Does anyone know what's going on with our cabin sole?

[Laskadog]

We bought our Caliber 33 last year and the floors were like this when we bought it. The pale areas are not worn through, they are as smooth as the rest of the floor. They don't seem to coincide with high travel areas either.
My best guess is that someone epoxied the floors, but probably didn't varnish them to protect from UV. Has anyone ever seen this? What's the best way to re-finish the floors?

Thanks for your opinions.

[Training Wheels]

Looks like water damage.

[JPA Cate]

It sure looks like water intrusion to me...but I am not an expert, and I've never seen exactly this before. It almost looks like mould.

How I would address the situation would be to use one of the citrus strippers, although you can also hand sand it carefully (just remember those veneers are very thin, and once you're through it, it's got a hole) and strip it back, to see what on earth it looks like when the varnish is all removed. If you're lucky both timbers will come back, both the teak and the holly or ash. Otherwise, you may have to sand it and bleach it till the color becomes evener. Then varnish it with the best quality varnish you can find that has UV inhibitors in it.

If the citrus stripper doesn't work (maybe do a small test section first), if it is epoxy, you'll be able to sand it off, till it is uniformly hazy, and see if varnishing it will fix the splotchy surface.

If that doesn't work, I would consider painting it teak color. The cabin sole always gets wear and tear, tools dropped on it, and just knocks of *stuff*. Use the toughest floor paint you can source.

Don't be tempted to cover it with carpet. The carpeting always gets salty and holds moisture against the timber, and does it no good whatsoever.

Sorry to not be more encouraging, but I think you have a tough one to solve well on your hands.

Ann

[Laskadog]

Hadn't thought of water damage. There was carpet when we bought it, but was the first thing off the boat. We just thought the PO was just trying to hide the damage, but hadn't thought it might have caused the damage. It's definitely not mould though. If you brush your hand across the surface, it is all evenly smooth and feels and looks a little plasticy.
Thanks for the advice, I'll surely try the stripper first on a small test area. Is there any way to know before hand if it is Epoxy?

[Nicholson58]

UV protection is pretty much meaningless in side. This looks like mold/water damage. Was something damp, a carpet etc left on the floor? Water drip from a leaky hatch? Off season leave several floor boards propped up or removed.

[Laskadog]

It's a very dry boat. No leaks and no signs of water damage anywhere really. There were carpets when we bought it though. The funny thing is that the surface is perfectly smooth to the touch. It's almost like someone epoxied over whatever the white parts are.

[CSY Man]

Carpet glue, or rubber residue from the carpets?
Start with mild cleaners, then go heavy up to alcohol but stop short of acetone..

[JC Reefer]

That last photo is interesting. Maybe they used something that did not bond properly

[s/v Jedi]

When we bought our boat it had carpets with spots like that underneath. They must have been wet at times.

Now, 19 years later, those spots turned out to be dry rot, crumbling away and the floor needs replacement.

[JPA Cate]

UV protection is pretty much meaningless in side.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with this, I have done a lot to keep the UV that would otherwise get below out, to protect photographs. It does definitely get below: I also have faded book bindings to prove it. It is my understanding that the exterior spar varnishes with the UV filters, are the hardest of all the varnishes. For cabin soles, one wants durability, when you live on your boat long time. Now, I could be wrong about this. We have a matte finish on our cabin sole, that is supposed to be something commercial for high wear floors, and I don't know how the covering was formulated, but it has held up well.

At Jedi: I am so very sorry to hear about your floors. What a disappointment ! All the more reason for Laskadog to try to get it out of there, regardless of what is on top of it now. You really don't want dry rot on your boat, that's for sure.

Ann

[skipperpete]

Lift that little hatch in the pic and see if there’s anything going on with the underside of the cabin sole, it might be very humid, like a wet bilge.

[Celestialsailor]

Looks like a water base clear coat was used. that and with a capet in it';s past did not do it any favors. Maybe strip it down and use a good brand name non-water base clear.

[Laskadog]

Thanks everyone for your input. I'm drying out the bilges as we speak and I'll take a close look under the floors for rot or mould. The suspect areas feel solid as a rock, although there is a section in front of the chart table that feels like it is delaminated, but doesn't have the white spots.
The carpets that were there were just on the port side of the table and were just throw rugs, not so much carpet. There are therefore a few areas that show the white spots, where there was nothing.
I'm going to sand a test areas as soon as I can and see. Keep you posted.

[JimsCAL]

My cabin sole had areas with very similar damage. Also had some carpet when we bought the boat 12 years ago. Pretty sure this is water damage. This spring I stripped and sanded the sole and recoated with polyurethane. Looks great now. Wood was fine below the damaged coating.

[TrentePieds]

I know the phenomenon as "water blush". It was common on fine furniture in the old days when such furniture was "french-polished" using shellac. Set your glass containing a cold drink on a french-polished table without using a coaster and you get precisely this effect.

While unsightly it is harmless.

You will find that the "teak and holly" is fake. It's only a thin veneer laminated onto plywood. So as people have said, don't sand it! If you sand through the fake surface, there is no way out by replacement. For small areas such as cabin soles in small boats you might as well, then, make up a REAL teak and holly sole, though that is costly. It isn't difficult, but the materials are expensive these days.

Use a chemical stripper, and a decent varnish. They re-varnish when required.

TrentePieds