Quote:
Originally Posted by SailorChlud
Thanks, guys. I am not sure I want to rely on the plastic anchors of the toggle bolts, whether epoxied or not. Bushwacker: you used brass anchors? Where did you find those?
I am still deciding on whether to laminate a thin PVC or other skin to the outside of the bulkheads instead of using the plywood alone. I am definitely planning on coating all sides and bottoms in epoxy to prevent the problem of sweet (or salt) water wicking up the grain.
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I believe I found the threaded brass inserts in the hurricane supply section of a local hardware store, but a google search turned up
this link.
Regarding a laminate over the plywood, that would give a more uniform appearance than if you just varnished the plywood. I used some wood grain formica on the PVC board I used to replace the rotted plywood on the galley seat I bought (see pic below). It looked nice initially, but I'm disappointed at how quickly it faded in the strong UV we have in S. Fl., even though I keep a cover on the boat most of the time. It's actually faded worse than the 45 year old contact paper originally used on the bulkheads
! It's also very important to use waterproof contact cement or maybe epoxy resin to attach the laminate! Maybe if the laminate was coated with 5-6 coats of a clear varnish with lots of UV inhibitor, that would work. I would not use a urethane varnish because it'll be too hard to fix it once it goes bad. Also would not use epoxy or varnish over epoxy because epoxy under varnish will turn white once the varnish looses it's UV protection; you can't tell when that's about to happen, and I've heard stories about varnish + epoxy coatings turning white virtually overnight. You'd have to strip off the epoxy to fix that, so just plain varnish is probably your best bet. I've had very good luck with Epifanes. Used it on mahogany entry door shown below at least 4 years ago and it still looks great. although it faces N, so doesn't see direct sun.