Bulkhead Refurbishing

[JohnnieBsailing]

Hi,

I want to take down the gawd-awful wallpaper-like crap that is all over this other-wise beautiful boat. Underneath the covering is some kind of plastic coated wood. With a heat gun and a lot of scraping i seem to be able to get the plastic/ vinyl coating to come off. My question is: Should i take the plastic /vinyl off? Underneath is nice grained wood and i'd like to sand that and put on a nice stain and varnish. But maybe this vinyl has a reason for being there (it's white). Could i pull down the ugly ass wall paper and put some kind of wood paneling over the white vinyl and if so would glue be used to mount the paneling.
Thanks for any input.

[Sailmonkey]

You're going to need to post a pic or two........I can't follow what you're describing.

[witzgall]

Are you sure that the plastic layer is not a laminate, and came from the factory bonded to the wood underneath? If so, I would suspect that that wood is plywood, and might not have a very nice finish-able surface.

If this is the case, and you can get the surface of the laminate defect-free, you could "simply" laminate a new layer of veneer, or your choosing, over the plastic.

Chris

PS - Simply is in quotes above because I have never done this, and I have no idea how easy it would be for you to do on your boat!

[Jetexas]

I think witzgall is right. It sounds like the outer layer of laminate of the bulkheads. If you peel it off, you're essentially peeling away the outer layer of the plywood. Also, by melting the glue, you're weakening the bond of all the plywood layers, which allows water in between them and will cause the walls to rot.

[JohnnieBsailing]

[IMG]file:///Users/jeffbradley/Desktop/IMG_0240.JPG[/IMG]
are these images viewable?

[hummingway]

When it's a picture on your desk you have to upload them first and then use them in your message.

[JohnnieBsailing]

Hummingway, I'm sorry for being such an idiot but where do i "upload" the photos to? Do i need to use something like Flickr?

AND

Witzgall & Jetexas,
You right, it must be the factory laminate! I'm still going to take down he ugly wall covering as it's peeling off in so many places. I don't know how i'll make it nice. I was hoping for a nice all wood interior, but i don't think that doable now.

Anybody have any thoughts on doing up the interior of a 40 year old boat?

PS Thanks for your help, everyone.

[Jetexas]

I had to completely replace mine, so I did just sand, stain and varnish plywood. However, the bulkheads in a 27' are not that large and very easily accessible.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

[JohnnieBsailing]

Beautiful job, Jetexas. That is the look i wanted. My bulkhead doesn't need to be replaced... but, if it did that's what i'd want.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by JohnnieBsailing

Hummingway, I'm sorry for being such an idiot but where do i "upload" the photos to? Do i need to use something like Flickr?

A lot of people have trouble with it first time. When you click on the post reply button or the quote button you get the full interface. There's a paper clip icon for attachments and that will bring up a dialog that can be used to download from your computer. You select the files and click the upload button. Once you've uploaded your files the attachment button will allow you to add the file to the note.