Galley Tops
The Galley on the Camano was starting to show it's age (just like all of us). I have started some interior remodel projects as well as the mechanical ones. This project will be on going as I "trick out" the small galley to make it both nicer looking & easier to use. I noticed the teak woodwork on the counters and handholds was sticky and in many places losing it's finish. I taped off around all the edges of the countertop teak and using some stripping gel I removed the finish.
The finish came off very easily on all of the rails except on 1 rail in the galley in front of the range where someone had applied a coat of varnish (not a great job either, pretty heavy & full of runs). That rail took alot of elbow grease and some sanding. Once the finish was removed, I sanded all of the stripped rails, wiped them down & applied a couple coats of Danish Oil with a piece of cheese cloth. This finish is easy to apply and gives a super nice look to the teak.
I wasn't worried about getting the stripper or the finish on the countertops themselves since I planned to redo them. I also removed all of the doors & hinges. I cleaned up all the teak edges of the doors and installed new hinges. Nothing ever works out as planned...of course, why would it? The new hinges (which I thought were identical were not). The side that attaches to the doors was a different hole pattern, this turned out to be a good thing as some of the hinge screws broke off. With the new screw pattern I had new holes, so that seemed better. But...when I went to put the doors back on, the cabinet frame side hinge holes were not the same either and very close to each other. To not risk the screws travelling & becoming loose, I filled all the old cabinet holes with JB Weld, a 2 part epoxy that I use often for repairs. Epoxy is great because it gets super hard and dries fairly quick. Next I pre-drilled the new holes and screwed all the doors back on.
Now the countertops. I had thought about replacing them as they were stained & scratched, the problem was, they were built in place and it would mean tearing out the entire cabinet & pretty teak. Next I thought about painting them but decided against that. I was cruising the internet and came across a YouTube video showing Rust-Oleum Countertop Transformations. Hey, according to them it "costs 10x less than Granite", my guess is 10x lighter too.
This stuff seems pretty much the same as the garage floor epoxy/color flake systems I have had installed on some of our homes. Rust-Oleum sells it in a small or large kit with virtually everything except masking tape, brushes, rollers and roller pans. I only found 2 colors a dark & a light. I ordered the Desert Sand color small kit (for about 30 sf of top, way more than what I would need for the small galley). The kit came with a DVD set of instructions but I just rewatched the YouTube video and went to work. The process takes 2 days and the finish coat must be applied within 24 hours of the first application of the base coat & color flakes. First you "scuff" sand the entire top, then a base color coat is applied. If needed you spray a whetting agent on the base coat to keep it wet. Next the color flakes are broadcast on the top with the included spreader. If I had used the spreader it would have sprayed flakes all over the cabin & galley, so I opted to toss them by hand. The backsplash is the hardest to cover.
After at least 12 hours you remove the excess flakes, scrape and sand the top. The next morning I started the clean up, scraping & sanding. Who needs directions? Because I failed to open the DVD instructions (idiot), I didn't see the sample you can use to rub your hand on to determine how much sanding should be done. I was worried about sanding too much and through the finish so my surface was not quite as smooth as the sample. I only found the sample AFTER applying the clear coat (of course).
Overall I am happy with the end results and in fact the less smooth surface may prove to be better on a pitching boat (always have an excuse to give your wife...always). Either way, the tops look great and definitely updated.
I made an oak cutting board to fit in the range recess and to provid a little more counterspace, plus it's just plain cool looking! Both sides have the boat name & logo lasered on it, one side has a Shrimp (meat cutting side) and a Carrot (vegetable cutting side) on the other.
The tops looked so nice I put a new faucet in (the old one was installed wrong & was rusted). I plan on installing some wall racks for spices, plates, glasses & cups. A boat this small needs as much planned out space as possible.
Comments
Post a Comment