bright work

[norena of white]

Can anyone recommend a good varnish for refinishing the sole of my boat teak and Holley. I will only be giving it a light sanding to remove the grime and rough spots.

[Jim Cate]

Sounds like you will not be removing the old finish, so you need to be careful about compatibility between old and new finishes.

With that said, most traditional spar varnishes are too soft to be used on flooring. Many folks use finishes that were designed for basketball courts, dance floors and such applications. They are typically two pack types, and are very long lasting. They may not be compatible with your old finish... do you know what it is?

Jim

[norena of white]

I have no idea what was used before or how long ago it was done. I may have to strip the sole panels and start as new.

[Jim Cate]

Well, one approach is to decide on a new finish product and then do a small test patch to see if they are in fact compatible. If they are, hooray, if not, out with the stripper!

Jim

[chowdan]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Sounds like you will not be removing the old finish, so you need to be careful about compatibility between old and new finishes.

With that said, most traditional spar varnishes are too soft to be used on flooring. Many folks use finishes that were designed for basketball courts, dance floors and such applications. They are typically two pack types, and are very long lasting. They may not be compatible with your old finish... do you know what it is?

Jim

I just used Interlux's GOLD schooner varnish. 8 coats of that on the bilge hatches. They look great and its a "thick" coat. I haven't done the rest of the floor due to the fact that I'm still up in the air if i should use the high gloss(hear its slippery when wet), or add a final layer or two of matte. I still need to do the brightwork on the cabinets and walls and such, so my plan was to do those, then finish the flooring.

Everything will be the high gloss schooner(or gold schooner) from interlux, however, I'm afraid the high gloss will be too much for everything so having the floor done with a matte coat might help out.

On a side note - @Jim: Do you have a resource for the stuff your talking about? Seems like that stuff would be pretty much life-long durable on a coastal cruiser

[norena of white]

Thanks for all of the advice. I tried several doors with various degrees of old varnish removal and had no problem with a chemical reaction with a Minwax
Polyurethane the finish is good and bright. I don't know if this is tough enough to hold up on the flooring. If you have any experience with this product your input would be appreciated.