Hello Fellow Captains, Mates and Pirates.

New member, and just purchased a 1974 Uniflite Sports Sedan 31'. The boat has great bones but the interior is strictly 1970's bright orange counter tops accompanied by blue, yellow, white wall paper. Pretty scary stuff. So I need to remodel the interior. I want to replace the vinyl headliner with something more durable, maybe plastic or fiberglass material trimmed in teak. I intend to use formica in the galley, table top, etc. But don't know what to use on the bulkheads. Any suggestions? I thought about teak veneer but the application comes with too many warning signs. It would look great but i have no veneer experience, is it really that difficult? I also thought about using formica or some kind of plastic/fiberglass material to cover the bulkheads but I worry about the substrate wood being able to breath. Has any one remodeled their boat? Any suggestions, recommendations are appreciated.

Thank you,
Captain Zeek

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Uniflite Work...

Cap't Zeek -

Sounds like a great boat that just need a cosmetic makeover...the 31's were probably Uniflite's most famous design--very solid cruisers!

Does the boat already have a teak theme going inside the cabin, in terms of existing woodwork? If so, I guess you're wedded to teak trim here and there, but if the interior is almost entirely painted surfaces now, perhaps you could consider wood trim and veneer layers that aren't teak...?

We tend to use marine-mahogany plywoods for most bulkheads and other structural panels--either Okoume or Sapele sheets. You can buy them pretty thin if you just want to skin over existing bulkheads; maybe something like 4mm or 6mm. There are two grades--6566 and the more expensive, higher-grade 1088. Don't bother spending on 1088 for any of your interior applications, since the 6566 is still 'exterior grade' and it tends to have thicker outer veneer layers...which means you can do more sanding without worrying about breaking through the outer veneer layer.

We really like to use 6mm sheets for headliners, too. A favorite approach is to use a particular 6mm maple sheet sold by Edensaw Woods (light in color). We stain it with Daly's #31 (Mustard), then apply satin varnish. The overall effect is a beautiful golden color, very reminiscent of the birch panels some of us grew up with in 1940's-1950's travel trailers. (And the golden color goes really well alongside mahogany trim, which tends to have a rich brownish-reddish color.)

You can obviously buy really nice headliner fabrics, too, that are perforated so they breathe, etc.

You might consider using Marmoleum instead of Formica for counter surfaces. Marmoleum is a heavy-duty linoleum-like product that comes in wonderful vintage-style patterns/colors. We used it for countertops when we remodeled our kitchen at home, as well as applying it on the floors of bathrooms and the laundry room. It holds up amazingly well to all kinds of abuse, and it has a softer look than Formica. (Just Google "Marmoleum" and you'll find the website of the manufacturer, Forbo, along with all of the patterns/colors available in the product.) It's also great for the floor of your cabin interior, too, of course.

We're recently used Marmoleum in two customers' cruisers, a 1956 Bell Boy 21' express, and a 1958 Dorsett 21' Farallon cruiser. Very retro, and quite attractive.

Good luck, and have fun with the project...

- Marty

[Karl]

Great Info

Marty,

Great info for the rest of us too!

Thanks,

Karl

[Tim McCrain]

Cap't Zeek,
Marty has a great idea with the marmoleum, I used it a lot in commercial projects and everything Marty said about its appeal and durability is right on. It is much more resilient and forgiving of bumps, whacks, etc than plastic laminate. And it looks cool.

I would add that as far as using laminate, allowing the substrate to breathe usually isn't the main concern, it is applying it over a material that has a different expansion / contraction rate with temp / humidity. Laminate applied over solid wood in an environment with fluctuating temp / humidity is almost sure to fail, as the wood will move more than the laminate. Your best bet is to apply over a dense stable ply product that has been very well sealed on all surfaces. How many times have you seen loose laminate in a kitchen when applied over raw fir /hem plywood? (which has a relatively porous interior) Laminate manufacturers recommend that their products be applied over raw particle board in kitchens due to their expansion / contraction curves being very close, but of course particle board in a boat is a really bad idea.

Welcome to the board,

Tim

Ahoy Marty, Tim,

Re: My Uniflite most of the wood in the cabin is covered with a teak veneer over 3/4" marine plywood. The only exception is the aft bulkhead and head that was covered in a 1970's wallpaper. I removed the wall paper and exposed the marine ply. I found teak paneling that comes in 4*8 sheets, 10mm thick that might do the trick. I'll probably use a west system epoxy to secure the ply to the bulkhead. Or do guys have any suggestions about other adhesives? West epoxy may be a bit overkill.

I appreciate your idea about using Marmoleum in the galley, dinnette table and other countertops. I never heard of marmoleum and plan to check it out at my local home improvement store this week. Do you think marmoleum would work on the Head bulkheads? The head has an integrated shower where everything gets wet, i.e. toliet, vanity, etc., like a typical camper bathroom. I am concerned about Tim's comments about different expansion/contraction issues. I hope the 10mm sheets of teak @ $180/sheet will work on the marine ply. Luckily, I only have to buy three sheets, no pun intended.

As for the overhead I'm still undecided. Fabric/Vinyl is always an option but I like the idea of being able to remove panels to access the overhead for wiring, fly bridge fasterners, etc. Do you think maroleum would work on the overhead by glueing it to 1/4' plywood?

As this project gets underway I'll attached some pictures. Thanks Marty, Tim for the advise. I look forward to conversing with the group.

Cap't Zeek

[Tim McCrain]

Cap't,
Marmoleum is flexible enough that I wouldn't be worried about expansion / contraction issues, it is a concern with laminate due to its being fairly rigid. And even with laminate, you'd be OK over a ply product that was well sealed. The biggest concern in the shower (with any surface) is getting the corners well sealed.

I'll let Marty answer about adhesive options, but I think that you'd be just fine using the 10mm ply over another ply product.

Tim

Thank you,

Thank you,

Mike
aka Cap't Zeek, just in case there pirates amongst us. Just Kidding - have a great day.

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Cabin Interior...

Cap't Zeek -

Marmoleum may not be found at your generic home-improvement store; we've gotten ours at the Environmental Home Center in south Seattle, but there are other outlets as well.

I wouldn't use it for shower walls or ceilings--just on floors/decks, dinette tabletops and/or countertops.

Offhand, 10mm is awfully heavy and thick for a veneer layer that's essentially decorative (since you've got marine-ply for the underlying bulkhead panels). You could get away with 4mm, 5mm or 6mm for all of your veneer applications and if you decide to consider some kind of veneer panel for your headliner, you definitely wouldn't want to go with anything thicker than 6mm (1/4-inch). Attached below is a photo of the 6mm maple-veneered panels we installed in Paul Fritts' 48-foot, 1948 Shain cruiser last year, just to give you an idea of what they looked like with the Daly's #31 Mustard stain and satin varnish. The panels are fairly light in weight, with maple only on the outer veneer layer, and as you can see we used half-round mahogany trim to help fasten the panels into each cabintop beam.

You're right--West System would be overkill in terms of adhesive when attaching veneer layers over your original plywood bulkheads. If the bulkhead surfaces are absolutely flat (no fastener heads, wiring or other obstructions on the surfaces being covered), you could simply apply the precut veneer layers with contact cement, or one of the generic adhesives used for floor tile, Formica, linoleum, etc. Much more affordable than acres of West System!

Hope this helps a bit...

- Marty