Decorating the Boat

RedBW

Posts: 23
Joined: 2007-07-14

Wood interiors can be a lot of work. When carrying and moving things around, one often bumps the walls and that many times leaves a small scratch or in some cases a deeper scratch. Some 'bumps' into the wall can leave a dent. Over the years these things ad up. You have to be careful as to what you clean the wood with. Pledge and other furniture waxes attract dirt and leave the walls dull looking.

Vinyl wall covering is a good option if you can get it installed on there correctly and use a good glue. It will last for years and is tougher than wood paneling. I have seen cases where after 4 or 5 years, mold developed in the glue under the wall covering. So you have to be careful about that. Measuring and getting it up can be a bear because of all the little nooks and cranies. But it is easy to keep clean and doesn't attract dirt.

Choosing a basically neutral color with no large patterns can make a nice fresh look inside of your boat. My favorite is the wall covering that looks like leather on the walls. While looking through the books at my local wall covering store, I saw that it came in several shades of white as well as pastels. Now all I have to do is get my old stuff steamed off. Which is really a shame because after 20 years, it still looks good in most places. I had a couple of places that were damaged by some varmits that got on board and chewed it up in a few places and the pattern was discontinued long ago.. If it weren't for that, my 20 year old wall covering looked pretty darn good.

Submitted by RedBW on Tue, 10/02/2007 - 14:23.

madmariner

Posts: 153
Joined: 2007-06-05

This sounds really smart.

I've seen some painfully ugly stuff on boats. They seem to go one of two ways: cheesy nautical (red and blue, with anchors) or just plain bad wallpaper. I saw a real tragedy on an otherwise beautifil Tollycraft with an all cherry interior. The designer chose a wallpaper that looked like Aunt Bee's curtains. It seriously murdered the look of the boat.

My boat has an interesting approach in the main cabin: the headliner was carried from the ceiling onto the walls. It's not a bad way to go, but it's a beast to repair when it comes free.

Tue, 10/02/2007 - 01:29

praetorian

Posts: 44
Joined: 2007-09-24

Wood can be repaired if it's solid quite easily, veneer is a bit trickier. An old friend of the family is a French Polisher and he can fix even the most wrecked veneer - when I can't get him, I'd replace the parts.

My boat's teak was varnished from the factory but it wasn't cared for well before I bought it. in the salon, the sun has bleached parts and ruined all the varnish. I'm pulling stuff off the boat this week and going to start the process of stripping and revarnishing.

One nice thing about varnish is that it can be repaired without having to recoat the entire surface.

I've also read some good things about Bristol Finish, a 2 part finish that is hard as a rock if done right (I tested it and it is really hard). My French Polisher friend says that it won't expand/contract with the wood and will crack eventually and it's really hard to get off, so I'm chickening out and sticking with Varnish.

I have also seen very different results with different varnishes. Lots of people love the Cetol, and I hear it stands up well. I've never been able to get a smooth finish that I was happy with using it. My preference is the Epifanes products. I'm going to use their woodfinish gloss for the first 6 coats, then 2-3 coats of the high gloss. The woodfinish doesn't require sanding in between coats if done within 2 days, which will save me alot of time. The final coats will have the high gloss because it seems to be the most durable.

A neat idea they have is for floors. you can get little clear beads that you mix in with the varnish for your 2 final coats. They're supposed to be nearly invisible, but make your surface non skid. I'm not sure how this will work, but I have high hopes (My stairs are slippery, but I really want to have the wood exposed and shiny for the look).

We'll see.

Tue, 10/09/2007 - 11:24

gladpraise

Posts: 8
Joined: 2007-08-06

These are really good tips, but what about sprucing up an old boat that's used primarily as a daysailer, where the owner doesn't entertain and doesn't want to spend much. Is there much you can do--as the TV house-makeover shows try to show--for less than $1,000?

Tue, 10/09/2007 - 17:40

RedBW

Posts: 23
Joined: 2007-07-14

Gladpraise;

Your interior is probably almost 100% wood with little or no rot. Elbow grease and varnish will do it. Wood bleach can take out dark water stained spots. If you can sew your own cushions, I'll bet you could do the interior over for less than $1,000. Window treatments, depending on your window type., could be as simple as small covers with elastic bands to go on your hatch windows. Whether you can get an interior makeover for $1,000 depends on your ability. If you have to subcontract the work out, it will probably be a lot more than $1,000. I will give you a tip on cushion fabric: Stay away from upholstry fabrics that contain cotton. They will dry rot in a couple of years and they are difficult to remove stains.

Wed, 10/10/2007 - 19:23