Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

[chrisf695]

Im redoing the panels and bench seat this weekend and I'm a little confused if I HAVE to you marine grade wood for the panels or bench seat... the wood size for my panels is 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch....and its really hard to get marine grade kinda hard to get in my area... Would wolmanized wood work for this? Thanks for your opinions!

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

I personally used Luon (spelling?) for my side panels...been fine for 3 seasons so far though I've read conflicting things about its moisture and rot resistance.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

Im redoing the panels and bench seat this weekend and I'm a little confused if I HAVE to you marine grade wood for the panels or bench seat... the wood size for my panels is 1/4 inch and 1/2 inch....and its really hard to get marine grade kinda hard to get in my area... Would wolmanized wood work for this? Thanks for your opinions!

If you have an aluminum boat don't use wolmanized/pressure treated wood. Use exterior grade plywood, ABX or ACX will do fine.

Seal the wood with 3 or 4 coats of exterior grade spar urethane sealer like this stuff:

Minwax? Helmsman? Spar Urethane | Exterior Clear Protective Finishes

 

[MRS]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

I am doing this now and the old wood is exterior grade plywood still in great shape (1986). But I am changing shape of panels so I will go with the same wood again.

 

[minuteman62-64]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

You don't need marine ply for those appliations. Exterior ply, protected w/paint or sealed w/epoxy (or both) will do fine. What ever you use, I recommend protecting both sides as much as possible. I had a dry rot problem with a seat and some hatch covers in my aluminum skiff as a result of the underside not being protected.

My 1982 boat has MDO (one side) ply bench seats. With the exception of the one that was nailed by dry rot they are still going strong after 30 years - although now in need of a coat of paint. When I repaint, I will remove the seats and seal the undersides and edges with a penetrating epoxy and then paint both sides before re-installing. I expect that treatment will allow the seats to outlast both the aluminum hull and me by a wide margin.

 

[cyclops2]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

I switched to plastic decking boards. Make SURE you get the ones that ARE PURE / ONLY made of plastic !! the ones with wood chip fillers ALL MOLD OUT LATER...........My first ones did. Call the manufactuer FIRST TO BE SURE.

 

[F14CRAZY]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

i was thinking you were asking more about side panels wcovered with foam and vinyl stapled to the backside.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

Exposed wood gets teak, under vinyl or carpet gets epoxied plywood.

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

Exposed wood gets teak, under vinyl or carpet gets epoxied plywood.

I was going to use teak on my boat until I found out what it cost. I ended up using mahogany instead for all of the trim and to form the side pockets for boat hooks, etc. The seating on either side of my doghouse was created with pressure treated pine and ordinary plywood. Everything: mahogany, pressure treated pine, and plywood.... was sealed on all sides with West Systems resin epoxy. On the mahogany it's just a thin coating; on the structural parts I went heavy with it using several coats to build it up first.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

Mahogany is another good choice and yours looks great!

 

[jayhanig]

Re: Kind of wood for Side Panels, bench seat??

Mahogany is another good choice and yours looks great!

Thanks... I was real pleased with it as well. The determining factor was the cost: they wanted 4 times as much for teak. That made it a no-brainer. I did all the milling myself.