Leakie Teakie

Looking for suggestions. I think the leak is fixed, it took a few weeks to find the entrance leak. Now the interior panels are stained and some damage at the edges. Should I Paint, wallpaper, re-stain learn to live with it?

My vote would be to paint or live with it. Antique whiten satin would brighten up the area.

Greetings,
Mr. C. I would paint or wallpaper as a LAST, VERY LAST resort. I can't remember how to do it but I'm sure someone with more smarts than me can suggest a method of refinishing the teak that will tone down the stain marks. The other alternative is re-skin with teak veneer.

I couldn't live with it I would have to rip it out and start again, Sometimes this is just as quick as patching up.

You might want to read some posts by greatlaker221. He is refitting a Hershine 37 and had similar issues. When he removed the teak, he found a lot of rotten wood behind it. See his blog: http://savingtortuga.blogspot.com/2015/03/walls-and-windows-omg.html

Another photo. Sorry for the sideways.. very slow internet at the marina today. The damage is over the bed my trawler has a three step wall. Under the deck (no damages can't see it always) the seat/step (source of leak) and back wall to cabin (no damage very visible) Thank you for your thoughts.

When we bought our AMS we painted the teak panels in the for and aft cabin in satin white. Looks great together with the teak ceiling and gives a "fresher" impression. Unfortunately no pic handy.
We wouldn't have done it if the teak wasn't damaged by leaking water (PO opened bullseye for some weeks). But now we like it. And we fortunately didn't found rotten wood behind those (few) places we checked.

I'd have to fix it. How badly delaminated is the Teak plywood? If not delaminated (or not seriously delaminated) the refinishing will go a long way toward making it acceptable. Check out my album 'Repairing Veneer'; it really can be done.

The veneer is not likely to be anything more than paper thick. You'll have to be careful scraping and sanding. This is 'quarter sawn' veneer and is pretty commonly available as veneer and as plywood. Since the pattern is mostly grain in edge view, matching the appearance will not be difficult.

If the plywood is in really poor shape then a remove-and-replace is the likely fix. I'm pretty slothful, but I'd want the appearance restored; I'd be looking carefully at how I could scarph in new wood. You really only have to find a decent place to cut, that is, a place where the joint is pretty much hidden by the bookshelf and by the array of switches below the overhang.

I second RTF's opinion for 'repair and restore' over paint or wallpaper. Especially if the rest of the boat is lovely. All the Teak in our old boats is a lot of what makes 'em special.

Donsan said:

You might want to read some posts by greatlaker221. He is refitting a Hershine 37 and had similar issues. When he removed the teak, he found a lot of rotten wood behind it. See his blog: Saving Tortuga: Walls and Windows OMG!

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I have read his posts and his web site. Amazing work! "I don't think" the damage is as bad on my 30 year old trawler, I KNOW I don't have his skills to do a total rebuild. paying an expert craftsman is not in the budget.

The way I look at it is that when you have a 30+ year old boat there is bound to be some patina and other wear & tear. Your damaged areas are relatively large compared to the few I have beneath portholes, but I would be trying some stain were I in your situation and then a satin varnish of your choice over the whole lot. If you dilute the stain and apply multiple coats you might be able to blend it in with the undamaged area. You wont get it perfect but you should be able to make it less obvious.

If by the end of the satin varnish stage you think it looks like crap you can then paint - the last resort as RTF says. You lose nothing by giving some stain your best shot.

But if the veneer has lifted and wrinkled - which does not seem to be the case - then you might need to replace the veneer.

If it's not structural, hang a picture or flag over it and go enjoy your boat.

I'm learning to use veneers and find them very easy to work with. Some come with 3M adhesive pre-applied. Some with peel-off backing to expose the sticky side and others are heat activated so I use an iron. Or you can get them plain to apply your own favorite adhesive. It's a cost-effective method and not so hard to do. Then you could oil or varnish it...your choice.

After just being moist, and possibly one freeze thaw cycle...all my veneer fell apart.

If you don't rip it out....no matter what you do might just wind up falling off with the veneer.

So look at it that if it does fall off, you didn't wait a lot of time or money covering it up.

Insequent said:

The way I look at it is that when you have a 30+ year old boat there is bound to be some patina and other wear & tear. Your damaged areas are relatively large compared to the few I have beneath portholes, but I would be trying some stain were I in your situation and then a satin varnish of your choice over the whole lot. If you dilute the stain and apply multiple coats you might be able to blend it in with the undamaged area. You wont get it perfect but you should be able to make it less obvious.

If by the end of the satin varnish stage you think it looks like crap you can then paint - the last resort as RTF says. You lose nothing by giving some stain your best shot.

But if the veneer has lifted and wrinkled - which does not seem to be the case - then you might need to replace the veneer.

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I have some stained areas that are in good shape except for the staining. I realize the veneer is so thin its almost impossible to strip and refinish it, but I'm wondering if something like Minwax varnish that has stain in it may be able to be applied in one or more coats to blend the stained areas with the unstained ones. This would not be difficult and is something I'm probably going to try at some point. Conversely, I have a couple of areas that are seriously delaminated. For those, I think removal is the only viable option.

Ken

kchace said:

I have some stained areas that are in good shape except for the staining. I realize the veneer is so thin its almost impossible to strip and refinish it, but I'm wondering if something like Minwax varnish that has stain in it may be able to be applied in one or more coats to blend the stained areas with the unstained ones. This would not be difficult and is something I'm probably going to try at some point. Conversely, I have a couple of areas that are seriously delaminated. For those, I think removal is the only viable option.

Ken

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A problem of refinishing is applying finish to only the affected areas. With antique furniture it is usually a full strip and refinish, purists hate losing the original "polish". Delaminated areas are toast.
I recently had some interior ply and veneer replaced, it worked out better than I expected. You need an accurate pattern to cut the new panels so they slot in perfectly.

I did some interior modifications to my Island Gypsy 32'. I removed a settee in the salon and needed to fill in the missing areas in my teak paneling. I used a sheetrock knife and cut the old panels right below the window trim angling the knife to cut a bevel up slightly higher than the trim. Than I templated the new panels using luan strips stapled together. The panels I used were thin birch plywood from lowes. After the pieces were fit I sealed the back and edges with west epoxy, I experimented with stains on test pieces to get it right. I glued it to the backing strips with PL premium glue, finshed with satin varnish. Looks great, holding up well and matches so well I am confident anyone can re-panel a damaged interior at minimal cost.. However I have 30 plus years of woodworking under my belt and it does take time to do it right. When I return to the boat in January I will take some pictures to show.


I say replace it--either with 300. a sheet teak or 18. sheet birch.


JohnP

BruceK said:

A problem of refinishing is applying finish to only the affected areas. With antique furniture it is usually a full strip and refinish, purists hate losing the original "polish". Delaminated areas are toast.
I recently had some interior ply and veneer replaced, it worked out better than I expected. You need an accurate pattern to cut the new panels so they slot in perfectly.

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Yes, I hear you. I have a lot of woodworking and finish application experience. I think its worth a try. If it doesn't work (I don't really like Minwax, but maybe their finish/stain can work for this application) I'll probably end up installing new veneer or maybe even something else entirely as others here have done quite successfully. Since the delaminated areas are only in a small area over the master bed, I'm thinking something like the white plastic planking.

Ken

Just a thought

https://www.rustoleum.com/product-c...nsformations/cabinet-transformations-dark-kit

Check out the video

Don't worry about trying to match the colour of the new to the old. After only a year or so the new will change to match on it's own. I did a similar repair in my aft cabin several years ago. I couldn't tell within a couple of years.

Slightly off topic, but how did you go about finding the source of the leak? I've got a leak that I can't find for the life of me.