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teak and holly sole

C

capnbrown

Larry Brown
My teak and holly sole has become damaged over the years to a
point where it should be replaced. While I'm at it, I should
make sure that the water drains are all working properly, as
this is the reason for the original damage and there is some
damage to the besides the top layer. So... this means that I
should probably remove the entire floor and start with a new sub
floor and top that with a teak and holly or a holly and teak
ply. Does anyone have any experience in removing the sub floor
that they can share? Or a good book on this type of repair?
Thanks, I'll look forward to your replies.
 
While I haven't had the exact experience, it is so close it could be helpful to you. Also, my boat is a Charley 38, so things may be different. Because I am a centerboarder the bilge in the main saloon is very shallow. On many occassions in rough weather we have had water in the boat. On top of that by the time all of this happened the boat was 21 years old.In any event,I removed the entire teak and holly sole and found that the sub-flooring was in excellent shape because it apparently had been epoxied prior to installation. Also, removal would have been nearly impossible because of the bulkeads, seats, etc. I replaced the teak and holly with teak and holly half inch ply and it worked great. Glued down with MMM5000, placed concrete blocks on to weigh down and left for 2 days dry time. Done 4 years ago and not a lick of a problem since. Good luck.
 
Ed, I'm also interested in what it would take to replace the teak and holly cabin sole, but need a bit of clarification. When I think of a sub-floor, I think of a structural rough floor that supports a finish floor, as in a house. I don't see a sub-floor by this definition in my M382, but I do have a teak & holly verneer plywood floor. Perhaps all 382's wern't built the same way. Does your boat have a sub-floor below the teak and holly plywood?

 
<div>Jim,Thanks, how did you remove the teak and holly? I believe mine is glued firmly to a structural ply floor (I call the sub floor). Were you able to separate the veneer from the floor? What technique?
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<div>Jim, Yeah, the sub floor is the plywood under the veneer teak and holly. In at least one spot it is damaged and buckled from moisture. In my experience the teak and holly is a very thin (1/16th or so) veneer, and it is glued to the thicker plywood flooring. I may not need to remove all the flooring, and perhaps can just fix the bad spot and cover with a new veneer. I appreciate your input.Ed
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Ed: You have to start at some point where you can get a chisel or some other pry bar or tool under the teak and holly and start chipping away. I found that once I got it started a lot of it came up by just grabbing and pulling up. Admittedly I had a lot of places where I had to keep chiseling away at it, but perserverance pays off. Once you get most of it off you have to use a chemical remover to remove the old glue, but it does come off. Keep in mind that you have to have the sub floor completely smooth otherwise the new flooring will not set well. I made a stencil of the floor before I started so that when I got around to cutting the new floor I was able to use only one piece of 4 by 8 ply. Must tell you though that I did not have to replace the floor at the bottom of the companionway. Clean, clean, clean before you put the new glue down and then spread well. Keep going and good luck. Jim Hudnut, Stella Maris.
 
Jim,
I have a Charlie Morgan 38 as well and need to do this T&H job. My floor consists of 3/4" ply glassed in and then covered with what looks like masonite (very porous with a hard surface) that has 3/16" T&H glued on top. Did you also encounter this masonite-like stuff? Did you remove that as well? I am tempted to try to re-glue the loosened areas and then sand since the T&H is so thick - any thoughts?
 
Greg: I did not encounter what you describe. My teak and Holly was glued directly to the 3/4 ply. I can't imagine something like masonite being placed on top of the 3/4, but anything is possible i suppose. More importantly, if your T & H is a plywood, like mine was, you can only sand so much before you run out of depth of the holly that has been inserted into the teak ply. If you can get a look at an edge of the existing cabin sole you will be able to determine the depth of the holly strip inserts to gauge how much you can sand down.
 
Jim, I did cut a section out to make access to part of the bilge just forward of the engine. My T&H is actually solid
3/16 in., I was amazed to see that and the crummy stuff underneath - It is fastened with NAILS! I am afraid of trying to sand around the fasteners, and I also have some bad discoloration from oil soaked water that was in the boat when I bought it (post Andrew).

 
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