Summary
(please click on any of the pictures for a larger one - use the BACK button to come back)
The previous teak and holly sole had completely delaminated in about 30% of the area. It had been put down with epoxy and was a BEAR to get up. The laminates came up alright, but I ended up having to chip away at the epoxy with a chisel.
Someone on the internet had proposed that the varnished sole would be quite slippery and wouldn't it be nice to put some non-skid ONLY on the holly strips? Well, I just HAD to try this.....
Here is the sole after chipping away the expoxy for a number of days. This was also during some other parts of the "deconstruction" phase..
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I started by taping out a pattern with about 1/8 gap all the way around. I would be using trim strips around the edge to cover the gap.
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This is the beginnings of the hatch cutouts for bilge access. I needed trim pieces on both the hatch openings and the hatches themselves.
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Since I am trying desparately to maximize my teak supply and cannot afford a single cutout, I needed 32 separate pieces to trim the two haches and openings!
Here are the corner pieces and the routed edges of the teak and holly. |
Next, I would try the non-skid idea. Here I have taped off the holly strips (about $6. worth of blue tape, BTW). I would hate to have to do this to a LARGE area!
I used playground sand in a salt shaker after wetting down the strips with epoxy.
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Here is what it looked like after the epoxy dried and I pulled up the tape. Note the sharp points of the sand particles.
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Then I coated the entire piece with epoxy. Some of the epoxy leveled into the non-skid area making it a bit more even.
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Another view with the non-skid area relief - still a bit "pointy". |
Even after the epoxy filled in some of the sand area, leveling it out, I thought it was still a bit too rough.
Knowing that I'd be varnishing (urethane) the whole thing with 6 coats, I took a guess as to how much of the rough sand particles to sand down.
This is the sanded down sole after 3 coats of urethane over the epoxy.
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Another view with the non-skid area less aggressive. It's just about right.
It may be too weak after 3 more coats of varnish, but some is better than none, and none is better than shards! |
Here is the new cabin sole installed. PUUURTY!
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Lessons Learned
Don't be afraid to try something new.
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