ash? (Ideas on interior updating)

[deniseO30]

I'm not ready yet, but I'm trying to come up with a scheme to make the inside look brighter and updated. I have lots of ash lumber on hand. Ash and teak go very well together.

The nav table top is tacky white. The galley coutertop and solon table are real simulated butcher block formica! And don't forget the "tweed" carpet on the hull sides! (barf) All the trim, cabs, panels, louver doors, bulkheads and bunk ends are teak. (dark)

I've seen all the cabinets painted white on some boats where they just left the teak trim and doors dark.. it looked ok I guess... But...please don't suggest painting mine all white!

My first thoughts were to just make all the tops out of ash. with teak fiddles on the salon table. Ash and teak cutting board for the stove top.

Someday I want to make nauga cushion covers. (white?)

Sooooo just looking for some input.

[PBzeer]

I used oak in place of teak on my boat. It lightens things up considerably and I plan on using it more in the future. As I replace canvas and upholstery, I am going with a light gray with burgandy trim.

[Faster]

Most of our boat interior wood is Ash... stained a light golden teaky colour. It blends quite well with the teak that is there (cabin sole, engine box, some fiddles etc) but overall is quite a bit brighter. I revarnished last winter, and it looks great.

[bobmcgov]

Ash is an open grain wood, so it will match teak fairly well for texture. Not especially rot or bug resistant. Not bad to work with; face grain planes and sands well, edge grain is a bastard for chipout.

Ash will yellow slightly with time from its 'margerine' color when fresh-milled. It has excellent surface hardness, very good strength/weight ratio, and it bends wonderfully. Takes dyes well (tho ugly under pigmented stains); good adhesion with glues and finishes. Esp. pretty with a water-based finish; oils or oil-based varnishes look too amber on ash for my tastes. If you want a smooth surface, you'll need to fill the grain before varnishing. Clear grain fillers are available.

Expect some beetle-tracking and possibly mineral stains. Normal for ash. It's a good choice.

[chucklesR]

wood working amatuer, so you get what you pay for:
Here's the best finishing advice you will ever receive: make up sample boards, including boards that are both solid wood and the plywood (solid and ply often finish quite differently). Practice whatever finish you are thinking about on the sample boards, completely. To get a good idea of how the finish will look, make the sample boards sizable (I use 10" x 12" boards).
Here's the 2nd best finishing advice: Read and study "Understanding Wood Finishing" by Bob Flexner. It would be very difficult for anybody to tell you what the best stain would be on ash (first, maybe you'd really rather have a dye than a stain. Second, their taste could dramatically differ from yours). The more educated you are about the finishing process, the better your decisions will be in how to finish it. But still practice on the sample boards.

Having said all of that, ash is an open pored wood like red oak. You may or may not want to consider filling the pores (either with a pore filler or with finish itself. If finish itself, that can be a long process). Also, being an open pored and what I consider a "grainy" type wood, using a true stain (vs a dye) is going to tend to highlight the grain (as would pore filling the unsealed wood). This may or may not be the look that you are going for. Hence, try it on a sample board and see.

Either way, doesn't matter. If you do it, you will love it.

[TrueBlue]

Denise,
Is this a poll to see how many closet interior decorators there are here? Can't say I qualify, but I do know what I like in boat interiors.

Many of the classic Herreshoff yacht interiors utilized a varied balance of teak (or mahogany) and white bulkheads trimmed in teak (or mahogony), combined with varnished wood cabinetry. Teak and holly soles were almost universal.

I do like this classic nautical look, but have really fallen for the interior design that we inherited with our current boat. It consists of teak/holly soles, predominately teak bulkheads, teak cabinetry, doors and trim, all finished in a satin-hand rubbed varnish. All fittings and hardware are of unlacquered bronze - burnished to a soft lustre.

White vinyl headliners with teak battens provide some relief - as well as new custom Sunbrella white curtains on all fixed and operable ports and windows. All cushions and mattresses throughout the boat, and there are a lot of them, are custom upholsterered in a solid Navy Blue fabric, accented by a tiny off-white repeated pattern.

The interior is reminiscent of an all-wood private clubroom or library . . . only thing missing are the leather club chairs.

Regarding your idea of mixing woods, I have to say that I've never been a big fan of that look. Consistency of wood species and tone, create a sense of uniforminty and cohesiveness. Unless it's done very carefully and tastefully, many of the situations I've seen with a contrasting mix, such as with very light ash and dark teak, come off looking like an afterthought.

A good example of successfully contrasting different woods is with teak & holly soles. The very thin accents of light wood is enough.

[Bardo]

The Freedom yachts (see freedom 32 and 33) used a lot of ash in their cabins. Very light and airy. have a look on YW. Good luck!

[bobmcgov]

Originally Posted by TrueBlue

Regarding your idea of mixing woods, I have to say that I've never been a big fan of that look. Consistency of wood species and tone, create a sense of uniforminty and cohesiveness. Unless it's done very carefully and tastefully, many of the situations I've seen with a contrasting mix, such as with very light ash and dark teak, come off looking like an afterthought.

A good example of successfully contrasting different woods is with teak & holly soles. The very thin accents of light wood is enough.

TB: The 'tuxedo' look (highly contrasting woods) is very hot these past ten years. Many of my clients request mixed species with maximal color variance. I like it -- it recalls the tasteful work of Sheraton and Hepplewhite, an aesthetic revived by NorCal designers like Jim Krenov. BUT: you are right that tastes change, and contrasty stuff may look dated twenty years hence. My warning to clients: "Remember when Harvest Gold was cool?"

Denise's advantage here is that it's a BOAT, where all wood needs refinishing all the time. So she'll have plenty of chances in the future to modify the theme, if she feels the urge.

Denise: Holly's a bit hard to find, but fruit woods like apple and pear look similar. You might also look into Pawlonia (or Paulownia, Empress Tree, Princess Tree), a favorite wood in Japan and newly available from US growers. Very light, easy to work, and good in damp environments.

[TrueBlue]

I'm very familiar with the movement bob, and have designed furniture successfully with a mix of curly maple with rosewood accents, or tigerwood and Brazilian cherry. Of course it's easy to control these combinations when you're starting with a bare palette.

I was cautioning Denise over the risk of a disbalance when mixing her existing teak panels & cabinetry with random areas of ash. Of course, she should retain all that lovely faux butcherblock laminate . . . (g)

[NOLAsailing]

I don't have much to contribute other than to say that most of my interior wood is ash and I really like its lighter, blonde color.