Teak floor protection

[f_cousin]

I am replacing my cabin floor with a 3/4" marine grade plywood with a teak and hollywood veneer.
Can somebody tell me what the recommendations are as far as protecting the floors knowing that we sail with a kid and a dog (I need some protection):
- Oil ?
- Varnish ?
- Epoxy ?
Thanks a lot.

[joub]

With a solid teak sole, oil is an option. However with the veneer, you have precious little teak wood before you get into something you probably don''t want to look at!

In my opinion, with veneer, varnish is the only real option. It will provide protection (with five or more coats) and bring out the beauty of the teak and holly finish.
I varnished my sole which was solid teak. I think it looks much nicer than when it was oiled. I''ve often heard that varnished cabin soles are slippery when wet, but my polyeurathane finish doesn''t seem to be.
I threw some water on it to check it out...didn''t seem slippery to me.

If you elect to varnish, plan on at least five coats for protection and a nicer finish... more coats would be better. To "build" the thickness faster, use spar varnish for the first few coats as it is thicker. Then go to a polyeurathane varnish for a finish that is more resistant to abrasion.

Fairwinds,

Jim

[jbanta]

I use Cetol. It makes the wood glow,protects wonderfully is easy to maintain. To start with use 3 coats then one each season there after and your sole will always look great.

[f_cousin]

Thanks a lot...
I will most likely varnish my floor this week end.
I will follow your recommendations.
Thanks again...

[paulk]

If you haven''t gotten to it yet.... before varnishing, you may want to try coating your new floorboards with epoxy. It provides an even stonger layer of protection against water infiltration (and the delamination that entails) and abrasion. Of course, left alone, UV rays will darken the epoxy, so it still needs the 4 coats of varnish.