Floor repair and brightwork refurbishment while living aboard

[MTnC]

I’m looking at a boat to move on to in the next couple of months. All of the brightwork from top to bottom is in need of work. You can tell that several layers of varnish cover them and it’s time to get back to the bare wood and start over.

First, I need to repair some areas. The attached image shows some rot in the front of the cabin sole across from the head. It was a leak from the mast that has since been repaired. This little area is the last that needs to be repaired.

I’m a do-it-yourselfer with more tools than I know what to do with. However, I sold my table-saw a few years back and only have a small bandsaw and plenty of power tools and hand tools. Is this a pretty minor repair?

Next is a desire to progressively restore the teak to it’s original beauty. Is that something that can be done while living aboard 100%? (This is my new home.) My thinking on this right now is to use a sander hooked up to my shopvac after I scrape of the top coats. Get it completely ready for varnish before going to bed. Then varnish early in the AM and spend the next several hours outside in the cockpit until it has dried and the cabin is again breathable. Is this realistic?

 

[billsreef]

Pettit has a water based varnish that I have used for interior work. No fumes, and you can do several coats per day, depending on temperature. You do need to use a sealer for the first coat if it is bare wood. That needs some time to air out.

 

[SloopJonB]

If it was me I'd make and finish the replacement sole pieces off the boat and then install them.

As to the rest, seal off a compartment at a time with plastic sheet and tape then finish it. I'm currently doing my forepeak cabin and even with a vac sander it makes an incredible mess. It's almost impossible to completely isolate it so getting all the soft goods off the boat or at least bagged in plastic would be a very good idea. Taping all door & drawer seams - like that.

Doing it while living aboard is going to be nasty so do everything you can to minimize the mess - especially limiting power sanding. A heat gun and scraping followed by hand sanding would probably be the best method.

 

[jamhass]

Try it. If your sander + vac is too messy, consider buying or renting the Festool. Incredibly good at catching dust.

 

[SloopJonB]

At over a grand it should be.

 

[Diamond Jim]

I heartily recommend the Festool Rotex sanders. When combined with a $30 automatic vacuum switch, a cheap shop vac from the big box works just fine. Total cost under $700.

 

[loungesailor]

What Sloop said about soft goods and working and taping off a section at a time. It’s the only way if you’re living aboard.
I’ll add to the keeping things clean suggestion with also picking a predetermined quitting time every day and sticking to it. Sounds like obvious advice I know but it’s a lifesaver for keeping the motivation and pace up.
If one of us had to go to their day job the one working on the boat would ensure all was clean and decently liveable when the worker bee got home.
We‘ve stuck to these rules about 90 percent of the time and it sure mitigated the down side to living and working on the boat at the same time.

After the cleaning and vacuuming I’d hose down the air with a garden/Hudson sprayer of some sort set to fine mist and then mop and wipe down all surfaces. The misting pulled dust and any fibreglass sparkle out of the air which in turn made cooking and sleeping comfortable.
Only when I’d mopped down would I fold back any taped up (and cleaned) plastic sheeting.

If it was an interior varnishing project I’d mist first then mop and dry then varnish last.

A powerful squirrel cage fan on the end of the finger facing out over the channel all set up ready to go was often part of the tool kit. At the end of the day I’d stand in front of it and twirl. It‘d get most of the dust off my work clothes and a shower would do the rest.

We built a whole new cabin sole off site and “dropped it” in place all while living aboard so it can be done. Not sure how I would’ve fared with that particular project without a shop though.

 

[Third Reef]

Another few obvious questions, why is there water damage in the first place and have you stopped the route cause of the leaks. Secondly if there is that much rot, I wouldn't be surprised if there was more structural work to do.

If I was living in the boat, I would seal of the forepeak and only ever enter from the hatch. I would be absolutely pedantic about making the forepeak a clean area. I would tarped the cockpit and use it as an intermediate zone. Liberal use of dust collection and vacuum down the entire cabin at the end of each day as suggested above.

A

 

[MTnC]

Try it. If your sander + vac is too messy, consider buying or renting the Festool. Incredibly good at catching dust.

I've got several Porter-Cable sanders and a high-end Fein shop-vac with a built-in auto switch. Also 2 different heat guns, one with adjustable temp for electronics work.

 

[MTnC]

Another few obvious questions, why is there water damage in the first place and have you stopped the route cause of the leaks. Secondly if there is that much rot, I wouldn't be surprised if there was more structural work to do.

If I was living in the boat, I would seal of the forepeak and only ever enter from the hatch. I would be absolutely pedantic about making the forepeak a clean area. I would tarped the cockpit and use it as an intermediate zone. Liberal use of dust collection and vacuum down the entire cabin at the end of each day as suggested above.

A

There was a leak at the mast base where rain was dripping down. Almost all of the damage has been repaired and mitigated with the exception of this last floor area across from the head. They decided to sell instead of doing the finish work, so they basically quit after all the repair work and rough sanding was completed.

 

[ghost37]

Hey, my wife and I live/cruise full time on a sistership. We've refit nearly every system and have also made a number of cosmetic repairs and structural enhancements over the past 7 years. Feel free to drop me a message if you want specific advise. (Saw your post on FB)

With regard to this topic, as someone else mentioned...Festool (or equivalent) sander with dust collector. Over the winter we added two watertight compartments and did a ton of fiberglass work while living aboard. Without the Festool system, it would have been a disaster.

These are good boats - ours has been through the canal and across the Atlantic twice - but they are old and will need work!

 

[MTnC]

Hey, my wife and I live/cruise full time on a sistership. We've refit nearly every system and have also made a number of cosmetic repairs and structural enhancements over the past 7 years. Feel free to drop me a message if you want specific advise. (Saw your post on FB)

With regard to this topic, as someone else mentioned...Festool (or equivalent) sander with dust collector. Over the winter we added two watertight compartments and did a ton of fiberglass work while living aboard. Without the Festool system, it would have been a disaster.

These are good boats - ours has been through the canal and across the Atlantic twice - but they are old and will need work!

Will do! I also found a facebook group called "Gulfstar 37 owners" and applied to join, but haven't heard back in a couple of days.

 

[Israel Hands]

At over a grand it should be.

I got the low-end CT-15 Festool vac, which has really done the job @ just over $400. I did add the heavy-duty green hose after a couple of months.

 

[SloopJonB]

And how much was it with the hose and sander included?

 

[ghost37]

And how much was it with the hose and sander included?

We also have the CT-15 like Isreal. It's been as close to life changing as a vacuum can be. Sanders run $450 and up depending on which size and model. And then you need accessories and sanding pads, which also aren't cheap. You'll probably also need more than one sander depending on what you want to do (finishing wood vs. grinding glass). Bottom line, it's expensive...but we justified it since we DIY and value our health. Zero regrets and we feel like we've gotten our money's worth.

I got the low-end CT-15 Festool vac, which has really done the job @ just over $400. I did add the heavy-duty green hose after a couple of months.

Just curious...what's the value in the green hose? I thought about this but after using the black one didn't understand why the upgrade was needed.

 

[Israel Hands]

And how much was it with the hose and sander included?

Here's the sander I got - $299. Expensive, but it sands circles around the 5" DeWalt orbital which I also use hooked up the vacuum.

The teak & holly sole in the main cabin has been a bitch to sand. Apparently the last finishing job was done leaving wear grooves in the main walkway. After scraping the old finish off and doing the initial sanding, there were still grooves of finish left. Between the grooves and the hardness of the wood, it has taken hours to get them out and to properly sand the floor. Finally I arrived at what has worked best for me: start with 60 grit Cubitron on the DeWalt, then switch to the Festool sander and paper - first 120 then 220. It seems that brands of sandpapers can be wildly different in terms of effectiveness.

Just curious...what's the value in the green hose? I thought about this but after using the black one didn't understand why the upgrade was needed.

The corrugated hose that came with mine was silver. I'd read that those tended to break after being stepped on and abused, and that the green hose is particularly durable. I've found it also is easier handle, doesn't catch on things...and I always have the silver as backup. It's also possible to put a Y valve on the vacuum and run two sanders at once.

 

[Israel Hands]

Along with the Festool sander and CT-15, my other expensive but worth-it acquisition has been the Fein Multimaster. Yes there are cheaper tools that do the same thing, but the Fein does everything with great control and precision. @SloopJonB gave me good advice about only hand-sanding the smaller, finer trim pieces in the cabin. The multimaster sanding attachments can reduce the number of pieces requiring hand sanding, because they are so precise. It's also allowed me to make fine cuts into nooks and crannies I wouldn't have dared to venture before. I feel about it the way felt about the Dremel when I first bought it. These tools allow me to operate above my station.

 

[MTnC]

I was out again yesterday and I’ve got a few more questions. When the veneer starts coming loose at the bottom, is there a way to repair that? Cleaning and glueing? Or does the whole panel need to be replaced?

Also, some of the solid teak pieces are pretty well installed, and I don’t see an easy way to remove them for refinishing. Clean and sand in place?

 

[SloopJonB]

I was out again yesterday and I’ve got a few more questions. When the veneer starts coming loose at the bottom, is there a way to repair that? Cleaning and glueing? Or does the whole panel need to be replaced?

View attachment 596767

I've had some success with situations like that by installing a piece of teak "baseboard" over the damaged area. I stuck the damaged veneer down with a liberal coat of varnish then installed the cover board.

 

[Israel Hands]

FWIW I’ve had good luck sanding the edges and corners of the cabin sole, as yours is shown above, using my iron-shaped Festool sander. A cheaper mouse sander can probably do the same thing.