Refinishing Salon Hardwood Floors

I'm starting to think about the floor refinishing project that is on my list.* The floors themselves are in good shape but the finish is totally worn*through in places.* I'm thinking to tape plastic sheeting at the stateroom and galley companionways to keep as much of the sanding dust as possible under control.*

Once I get down*to unfinished wood, what is the best product to use to refinish?* Would love a deep shiney finish!

I thought I would ask what advice ya'll have before I get started.* What products did you use?* What would you do differently if you had to do it again?

Thanks!!

Everyone's got their favorite, but, for a wood sole, I really like Epiphane's Rubbed Effect varnish. It's application is forgiving but it gives an incredibly tough finish that is not too slick. A bit pricey for varnish, though.

dvd

Bess,

I have 50 years in the floor finishing business. Inside there is no need to use a "marine" finish. Once the old finish and dark spots have been removed finish up with with #120 paper. No need to go any finer. You don't want to burnish the surface. After that use your favorite urethane. *

My standard finish is Lenmar. It is available in satin or gloss and holds up well. MoistureCure urethane is a commercial duty finish but hard to find. Be sure to use a respirator with that.

Also very durable is Street Shoe by Basic Coatings. It is a two part waterborn finish. There is a learning curve with it and you must use their sealer first to prevent edge bonding-the finish is so hard it will glue the boards together and the wood can split rather than seperate at the joints with seasonal movement.

Other good finishes are Zip Guard and Lasts and Lasts. I have not had good luck with Minwax although I always use their stains.

Please email me if you have any questions.*

Rob

37' Sedan

Bess

I have done my trawler, my house, and my RV. I used marine varnish on the trawler and Varathane for floors on the others. The Varathane gave the best results, by far. sand to bare wood with a pro sander, 40 grit, then 80, then 120. Mop on the Varathane with their special applicator pad. 4 coats. After 5 yrs, it looks like a new, professional finish.

I used a belt sander with vacuum bag for preparation - not too fine as has been already suggested. Finished off in the corners with one of those clothes-ironing shaped orbital sanders. Then after a good vacuuming, finished with 4 coats of 2 pack International (Interlux in US) Perfection varnish, applied semi-continuously, with < 24 hrs between coats so no need to re-sand.* Came up fabulously, and still good after 5 yrs hard use.


-- Edited by Peter B on Monday 30th of January 2012 05:35:38 AM

If the cabin sole is smooth either gym varnish or bowling alley varnish will give some grip when wet.

A consideration weather the boat leaves the dock or not.

We have teak parkay. A very light sanding with 150 grit on a palm sander. I emphasize very light sanding. Then 2 coats minwax polyurethane.

*

*

What have you done about dings in the floor? I have several not too big, they are not gouges but more like dents from things falling. I think I'll have to do mine next year.
I like the idea of gym/ bowling alley varnish.
Steve W


-- Edited by Steve on Monday 30th of January 2012 08:14:42 AM

Steve wrote:
What have you done about dings in the floor? I have several not too big, they are not gouges but more like dents from things falling. I think I'll have to do mine next year.
I like the idea of gym/ bowling alley varnish.
Steve W



-- Edited by Steve on Monday 30th of January 2012 08:14:42 AM

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Once you get the old finish off, put a damp old washcloth or rag on top of the ding and heat it up with a clothes iron. That sometimes works if the dent is not to big.


-- Edited by dwhatty on Monday 30th of January 2012 09:04:14 AM

Steve wrote:
What have you done about dings in the floor? I have several not too big, they are not gouges but more like dents from things falling. I think I'll have to do mine next year.
I like the idea of gym/ bowling alley varnish.
Steve W



-- Edited by Steve on Monday 30th of January 2012 08:14:42 AM

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*Nothing. Those are "character marks"!

dwhatty wrote:
Once you get the old finish off, put a damp old washcloth or rag on top of the ding and heat it up with a clothes iron. That sometimes works if the dent is not to big.

___________________________________________________
I've used this method when refinishing gun stocks....works every time.

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*


-- Edited by SeaHorse II on Monday 30th of January 2012 01:16:28 PM

Datenight wrote:


Bess,

I have 50 years in the floor finishing business. Inside there is no need to use a "marine" finish. Once the old finish and dark spots have been removed finish up with with #120 paper. No need to go any finer. You don't want to burnish the surface. After that use your favorite urethane. *

My standard finish is Lenmar. It is available in satin or gloss and holds up well. MoistureCure urethane is a commercial duty finish but hard to find. Be sure to use a respirator with that.

Also very durable is Street Shoe by Basic Coatings. It is a two part waterborn finish. There is a learning curve with it and you must use their sealer first to prevent edge bonding-the finish is so hard it will glue the boards together and the wood can split rather than seperate at the joints with seasonal movement.

Other good finishes are Zip Guard and Lasts and Lasts. I have not had good luck with Minwax although I always use their stains.

Please email me if you have any questions.*

Rob

37' Sedan

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Datenight: Thanks. This is just what I was looking for. We live and cruise 24/7's with a dog and varnish just doesn't hold up for us.

Steve wrote:
What have you done about dings in the floor? I have several not too big, they are not gouges but more like dents from things falling. I think I'll have to do mine next year.
I like the idea of gym/ bowling alley varnish.
Steve W

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*Steve for dents use a hot clothes iron and a wet rag. Place the wet rag over the dent and apply the iron tip. The steam will raise the dent.

have used it on*gun stocks to great success.

SD

*

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Datenight: Thanks. This is just what I was looking for. We live and cruise 24/7's with a dog and varnish just doesn't hold up for us.

*Larry,

While a finish like MoistureCure or Street Shoe is harder than a standard urethane (which are also quite good) almost nothing stands up to dog toenails over time. Your best bet is to keep the nails trimmed (you and the dog!) and possibly runners in the main dog/traffic areas. The carpets will give fido better traction as well as protect the floor.

We have a local chain store, Ocean State Job Lot that sells "oriental" style runners and carpets inexpensevly. Something like that looks good over the wood and does not break the bank.

Rob

37' Sedan

Rob

37' Sedan

That's also very good advice Larry. We also have a carpet runner just through the main traffic-way of the saloon, and it does save quite a lot of the harder wear.

Peter B wrote:
That's also very good advice Larry. We also have a carpet runner just through the main traffic-way of the saloon, and it does save quite a lot of the harder wear.

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*The commercial carpet runners sold almost anywhere, offer rubber backing which makes them stay put, and offers a fair amount of sound deadening.*

A lot of folks are moving towards water based polyurethane, especially for floors. I am using it on my new mahogany trim. The water based polyurethane can be recoated in two hours vs overnight for oil based and there's no smell.*No sanding is required between coats either. Tools clean up with soap and water. I've used it in the past on furniture projects and it has held up well.

The only caution that might get some folks is, do not use steel wool for smoothing the wood or finish. The water will cause it to rust and ruin the job.


-- Edited by rwidman on Wednesday 1st of February 2012 07:43:30 PM

rwidman wrote:

The only caution that might get some folks is, do not use steel wool for smoothing the wood or finish. The water will cause it to rust and ruin the job.



-- Edited by rwidman on Wednesday 1st of February 2012 07:43:30 PM

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*Should have said that. Also, don't use a metal container to hold the finish as you apply it. Plastic is best. You don't have to sand between coats but the job comes out smoother if you do. On floors I use a maroon 3M pad on the buffer between coats. You could also use #150 grit sandpaper or a similar drywall screen.

You can apply with a synthetic brush but I seem to get better results with a good painting pad.

The usual technique for Street Shoe is to pour a 4" wide (use a garden watering can for this) line of finish the length of the room and squeegee the finish always having a stream of finish coming off the end of the applicator like a snow plow. Replenish the line as needed. As you approach the other side of the room it takes some experience to not be left with a big puddle to pick up. I use an 18" applicator on the job but in the boat would use a standard painting pad. Just pour out enough finish to keep a wet edge. Don't go back if you see a holliday this stuff sets up too fast. Fix it on the next coat.

Rob

37' Sedan

1. *

As an experiment with an eye toward someday refinishing the teak sole on our boat I refinished about four years ago the teak step inside the main cabin door. This step is used constantly by every person and every dog that enters or leaves the cabin enroute to or from the deck.

The finish I used is Daly's Seafin AquaSpar, a waterborne polyurethane http://www.dalyspaint.com/PDF/specs/S-SAquaSpar.pdf . After taking the step back to bare wood and finish sanding I applied about eight coats as I recall. I used the satin version of the finish, but eight coats gives more of a luster than one migh think, although it is not a gloss finish.

Given the use the step has been subjected to over the past four years or so on an every-weekend basis--- including a lot of punishment from a very active guest dog last September in the Gulf Islands--- I am amazed at how well the step has held up. It basically looks exactly the way it did when I installed it after the strip and refinish.

So based on our experience so far with this product we intend to use it when we get around to refinishing our cabin soles. We have some dings in the main cabin floor that we will repair using a method outlined on the GB owners forum, but once that has been done we'll use the AquaSpar.


-- Edited by Marin on Wednesday 1st of February 2012 08:35:15 PM

Datenight wrote:
*You don't have to sand between coats but the job comes out smoother if you do.**

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Yes, I will sand between coats.* I'm doing trim, not a floor and I want a smooth finish.

*

We are starting this project as soon as we get the boat back from the yard from the swim step repair (neighbor backed into us).* We ordered the Fabulon bowling lane finish*that Chuck / Beach house recommended in a prior thread.* I'm a little apprehensive as I think this the biggest job we've ever undertakenon the*boat*and I want it to turn out well.*

Bess have you decided what product to use yet?*

related question to the group, we have two sets of steps that are NOT teak and holly like the sole.**They*need to be*removed and*refinished.**I'm a little flummoxed as to what I should finish them with.* The floor stuff doesn't seem like the best idea as how does something self leveling level itself when it is on a vertical surface--seems like it would all run off the bottom? * So do I use marine varnish, maybe the same varnish I use on my exterior teak?* But won't that be slippery?* I don't want*to have to add non-skid strips.* Any ideas?*

Jennifer--- Everybody has preferences but we have found Daly's SeaFin AquaSpar (satin) to be an excellent product so far (see my previous post). We have had it on the main step into the main cabin for some four years or so now and it is not a slippery surface but it looks as good today as the day we put the step back in after refinishing. And we step on it with wet shoes, dry shoes, bare feet, socks, boat shoes, regular shoes, you name it. The dog has never slipped on it so far as we know. We put on about eight or ten coats so it's not as satin as just a few coats would be but it is not glossy and not slippery (in our opinions).

Marin wrote:
Jennifer--- Everybody has preferences but we have found Daly's SeaFin AquaSpar (satin) to be an excellent product so far (see my previous post). We have had it on the main step into the main cabin for some four years or so now and it is not a slippery surface but it looks as good today as the day we put the step back in after refinishing. And we step on it with wet shoes, dry shoes, bare feet, socks, boat shoes, regular shoes, you name it. The dog has never slipped on it so far as we know. We put on about eight or ten coats so it's not as satin as just a few coats would be but it is not glossy and not slippery (in our opinions).

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Thanks Marin that's good to hear.* I sure don't want to put non skid strips or sand or anything.* whatever is on there now is a bit slippery and I have almost slipped in sock feet going down to the galley.*The finsih is completely rubbed off on the edges of most of the steps so I have to get those redone before it gets worse!

Hi Jennifer!!* I have not decided what to do just yet.* You do it first, then tell me the best way!* ***

We're going to pull the engine room hatches and bring them home and do those here in the garage.* So we can test our "skills".** We're thinking a clear poly something as the finish.** Tom has to finish his electrical and plumbing upgrade then*we can start*the floors!

Besslb wrote:
Hi Jennifer!!* I have not decided what to do just yet.* You do it first, then tell me the best way!*

***

We're going to pull the engine room hatches and bring them home and do those here in the garage.* So we can test our "skills".** We're thinking a clear poly something as the finish.** Tom has to finish his electrical and plumbing upgrade then*we can start*the floors!

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we are planning to bring home a small hatch from the galley sole*as a test before we commit by sanding the whole sole!* I'm very nervous about this.** I'll keep you posted...

Besslb wrote:



Tom has to finish his electrical and plumbing upgrade then*we can start*the floors!

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You're allowed to start without me ya' know. :evileye:

Pineapple Girl wrote:we are planning to bring home a small hatch from the galley sole*as a test before we commit by sanding the whole sole!* I'm very nervous about this.** I'll keep you posted...

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*Don't be nervous!* It's just a project and not one that can sink the boat!*

Looks like I'll be trying those hatches before he's done with his project!

Besslb wrote:Pineapple Girl wrote:we are planning to bring home a small hatch from the galley sole*as a test before we commit by sanding the whole sole!* I'm very nervous about this.** I'll keep you posted...

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*Don't be nervous!* It's just a project and not one that can sink the boat!*

Looks like I'll be trying those hatches before he's done with his project!

We put a coat of varnish on our teak anchor platform thing and it looked AWFUL--brush marks, etc.* Really don't want my floor to look like that!!!*

Pineapple Girl wrote:
We put a coat of varnish on our teak anchor platform thing and it looked AWFUL--brush marks, etc.* Really don't want my floor to look like that!!!*

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*Ahhhh....When I did the swim platform, rubrail and window hatch frames, I used a sponge applicator not a brush.* No brush marks. *Try those on your test hatch.