Teak Holly Sole Installation

[PeteW]

Here are some pictures and things I learned installing a new Teak & Holly sole my the Pearson 365 Ketch. The job was done with 2 4'x8' 1/2" sheets of of teak holly plywood. (cost around $500 for both)

The old sole was underwater or at least wet for 5+ years. These pieces came in handy as templates to double check my dimensions.



Here's are all the pieces prior to installation.



A closeup of the forward hatch opening located outside the head showing the teak edging that was glued up to the opening and the hatch cutout pieces.



The forward pieces. Note this cut seam goes through to the main salon. This seam was glued up once the pieces were installed using biscut cutter. Gluing the sole down with construction adhesive and butt joining these halves must be done in place and at the same time. They will not fit through the hatch otherwise.



In order to solve the puzzle and do the job with only 2 sheets you will need to butt glue some scraps together. The seams were all done on the edge of a holly border so they don't show at all. This is the piece that goes on the starboard side below the companionway.



Half of the main salon with the hatch piece dry fitted. Hatches get glued to the plywood hatch base with thickended epoxy after the sole is in place.



All pieces were sealed with 105/207 west system on all 6 sides to inhibit water absoption. The final finish was Old Masters Semigloss polyurethane. Its not water based. Its a high endproduct that so far wears better than the exposed epoxy I left in the galley, which will scratch. It takes a long time to get hard. Use your nose to tell when it has stopped out gassing. Don't walk on it till its done which in my case took a week.



This is the best picture I could find of the finished job. I used 1/4 round from home depot to finish the edge. That seam below catty boy there should have a drain or weep hole because water can collect there. On that note: I pumped silicon around the edge prior to installing the 1/4 round so water would not migrate below the plywood sheets. The old sole was moldy due to water migration and contributed to much of the smell that left once it was removed.

[Dale Tanski]

Pete,
Outstanding project and certainly not for the faint of heart.  Interesting, your note on mold and smell.  I am wondering whats under my sole as I know for a fact that it was completely submerged. 

Your boat looks wonderfull, thanks for the pictures and dialog.  Someday I may have to see what is lurking under my sole. 

Does the cat sail with you?

Dale Tanski

[INCOMMUNICADO]

Pete,Nice work Thanks.Allen

[SVJourney]

Nice work!

Our sole has never been submerged, but the finish has worn very thin and the holly strips are coming up in places. Nice to know there is a fix that doesn't require a lot of boat bucks to do.

Thank you very much for posting up your project!
Wayne

[Leo]

Looks great! I refinished mine last year but looks like I should have replaced it. Where did you find the Teak Holly plywood?

Len

[PeteW]

I bought the teak&holly ply at Frost Hardwood on Mirimar Road in San Diego. The trick was knowing were to tell the guy to rip it in advance so it would fit in my wagon. If you have to ship 4x8 sheets figure on twice the price.

Also keep the stuff out of the sun. It will darken in just a few hours. For $250 a sheet I am sure I got the cheapest grade, meaning, very thin venier. But 2-3 coats of expoxy will make it bullet proof.

If any of you are interested I can post drawings, but it would take some time to pull that together. I made all my pieces from these drawings and remotely and they fit perfectly (almost). The port side forward of center is not square by about 1/4" or so overall. All the finished parts fit in the back of the wagon too. Install was by far the easy part, only 2-3 hours a screwing around dry fitting and cutting a few biscuit slots.

Pete, sv "Tartanic" 

[jboyle1650]

Pete,

I just posted a request for a template for the cabin sole.  Do you have that or the drawings?  If it is a lot to pull them together I can wait to see if there are replies to my post. 

Thanks

Jim B

[Saylrman64]

Hey Pete,

Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm about to replace the sole in my sailboat. I've bought the wood and I'll be making templates soon..

The reason I'm replying to a really old post is two fold.

1) It's now been almost ten years -how has the adhesive you used to stick the ply to the cabin sole held up?

2) Is there any reason not to simply lay down the three coats of poly before gluing to the sole?

I guess one more question....
Did you sand between poly coats?

Thank you again.

[jboyle1650]

Does anyone have the template for the teak holly sole?

Thanks,

Jim B

[Dale Tanski]

I can think of one reason that you do not want to lay down three coats of poly before gluing the new floor down.  Polyurethane is a wonderful coating.  It is very durable, resists scratching and is very hard.  There in is the problem. Poly is great for the top of the dining room table or a bowling ally because it is so hard.  It is not a great coating on a boat especially on the sole. 
Hard finishes like poly tend to crack when something hard is dropped on them.  The slightest dent from a winch handle drop cracks the finish.  That crack then allows the water in and once the water gets behind the surface bad things happen.  This is especially true on deck but also below as well.  As wood grows and shrinks from humidity and temperature variations, any joints in the wood can separate ever so slightly.  Hard non flexible finishes crack right along with that movement. 
Varnishes typically known as spar vanishes are formulated to remain flexible after they dry.  This flexibility allows them to bend instead of crack.  Spar varnishes are specially formulated for boats to overcome the movement without compromising the weathertightness.  Any spar varnish would be better than a poly for your sole.  Beware however that most spar varnishes do not contain UV inhibitors.  They work great for what the are but once exposed to direct sunlight the UV quickly breaks down the varnish.  The better Interlux varnishes such as Schooner or Schooner Gold have UV additives.  They are a great product.
In my opinion one of the best varnish finishes for a boat is Epifanes.  It is a tung oil based varnish with lots of UV absorbers.  It is from my point of view the most flexible varnish one can acquire.  The more flexibility the more it will protect against water intrusion.  It is soft, bends with a dent.  As long as you are not constantly wearing street shoes, it won't scratch for many years when used on a sole. 
Dale