Ceiling Project Continues

The ceiling project moved along a bit slowly as life got in the way. So far the Salon, Galley and Pilot House are completed. We are not sure how much further we will take it. In hindsight it would have been a lot easier to have just covered the vinyl rather than take it down. However we now have total access to the underside of the boat deck above the Salon and the deck above the Pilot House.

The new ceiling panels are made from Stabilit brand FRP sheets. We bought them through Home Depot but we had to order a pallet as we wanted the smooth panels rather than the pebbled panels that Home Depot stocks in their stores. As a result we paid a premium and have enough extra panels to completely do the rest of the boat. Rather than glue the panels to the ceiling stringers they are held in place by the 3/8" thick teak trim which are fastened with black SS screws and black countersunk finish washers. This allows easy access to the boat deck and ceiling above 

The teak trim was milled from rough teak lumber that we purchased from  specialty wood distributor A&M Wood Specialty in Cambridge, Ontario. We first squared up the stock in a jointer then ripped it to slightly oversize on the band saw. The trim strips were then milled to the final thickness on the jointer as we don't have a thickness planner (would be much quicker with a thickness planner). Final edge bevel was done on the router table. Final dimension of our teak trim is 3/8" thick and 2 1/2" wide. This was all done in a small basement workshop.

We have been using Epifanes varnish for quite some time. We now use a combination of Wood Finish Gloss and Wood Finish Matt exclusively. Once I figured out that you can thin it much more than Epifanes instruct on the tin I was able to get the product to flow nicely. Initial coats we thin to 50% then 25-30% for the remainder. We sand smooth with 220 grit, vacuum and wipe down the teak before applying the first coat of Wood Finish Gloss. The nice thing about Wood Finish Gloss is that no sanding is required between coats as long as they are applied between 24 and 48 hours. Since we thin the vanish a lot more than Epifanes instruct we need to apply more coats to fill the grain. About 9 coats of gloss is usually enough. After the grain is filled we wait 72 hours before sanding again with 220 grit, vacuum and wiping down the trim before applying 3 coats of Wood Finish Matt thinned 25-30%. The Wood Finish Matt must be sanded between coats, we use 320 grit for this.

A note about "laying" down varnish. Use a high quality natural bristle brush, they are expensive ($25-30) but totally necessary IMO. Lay the varnish down in long steady stroke not by "brushing" back and forth.