Indoor wood treatment

[5arahj6yne]

Hi big boat brain - the wooden window casings inside my boat are looking a bit worse for wear. Can anyone recommend process & products to get em lookin lovely again? Seems like they want stain & oiling rather than varnish? 

[BEngo]

Unfortunately  water stains like your picture tend to be permanent.

 

The best you can do is probably a gentle sand along the grain with 240 grit then 400 grit, followed by some teak or danish oil.

 

N

[Higgs]

I would double check and do your research but, it's a problem I'm contemplating on a sailboat I have - how to protect the wood. Varnishing seems to be one of the least resistant, and requires regular maintenance. Oils maybe the answer, but It also requires frequent attention. Some use an epoxy resin to first be absorbed, then varnish for visual aesthetics. 

 

Oxalic acid can be used to remove or reduce staining. A product called the Barkeepers Friend, sold at Dunhelms, contains oxalic acid. Or, it could be obtained via Amazon. Anyway, I'm still mulling over these options. 

 

I have varnished the tiller handle in Schooner. An outdoor varnish. Don't know how it will hold up. Already put on 5 primary coats. Not finished.

 

 

 

Edited July 2 by Higgs

[Lady M]

If you use varnish, please make sure it is NOT water based.  You should be able to tell this from the brush cleaning instructions.  DAMHIK

[Alan de Enfield]

2 hours ago, 5arahj6yne said:

Can anyone recommend process & products to get em lookin lovely again?

 

Step 1 ) Ensure the water leak (source of water) around the windows has been fixed.

 

Or, whatever you do to the wood you will be doing again fairly quickly

[Higgs]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Step 1 ) Ensure the water leak (source of water) around the windows has been fixed.

 

Or, whatever you do to the wood you will be doing again fairly quickly

 

Easier said than done, with condensation, and with no double-glazed windows. I'd be inclined to use epoxy on the lower areas of wood at the window. The wood will be able to resist the moister better.

 

 

[Mad Harold]

I have used Ronseal shed and fence treatment.Water based and in various colours, it goes on easily and although a matt finish, it doesn't look too bad.It's also very durable.

I am not so bothered about looks, I prefer practicality.

 

[Sea Dog]

5 hours ago, Lady M said:

If you use varnish, please make sure it is NOT water based.  You should be able to tell this from the brush cleaning instructions.  DAMHIK

Interested to hear what happened to you as I stopped using yacht varnish on my exterior wood several years ago and changed to Ronseal 10 year woodstain. Its water based, but performs as well if not better in this application, although I'd give it 5 years rather than 10. Its much easier to use and... wash brushes in water. 

[Ronaldo47]

I use natural beeswax polish for internal hardwood, including fittings in the shower at home.. It was in short supply s few years ago, but Screwfix/Toolstation usually stock it now.

[Ac sparky]

Oxalic acid is very good,  easy to use but ppe needed 

[Sue68]

I used cooking oil on our interior wood. Cheap and always available.

Sue

[Sea Dog]

7 minutes ago, Sue68 said:

I used cooking oil on our interior wood. Cheap and always available.

Sue

On purpose or are you reaping the benefits of being a messy cook? 

[LadyG]

Sadolin is the best treatment , its a stain and a varnish, but not high gloss, you would have to treat the damaged areas first until you near the colour. 

Is it possible to remove and replace?

The corner piece cou,d be replaced 

 

Edited July 2 by LadyG

[truckcab79]

The issue you have is that without removal you’ll always have the underside bare and exposed to moisture. Chances of it having been varnished on all sides before fitting are remote. 
 

Ideally you want to take it out, sand it back and then epoxy it on all sides to seal and then your varnish of choice and then refit.   A lot of work but anything else is just treating the visible bits and the water will just creep back underneath.  Will work for a while though.  

1 hour ago, Sue68 said:

I used cooking oil on our interior wood. Cheap and always available.

Sue

Can’t knock it if it works for you but cooking oil doesn’t dry so it’ll just sit there and attract dirt so not really suitable for this application.  

 

Plenty of drying oils available for this purpose.  Osmo generally best of the bunch, but Danish oil, Tung Oil annd others are all readily available.    

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Sadolin is the best treatment , its a stain and a varnish, but not high gloss, you would have to treat the damaged areas first until you near the colour. 

Is it possible to remove and replace?

The corner piece cou,d be replaced 

 

And they do a clearcoat .  Have to be honest I’m not keen on their colours as they are all a bit muddy looking. Neither paint nor stain. Good for covering up old damaged wood as a quick cosmetic fix though and very long-lasting.  

[blackrose]

14 hours ago, Higgs said:

I have varnished the tiller handle in Schooner. An outdoor varnish. Don't know how it will hold up. Already put on 5 primary coats. Not finished.

 

 

What do you mean by outdoor varnish exactly? Polyurethane varnish is resistant to moisture but it hates UV light which breaks the polymer chains in the varnish. If you're using varnish around windows or anywhere else subject to UV exposure it should be yacht varnish.

13 hours ago, Lady M said:

If you use varnish, please make sure it is NOT water based.  You should be able to tell this from the brush cleaning instructions.  DAMHIK

 

Polyurethane varnish may either be water based or solvent based but neither are suitable because of its susceptibility to UV light. 

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Sadolin is the best treatment , its a stain and a varnish, but not high gloss, 

 

I used Sadolin on the exterior hardwood window frames of a house once and it did look very good. The frames all needed sanding down to get the varnish off first. I don't know how well the Sadolin lasted. 

14 hours ago, 5arahj6yne said:

Hi big boat brain - the wooden window casings inside my boat are looking a bit worse for wear. Can anyone recommend process & products to get em lookin lovely again? Seems like they want stain & oiling rather than varnish? 

 

Whatever you use you'll need to sand the frames first. 

[Higgs]

10 hours ago, blackrose said:

What do you mean by outdoor varnish exactly? Polyurethane varnish is resistant to moisture but it hates UV light which breaks the polymer chains in the varnish. If you're using varnish around windows or anywhere else subject to UV exposure it should be yacht varnish.

 

Schooner can be used indoors. Schooner does give UV protection. And, apparently, it's hardwearing. Suitable for yacht environments. Ticks quite a few boxes.

 

Schooner Yacht Varnish | International (international-yachtpaint.com)

 

 

Edited July 3 by Higgs

[blackrose]

1 hour ago, Higgs said:

 

Schooner can be used indoors. Schooner does give UV protection. And, apparently, it's hardwearing. Suitable for yacht environments. Ticks quite a few boxes.

 

Schooner Yacht Varnish | International (international-yachtpaint.com)

 

 

 

That's because it a yacht varnish

[Higgs]

2 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

That's because it a yacht varnish

 

A good choice. It's being used on a yacht. But specifically, for an outside purpose.

 

 

[cuthound]

15 hours ago, truckcab79 said:

The issue you have is that without removal you’ll always have the underside bare and exposed to moisture. Chances of it having been varnished on all sides before fitting are remote. 
 

Ideally you want to take it out, sand it back and then epoxy it on all sides to seal and then your varnish of choice and then refit.   A lot of work but anything else is just treating the visible bits and the water will just creep back underneath.  Will work for a while though.  

Can’t knock it if it works for you but cooking oil doesn’t dry so it’ll just sit there and attract dirt so not really suitable for this application.  

 

Plenty of drying oils available for this purpose.  Osmo generally best of the bunch, but Danish oil, Tung Oil annd others are all readily available.    

And they do a clearcoat .  Have to be honest I’m not keen on their colours as they are all a bit muddy looking. Neither paint nor stain. Good for covering up old damaged wood as a quick cosmetic fix though and very long-lasting.  

 

I have some garden gates made of iroko. When supplied they were treated with Osmo Oil and I was advised to recoat them annually. It failed within a year! I carried on with this for 3 years before giving up on Osmo Oil.

 

I have since treated them with Sikkens Cetol HLS woodstain followed by Sikkens Cetol Filter 7. Four  years on they are as good as the day I painted them 

 

I have since used it on my deckboard with similar results.

Edited July 3 by cuthound
Spilchucker interference

[Peanut]

I am about to do the same as cuthound on Katy Louise, I have given up on varnish, it doesn't last a year. You have to touch it up as soon as you see any sign of failing, then rub it all back and re-coat it every year. Life is too short. Cetol HLS and filter7, used on yachts, lasts around four to five years easily. The only drawback is that it doesn't have the same gloss as varnish, but it is a small price to pay to get your life back.

 

They say there are yachts to look at and admire, and for someone else to own.  Super yachts have paid crew who spend their lives skivvying for them.

[GUMPY]

Varnish is rubbish 

Sadolin is the way forward😉

[blackrose]

18 hours ago, truckcab79 said:

Ideally you want to take it out, sand it back and then epoxy it on all sides to seal and then your varnish of choice and then refit.   A lot of work but anything else is just treating the visible bits and the water will just creep back underneath.  

 

That seems a bit OTT to me. I recently took out all my 19 year old portholes and the interior oak linings as one of the portholes had started to leak. None of the wood had been treated with anything on the inside and it was butted right up to the steel. Apart from the porthole that was leaking (the lining of which was rotting and only just salvageable), the rest of the wooden linings were all fine - water stained on the backs of course but other than that no problem. I painted the backs of the wood with some primer before putting them back in but epoxying wood on all sides seems only a step away from fitting plastic linings instead of wood! Epoxy is a thermoset polymer after all.

24 minutes ago, Peanut said:

 

They say there are yachts to look at and admire, and for someone else to own.  Super yachts have paid crew who spend their lives skivvying for them.

 

I worked on a 120 year old 91ft Thames steam launch for a couple of years with a lot of varnished areas, especially around the perimiter of the teak deck and wooden bulkhead. We used to use hot air guns and scrapers to remove any failing varnish before reapplying it every year. But we only removed the failing patches, feathered the edges and then re-varnished. It is a pain. Fortunately on most canal boats the exposed varnished areas are fairly limited.

[truckcab79]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

 

That seems a bit OTT to me.

It’s massively over the top and likely most would never do it but it’s probably the only way to (almost) guarantee no water ingress  

5 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

I have some garden gates made of iroko. When supplied they were treated with Osmo Oil and I was advised to recoat them annually. It failed within a year! I carried on with this for 3 years before giving up on Osmo Oil.

 

I have since treated them with Sikkens Cetol HLS woodstain followed by Sikkens Cetol Filter 7. Four  years on they are as good as the day I painted them 

 

I have since used it on my deckboard with similar results.

Osmo would probably tell you it was the wrong oil for iroko, or it was too wet etc etc but to be honest I’ve used Osmo for years and never had an issue even though I’ve frequently ignored their recommended usage specs. I find it generally very forgiving. 
 

That said I use Sikkens Cetol more and more and it’s all round pretty unbeatable.  Great coverage. Easy to apply. Great depth of colour, quick drying and easy clean up.  👍

[Cheshire cat]

Sikkens is good stuff but be warned it's £40 a tin

[MtB]

Painting it seems the obvious answer to me!!