Bringing Teak & Holly Sole Back to Life?

[backcreeksailor]

Cleaning
I've got some old teak and holly sole that probably hasn't been cleaned in a decade and looks pretty dingy. What's the good product to clean these with and see if I can bring them back to life.

• I was thinking maybe Murphys Oil Soap?

Tightening Down a Loose Section
There's a section near the mast step where the sole has become loose and it squeaks/flexes each time I walk across that spot (which drives me crazy). What kind of fasteners typically attach the sole to the underlying fiberglass floor? And what would be the best way to tighten the floor back down?

• I was thinking about drilling out the teak plugs in the loose area to see if I can screw them down tighter. Or replace them with a larger fastener to get a little more bite into the deck?
• Or should I just redrill a new hole in the middle of the section that's come loose and screw it down right in the middle of where the squeak/flex is occuring?

[delan]

I've used a couple of panel pins, tiny nails swith virtually no head to stop squeaks, make sure you know exactly where the stringer is and attach to it, have your weight on the panel while you drive the nail, punch it down a mil or two, it virtually disappears and takes a few seconds to do.
If the sole has been varnished, give it a sand with 320 and a couple of coats of awlspar.
If it's been oiled, it's probably almast black by now, I'd give it a light sand by hand and a coat of lemon oil.

Lemon oil replenishes the woods oils, but doesn't darken like tung or other teak oils.

[backcreeksailor]

Are these panel pins you're talking about different than finishing nails? And do they come in stainless, or are they just regular steel that's going to rust out and let go after a season or two? Because I'm looking for something that's going to be a permanent fix.

What kind of fasteners are typically used from the factory to attach the sole, regular stainless wood screws?

And the underlying area's that you called stringers where the screws hold on to. Are these typically oriented port to starboard, or aft to forward? I'm just wondering if I can tell where they are based on the existing teak plugs?

[delan]

Yep, finishing nails, sorry my English upbringing.
They're made in stainless, primarily for saunas and steam rooms.
Although your boat sole doesn't have stringers like say a deck outside a house would have, the deck is usually supported by bulkheads laterally and smaller beams running fore and aft, this makes the bilge more accessible, these are the best spot to hit.
My teak and holly sole is bonded to 3/4 marine plywood and screwed and plugged, for sure, the correct repair would be to re-fasten, but if the strips we're bonded to the base with resin as mine are, you may do more damage trying to separate them than you'd like.
If your unsure about the nails, drive some into some scrap wood first and see if you can live with it.

In houses with squeaky floors, we've gotten away with blowing talk between the boards, but I don't think this would work in the marine environment. Possibly a dry graphite lubricant would.
best regards, Joe.

[CalebD]

Since your spongy area is near the mast step and possibly near a head or shower you might want to check the stringers underneath for rot. An existing bolt hole or two can be enough to get some light and a dentists mirror down to inspect without destroying anything.

I hope that all you need are new fasteners though. Boats and houses do settle sometimes.

I like the idea of Lemon Oil after a light sanding, let dry a week and finish with your choice of toppings.

Good luck.

[backcreeksailor]

Actually the previous owner and some faulty bilge pump wiring at one point allowed water to rise over the cabin sole for a relatively short period of time causing some minor warping of the existing teak & holly laminate, (hence the squeaking and flexing in a couple spots). I want to replace the teak & holly altogether, but that project is low on the current To-Do-List of boat priorities.

So I figured before I go whole hog into ripping out the existing laminate and addressing whatever is going on with the sole underneath it. I'd give some teak cleaner/brightener a go and see if I can tighten it down to well enough to stop the flexing and squeaking for a season or two.

I'm not opposed to finishing nails or even very small headed screws that can be counter sunk below the surface. But I don't want to make the fix sloppy and really obvious by just driving wood screws into the middle of the deck.

So is it a bad idea to use a slightly larger screw for more bite in the existing teak capped holes? And if I go that route, what's the best way to remove the existing teak plugs to get to those screws? (Just drill them out?)

[Sailormann]

Tightening Down a Loose Section
There's a section near the mast step where the sole has become loose and it squeaks/flexes each time I walk across that spot (which drives me crazy). What kind of fasteners typically attach the sole to the underlying fiberglass floor? And what would be the best way to tighten the floor back down?

I was thinking about drilling out the teak plugs in the loose area to see if I can screw them down tighter. Or replace them with a larger fastener to get a little more bite into the deck?
Or should I just redrill a new hole in the middle of the section that's come loose and screw it down right in the middle of where the squeak/flex is occuring?

Your sole should be screwed down so that you can easily remove it on a regular basis for cleaning, inspection, etc. You can either use screws that go directly into fibreglass or you can get the stainless threaded plugs that you epoxy into the stringers. They have machine threads inside so that the frequent removal does not strip the fibreglass or wood base.

[sailingdog]

Don't screw things into fiberglass. Fiberglass is a lousy medium for accepting screws—it is too brittle and the screws will strip the holes or crack the fiberglass pretty quickly.