original varnish how to recoat

rong · Post by **rong** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 8:23 pm

My 63 seacoaster has only the original varnish layer from factory. It was stored inside since new. The finish of course shows wear and cracking in some areas. I will be recoating the varnish and want to know everyone’s thoughts. The decking has a couple of 12" varnish crack lines that flake off with my finger nail and the wood underneath is gray.
Can I sand this small area and varnish over the top? I varnished a small area that showed grayed wood and the result was a black looking area. Please advise. 99% of the boat looks great with a coat of varnish but the decking and the wood surrounding the windshield is showing wear. I am assuming this is due to UV rays. Please advise.

John Hart · Post by **John Hart** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 5:51 am

My recommendation is to sand all the varnish and stain off, and get to bare wood... then use a deck cleaner and see if that will lift the fibers of the gray wood... if not, then get some oxalic acid (wood bleach powder from a hardward store... about $6 a tub) make a slurry and apply and let sit for as long as needed... maybe 5 minutes... maybe 30... and rinse)

Then you sand this off with 100-150-220 grit paper..... restain with filler stain, treat with Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer (CPES)... and revarnish.... using multiple coats of 75% pure mineral spirits 25% varnish, then 50/50, 50/75, then 100% varnish, at least 5-6 total coats... a lot of guys do more..........

Someone mentioned to me that the gray areas would be black if I didn't get rid of them first... unfortunately, I did the inside of my boat before learning this, so the inside transom has black streaks.... the outside all over was managed as described above, and has no evidence of weathering.....

Good luck.

John Hart

rong · Post by **rong** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 6:55 am

I was hoping not to have to strip, stain and varnish.
I am new at the stain and varnishing game and am concerned that I will not stain the boat to the proper color.
Were all Thompsons stained? I was told that many of these boats were varnished over natural wood. I must have received the wrong info...

JRPfeff · Post by **JRPfeff** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:27 am

rong - There is natural wood on various parts of my Thompsons - the seats, battery box, etc. The decking, spray rails, transom, and gunwale are stained and varnished on both.

You have nothing to lose by trying to refinish the cracked areas, you can always sand and refinish everything if you don't like the results. I intend to do some spot refinishing on my new boat. 99%+ of the finish looks good. I'd like to revarnish, but the current finish has lost it's shine and I like the look.

Jim

txcaptdan · Post by **txcaptdan** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 8:01 am

Hey, don't worry about experimenting. You do not have to strip entire surface as others have described. You will have to sand existing surface with a 220 sandpaper to smooth and prep for varnish. then work on cracks and flaws to try and blend them into existing surface. You may have to add some stain to blend together, stain can be added lightly or heavily as needed, then buffed to the correct tone and value.
I am a big believer in trying to save the patina these beautiful old boats have and not making them into my dining room table. If you have a good servicable finish then it can be saved and blended into a new proctective layer of varnish. Its amazing how a couple of new coats will make a finish sparkle.
I had to strip most of my boat to bare wood because it had been stored outdoors and the sun had bleached all the stain out of the wood and had left only a gold tone-varnish. If you have good color, you can make a good servicable finish as described above.
Good luck

a j r · Post by **a j r** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:51 am

I agree with "txcaptain." You do not need to compeltely strip. You can strip the bad areas and refinish, feathering thoses areas into the non-stripped areas. It is not easy and takes lots of practive. Go for it. And if it doesn't meet your expectations, then go for the stripper.

Yes, pigmented stain was used on the wood of the decks, covering boards, seats, windshield frame, transom, etc... The interior of the hull (ceiling) and bilge were varnished only - no stain.

Andreas

John Hart · Post by **John Hart** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 7:41 am

After re-reading the previous posts, I may have recommended too aggressive of a process.. I was presuming that the gray areas were significant. However, if the wear is just within the varnish, and the graying is just a linear stripe under a couple varnish crack lines, you may be satisfied with a thorough sanding with 220 and re-varnish.. You could limit your deeper sanding and spot staining to the crack lines/gray areas. By the time you put 2-4 coats of new varnish on, you may not be bothered if the dark areas are limited to skinny little strips. However, if you do take the gray areas down to bare wood to re-stain, I would still spot treat with wood bleach using a Q-tip....

My boat had big patches of gray on the decking, and some on the windshield. The varnish either flaked or sanded off easily, including the stain, w/o any stripper.

Good luck.

JoeCB · Post by **JoeCB** » Thu Nov 09, 2006 4:03 pm

A word of caution on the spot repairs. I would not recommend using penetrating epoxy sealer on any spot repairs where there is a discoloration issue. I would think that the epoxy will permanently lock in whatever color stain you have, you will never be able to do an overall strip and refinish at some future date and get uniform color. This just my "uneducated guess" but seems reasonable. What do the experts think?
Joe

John Hart · Post by **John Hart** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 8:50 am

I agree with Joe... it is not worth it to spot treat with CPES, and risk locking in any color.... In addition, any spillover to adjacent varnish will bubble and lift it just like a stripper..

John.