MERLIN ROCKET FORUM

Topic : Black marks on deck

My fore and side decks have a pretty mediocre varnish job which has cracked in places leaving black marks in the wood under the cracks.

Obviously I need to strip the varnish off and get back to bare wood; but how deep do the marks go? If they are surface-only then I'd guess a rub down with some fine glasspaper or maybe wire wool would do it, but I don't want to make matters worse by going through the top layer of ply. I also thought about putting a dilute bleach solution on them, but I'm not sure what effect this might have on the ply bonding.

Lots of people will have dealt with this before, so I'm hoping for some practical solutions!


Posted: 23/08/2013 19:24:19
By: Derik Palmer
Are they black or are they just much darker brown than the deck wood? We see marks appear from time to time on BAU (usually when she has been outside of the garage for too long). A couple of weeks in the dry (with a gentle heat) usually dries the decks out. At which point you can then reseal. I know where the moisture is getting in on BAU - the side decks have flexed and cracked the epoxy coating on the underside, so when I am sorting the bilge keels out this autumn, I'll rub the undersides of the decks back and re-coat too.


Posted: 23/08/2013 22:23:21
By: Andy Hay - Business as Usual
If the marks are more permanent then do not try to bleach the wood with bleach but use oxalic acid to remove the marks.  This can be obtained from large timber merchants.


Posted: 23/08/2013 23:52:04
By: richardt
BUY A WINDER


Posted: 24/08/2013 23:23:18
By: PLASTIC BOATS RULE
Ah, I see one of the phillistines has sneaked in whilst we weren't looking.  Need to fix the lock on that catflap...


Posted: 25/08/2013 22:31:30
By: Derik Palmer
Nice!

Oxalic acid is the treatment, but you can't treat it through the cracks in the varnish as the wood needs to be thoroughly washed afterwards. Unless you are very good with a sander or hot air gun, lowest risk to the ply is by chemical stripping, but again, very thorough washing is essential.


Posted: 26/08/2013 19:31:46
By: Rod & Jo

REPLY

To Reply, please join/renew membership.

Owners Association


Developed & Supported by YorkSoft Ltd

Contact

Merlin Rocket Owners Association
Secretary