Boat Cabin ?

[JasonAsheman]

I have a 1990 Dixie 21' walkaround Cuddy with a very nice and sturdy homebuilt, open backed cabin in it. The guy used varnish on the wood he built it out of that is now peeling off. My wife (aka) the war department doesent like it because the boat is off white in color and the cabin is woodgrain. Is there anyway that I can sand it down and put a nice thick coat of something white on it that will protect and make it match the boat where the wood joints are not visible. Please explain because I am new to this. Thanks

 

[prockvoan]

Re: Boat Cabin ?

Check out Home Depot.Look into counter top Laminate.You should be able to just about match the color of your boat.All you have to do is cut it to size,fit it in place,remove it,slap on some contact cemment then apply the laminate.It should hold out great,the only thing I would be consern about is if it is UV protected.

 

[fishingdan]

Re: Boat Cabin ?

You have choices to make depending on how fine a finish you want, how long you want it to last, and how much you want to spend on the task.<br /><br />Ideally, you would sand down the varnish with a power sander to bare wood. Coat it with a couple of coats of epoxy. Prime and sand with a good marine one-part or two-part paint. The epoxy and the marine paint is not cheap. I don't know how much area you need to cover, but epoxy is about $60 gallon and marine paint can be from $80 to $250 per gallon. I would guess that you would need about a 1/2 gallon of epoxy and one or two quarts of primer and paint.<br /><br />If you want to save some $ you can try simply sanding the varnish to remove the loose stuff and enough to remove the shine on any of the in-tact finish. Prime and paint with a good quality exterior house or porch paint.