90 23' W/A Trim Finish

[bsterling]

I have a 1990 23' walkaround and the trim around the helm and the door to the cuddy cabin is weathered. I've already pulled the wood beside the helm seat, and replaced the plywood with 1/4" mahogany and have sanded the frame to removed the weathered wood. What was used for the original finish on this? I'm leaning towards tung oil vs varnish. Recommendations? I'll be doing the other side too and most likely the rest of the trim, which all needs to be sanded also. Thanks.

 

[DanLovingood]

Hi bsterling,

When I got my '90 1800 25 years ago the wood trim was already weathered from UV exposure. I sanded the weathered wood back to a smooth surface, applied 2 coats of West System epoxy and lightly sanded and washed to remove amine bloom. I then followed with 2 or 3 coats of spar varnish to provide UV protection for the epoxy barrier coat. This looked great and lasted better than 20 years - of course I kept the boat under cover while on a trailer and inside a house while on the lift. Over the years I added various bits and pieces of wood furniture in multiple species (mostly mahogany and walnut) with the same finish applied and it all looked and lasted great. I have since rebuilt almost all of my wood furniture in cumaru (brazillan teak) and will be applying the same finish as before with the exception of using 207 (clear finish) hardener rather than the 205 that I used originally. I hope to finally get around to getting my wood furniture back on board this season.

Cap'n Dan

 

[bsterling]

Thanks Cap'n Dan. I was leaning towards using tung oil, but most everywhere I have read suggests going with varnish. Is this the most common approach?

 

[DanLovingood]

I don't know that it is common, but it does work very well. You will end up with an amazing result. The problem with varnish alone is that varnish allows water to penetrate to the wood which will cause the bond with the substrate to fail. By coating with epoxy, you create a water tight barrier coat that keeps water out of the substrate. Epoxy will quickly degrade however with exposure to sunlight (UV). Use a good spar varnish with excellent UV inhibitors and it will not only bring the coating to a lusterous, glassy finish, but it will protect the epoxy barrier from degrading in UV. As I thought back on my wood trim, I did remember pulling it all off once during that 20 years for a couple additional coats of varnish - you just need to use caution to not sand through the barrier coat to the wood's surface during prep. I am actually reusing the console hatch door because it was in such good shape and will just be recoating it with varnish.

Cap'n Dan

 

[bsterling]

I have all of my weathered wood sanded and I'm planning to go with 2 coats of West System epoxy followed by a 2 to 3 coats of varnish. Wondering if I should coat the back side with epoxy also. This side will be secured to the wall and the deck with cauking.

 

[DanLovingood]

Absolutely. What you want is to completely encapsulate the wood with epoxy to form a barrier coat against moisture intrusion. That is why straight up varnish fails - it allows moisture through to the substrate which destroys the bond. Good luck & let's see some pix of the finished project!

Cap'n Dan

 

[bsterling]

Update...I've put two coats of epoxy and sanded to a smooth finish with 220 sandpaper. Applied first coat of Epifanes varnish on front side of door. Waited 24 hours and was going to do the back side of the door, and was going to sand the drips from the edges and it was gummy. Waited another day and it was still gummy. Read about others who ran into this using Epifanes over epoxy. Epoxy had been cured around 2 weeks. Should I wait a little longer and see if the varnish cures a little better or sand all of the varnish off and use a different brand? Once I get the first coat on properly, should I be able to do the other 2 coats without this problem? Also, I didn't thin 50% like the instructions said. Could this be part of the cause?