Vinyl Wallcovering?

The teak paneling in the aft stateroom suffers from water stains from an old leak. I've been thinking about applying a vinyl wall covering, trimming the edges in Teak to cover this mess up. Has anyone done this, or willing to offer any other suggestion? My thought is it might brighten up the area.

The glue you use to glue the vinyl to the existing finish on the paneling will eventually give way leaving loose vinyl. The boat is probably more valuable with wood paneling.
Refinishing is really not that bad of a job with prep and good products.

Greetings,
Mr. MS. I tend to agree with Mr. L. but if refinishing doesn't work out, application of a new teak veneer would maintain the originality.

Some original veneers seem to be microns thick so you may not have much to work with in the refinishing department.

I concur with the others. Doesn't look so bad. Not delaminated. Not rotten. Sand gently and refinish. With some kind of luck you may be able to avoid wholesale stripping of the adjacent sound finish. The veneer is likely to be quite thin so gently-gently!

To do the least surface removal you might purchase a cabinet scraper blade and a burnishing tool.

This can scrape a very thin layer off a surface , with no need to sand after.

A brand new plane blade , with a hook put on with the burnishing tool can also do great work.

An oil sharpening stone will remove the hook as it gets dull and you can then reform it.

Lepke said:

The glue you use to glue the vinyl to the existing finish on the paneling will eventually give way leaving loose vinyl. The boat is probably more valuable with wood paneling.
Refinishing is really not that bad of a job with prep and good products.

Click to expand...

Can you elaborate on the proper prep and products? (Refinishing for Dummies)

Here's a great write up on how to do it.

Repairing water stained interior paneling

Ken

Thanks. When bleaching, is it just the darker areas or the whole panel?

Bleaching is to lighten stained wood, so you would only do the dark areas to try and match the overall tone as closely as possible. Then a wash coat of sealer like shellac then selectively stain to blend in the whole panel.

Ken

Paint it.

"Paint it."

Does work for some , but remember no boat is owned forever , so be kind to the next owner.

Before painting out any wood coat it with a couple of coats of any old varnish.

When the next owner wants to restore the boat , the wood pores will not be filled with paint.

Stripper will get the wood back to what you walked away from.

Good point as usual FF.

Very interesting thread. I have been puzzling over how to remove water stains from my interior teak laminates, so advice from the experienced Forum gurus is very welcome. My question is: Shellac vs Varnish? What is the difference, and which products (brands) are rec'd for marine use (interior surfaces)? TIA

It's likely a thin veneered wall. So the veneer is most likely water damaged down to the plywood backing.

Look over these guys site. I used them and had good luck with their stuff.

Oakwood Veneer: The Experts in Exotic and Burl Wood Veneer..

Mak a templet, cut dry fit it, sand the wall, wipe it down, contact cement on both wall and new veneer.. Cover new sticky with wax paper, peel and roll it on. Put the trim back on and UB done. Oh yeah. Stain and finish.

For fabrics i always look at http://www.sailrite.com/Fabrics/Marine-Fabric

In the past they also offered a perforated foam backed fabric that realy had that profesional look, can't find it anymore.

http://www.sailrite.com/Fabrics/Marine-Fabric

I know it's done but I would not use shellac as a final finish, just as a wood sealant before final finishing. Shellac's best attributes are it does not darken the wood and it dries very quickly.

Ken

If you don't know the difference between shellac and varnish I would advise you not to use Shellac as it is far more difficult to get good results with shellac than varnish. Moreover shellac, while it has its advantages, is not intended to be used in places where water is a theat.
Shellac is a resin made from some insects residues and disolved in methanol. The advantage of shellac is the beautiful aspect and it can be easilly repaired. Each time you apply a layer, the methanol is dissolving the underlaying layer before drying so you get a really good merge. This allow to easilly fix scratch. However as methanol is drying fast it requires some practice to be able to get a good result.
Varnish on the other hand is made mainly from synthetic ingredients and is easier to use, only drawback is as it is drying slower, it may catch dust while drying giving a rough surface. But this can be easilly fixed by using steel wool between layers. Varnish are more water resistant, harder but can change color in time to turn more to yellowish.
I would personnaly advise to use Sikkens Cetol marine as the finishing layer. It is made for marine use, water resistant and long lasting. If you need a lighter shine use cetol light. If you need a real gloss apply a layer of cetol marine gloss over the cetol marine and you will get a miror like finish. Personnally I love the end result of the standard cetol marine which gives a warm amber finish found in old woodies.

Cheers

Cheechako said:

Very interesting thread. I have been puzzling over how to remove water stains from my interior teak laminates, so advice from the experienced Forum gurus is very welcome.

Click to expand...

My boat had some serious water stains on the dash, just inside the windshied. I agonized for several weeks as to how I was going to address it. I finally got council from the resident varnish guru and he recommended sanding and a gloss varnish. The whole job cost me $400 and it looks like a factory finish.

If you have trouble with refinishing the existing teak, try a 1/8" teak plywood.
I have tried veneer, but it is almost impossible to press in that application, and without being pressed, it is almost impossible to get it to lie perfectly flat. 1/8" plywood, OTOH, is already pressed. All you need to do is cut it accurately and fit it into the space. Even if you only cover the stained teak below the formerly leaking window and leave the edge proud yo will have a vast improvement over the present staining.
For finishing, as noted above, shellac (shell lacquer) is a methanol based product, so any moisture will leave stains. French Polishing is a shellac finishing method, so great for your piano, provided you keep guests from putting their drinks down on it, but not a good idea on a boat.
A good poyurethane or an oil based varnish will give you a good, durable finish.
I once tried a water based varnish, with disastrous results. Stick with oil based.