[C320-list] Refinishing companionway steps

[jim brown]

Scott, 

I've refinished the companion way steps once, all the interior hand holds (I think sun tan lotion softens the factory finish and they got sticky?). and the molding around the galley, and the drop boards twice on our 2004 #973.  The most important information, in my opinion, is to know that I think Catalina used a transparent toner in their finish to blend the different pieces of wood and grain into a nice uniform finish. Most furniture companies to the same thing. If you sand through this finish in some places and not in others (which you will do if you have any deep scratches) when you prep the steps the initial coat of varnish will leave ugly patchy light and dark areas that look like some sort of skin disease (the light ones will be where you didn't remove the toner).. It will be very noticeable with the first coat of varnish when it dries and is easily remedied by sanding to the bare wood and starting over. You can see it if you wet the area with solvent but it is not as noticeable as when you apply a finish. If you don't have any deep scratches or areas where the finish has worn through then a very very light scuff might come out just fine. 

After years of using marine varnishes on multiple projects (couple of wood kayaks, etc.) I have been using MinWax Spar Urethane varnish. I can see no difference in longevity or finish (especially with a satin or semi=gloss finish). It is also a lot cheaper. UV protection seems to be quite good on the drop boards (3 years or so) but on the steps and interior it really doesn't matter a whole lot. The other advantage of the MinWax is that all the finishes are available in spray cans. So you can brush on a couple of coats from a pint can waiting the 4 hours between coats for durability and then 5 or 6 coats of the final finish from the spray can(s). With the spray you can re-coat in an hour so you can get finished the same day. I have tried both the satin spray and the semi-gloss spray and the semi-gloss is by far the closest to the interior finish on our boat. Did the steps I think 3 or 4 years and they still look good. Once that toner is removed a re do is simple. Light sand and spray away.
Hope this helps. 

Jim Brown 
Desafinado 973


      From: Scott Thompson <surprise at thompson87.com>
 To: C320-List at Catalina320.com 
 Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2017 2:46 PM
 Subject: [C320-list] Refinishing companionway steps
   
I'm resurrecting a topic that has been covered more than once to see 
what current opinions are, since some initial opinions may have changed 
over time. Searching my personal email archives as well as those on the 
website came up with the following options. Looking for more info on 
these and/or others. And I'm specifically interested in recommendations 
for a 1999 boat since finishes varied over time.

1. A 2006 discussion included several recommendations for "Ultimate 
Sole." However the website causes my virus software to warn about 
dangerous content on the website, and a search indicates that perhaps 
they are not in business any more.

2. 2006 Jeff Church said he had used Minwax Satin Polyurethane with good 
results.

3. 2009 Karl M. said he had stripped to bare teak and is using teak oil. 
Has a photo on the website.

4. 2013 Warren Updike recommending Waterlox. Says its the original 
product used on his older boat.

5. 2015 Detailed email from Bev Wright about using Epifanes High Gloss 
Finish.

6. 2015 email from Graeme Clark says that water based varnish on teak 
will produce a lighter color than solvent based varnishes.

BTW, I can't find any mention specifically of finishes for the steps on 
the Catalina Direct website.  Personally, I've been happy with the 
original finish, but I don't know what it is. Catalina Direct seems to 
suggest that everything in the cabin on a 1999 boat used one of two 
finishes that they sell -- either satin or gloss.

Also, as an aside, I'm finding the search function on the new website is 
kind of funky at times, so I may have missed some of the past 
discussions. For example, the number of results seems to vary whether I 
sort by date or sort by relevance. And searches conducted seconds apart 
sometimes turn up radically different number of results. Also, I was 
sometimes in a situation where the search engine told me I was looking 
at message 19 of 32, but the arrow to view the next result was greyed out.

Scott Thompson
Surprise, #653 (1999)