teak oil on walls, doors, etc.

i have a lot of stains around engine cover, etc. Clearly it is now time to strip and refinish.

Suggestions for process, cleaners? teak bleaching? Sanding? Tips on sanding?

What to put on it when done?

I stripped and varnished all the brightwork outside and swore I would rather buy stainless hand rails rather than do them again. Looks great, not fun.

But now to the inside.

I have a week set aside to do the work, so plenty of time. BTW - I reviewed a number of the strings on this site and mostly people were stripping varnish and re-varnishing it. Not sure I want/need to varnish the sole.

Thanks

Re: Refinishing Sole - original finish not varnished

Posted: Sun Sep 13, 2020 6:15 pm
by Camino
On 2 previous boats with teak interiors I applied tung oil once a year- wipe on wipe off with a clean cloth. A couple of coats. Easy and looks great. Your stain areas probably from water damage(?) - try rubbing some tung oil on to see if that does it by itself - seems to me if I can remember, that worked pretty well on minor stains back then.....any big box store or Ace should carry tung oil.

On sanding, if the interior is laminated, you’ll have a thin thickness to work with. Be careful

Re: Refinishing Sole - original finish not varnished

Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2020 2:44 pm
by bad
If the woods is unfinished or oiled, I've had very good luck with a two part teak cleaner and brightener and then a hard wax oil finish like Fiddes. The cleaner avoided sanding the veneer, though it did raise the grain a little. After the first coat of Fiddes, do a light sanding with 150 or 180 grit - I've also used the green 3M pads on contoured stuff. And the second coat left a very smooth finish. The finish has held up to water, ATF, diesel, and various solvents. Fiddes sent some lab test results re traction when wet and they looked good.

Two coats will not fill in the grain like multiple, many, a lot of varnish coats.

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