How to restore water damaged wood?

[AleCiotti]

Hi guys, my boat has some infiltrations that caused the interiors wood to get damaged, the wood is a 2mm flex cherry plywood.

From what I've heard many people start by sanding increasingly with finer grits and then apply something like teak oil to restore the colour.

what do you think?

[kayakerChuck]

That is worth trying, however-
The outer cherry veneer is likely just a bit thicker than a piece of paper. The panels will likely want to be replaced.

[gonesail]

from my experience once it turns black that's it. no fix.

[Cheechako]

You cant sand the black out of veneer, you'll just end up into the underwood which may be a different species entirely and not match.
If it's dry and solid, you could try prepping well and painting some of those areas with off white paint. In many ways it looks better than wood all over anyway!

Painting the panels white around those portlites makes the boat feel "lighter".

Pic one (boat in my avatar)is bright white, I prefer a warmer white like pic 2:

[SailingHarmonie]

That veneer can not be restored. By the extent of the damage visible it is highly likely that the panels below are rotten as well.

In many cases you can stabilize the existing surface if not too deeply rotted, and re-veneer in place, then refinish to whatever you like. This can be problematic with cherry which changes color significantly as it ages, so the repairs will always stand out.

Obviously you would only do this AFTER you are 100% sure that the leaks have been 100% stopped. Of course that should be done even if your ultimate fix is to paint the affected areas.

[5BTM]

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/a...useful-bleach/

[AleCiotti]

Thanks for your insights everyone, i understand that the wood that has turned black has gone trough too much water and has rotten too bad to be saved.

But what about the bright stains where the colors is yellowish like in the photos below, if I sand just enough with very thin sand paper to not go too deep, and then apply some sort of chemical to restore colour, will it work or would I just be worsening the problem?