I'm not a rich man by any stretch of the imagination, so a Teak & Holly floor at $25 bucks per square foot was not going to happen - not unless I won the lottery.
I tried Allure vinyl flooring and that didn't work out, (it was too susceptible to damage and looked fake... which it was).
I tried Horizontal Bamboo and that worked good but when I received my new water tanks, I had to remove it because the tanks were too large, (height-wise), and I had to add an additional 3/4" marine grade sole to provide the room I needed for the new tanks. When I removed the Horizontal Bamboo, a number of pieces were damaged and Home Depot discontinued the line and I couldn't match it up.
Then, being a poor man, I decided to just paint the new 3/4" sole with a mildew/mold resistant paint and put down a rubber mat. That worked out fine until a little while back when I looked under the mat,.. The mildew/mold resistant paint did NOT do its job. I HAD SERIOUS MOLD & MILDEW! (No wonder I haven't been feeling well).
Actually, I'm surprised I didn't die with so much mold!
I treated the mold/mildew with both Clorox and a mold mildew remover and then decided to try one last thing... Stranded Bamboo.
Stranded Bamboo is stronger and harder that Horizontal Bamboo and is less susceptible to damage - plus, it looks great. I caught an amazing deal ($1.86 sq. ft.), where I was able to buy enough to do the whole boat and have some left over in case of future damage.
I was able to complete the main cabin today and I will finish up Mid-ship and V-berth tomorrow. I will trim it all out Saturday and get back to the topside... teak caprails are next.
Fair seas and God bless!
As a note to future re-fitters... whatever you estimate your cost of refitting an older boat, factor six to ten percent for mistakes, change of mind, the unexpected, and mold & mildew... LOL.
That looks pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI've been looking at my cabin floor lately. Pulling up one of the panels, it looks like a VERY thin veneer where sanding doesn't seem to be an option. I would have liked to sand/refinish but not sure it's possible. I like the teak/holly look, but with the current finish wearing down, I may have a need to come up with another option, but that'll be much later in the refit.
Hope your new floor works out for you.
Probably Teak & Holly plywood, $312 per 4x8 sheet at Jamestown Distributors plus shipping.
DeleteThis works for me. Annie will never be a showboat... she'll be a cruiser.
BTW, the chainplates look great on Rhapsody.
Are you floating it or gluing it down?
ReplyDeleteHi Mike & Julie,
DeleteI nailed... I probably should have glued also but I have a 1.5" of marine grade plywood subflooring so my 1.25" brads were firmly bedded.
Almost finished now... a little more trim and I'll post pics of the finished product.
(I should rename the blog, "How to refit a boat using Amazon and Home Depot").
Thanks for following.
I was just at Home Depot today looking at a few things. I'll spend some more time there when I start reworking the fresh water lines/fittings.
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