Protecting interior wood finish

[moondawg]

I recently bought another Alaskan Camper to refurb and the owner had a small heater he had built for the winter...the camper was purchased in Gig Harbor Washington...in the woods...very humid/cold/drippy.....and the interior of the camper was as dry as a bone...stored outside under an aluminum cover open to the weather.....with this little heater inside

Heater: porcelain base light fixture, mounted on 8" plywood square with a small column of aluminum sheeting coiled to about 6" and mounted to the plywood with a small airspace at the bottom....mounts are small angle brackets and the aluminum sheeting is screwed together along it's side...simple, effective and it works....of course the interior is real wood plywood....as are the cabinets (some solid stock too)

Wood and water do not mix....any wooden boat owner will assure you of that...it's a constant maintenance issue....but the very best way I've found to preserve interior woodwork...is entirely old school....sand smooth, white shellac seal, when dry, sand smooth again....and 3 coats of spar varnish sanding between coats ... at least an overnight dry for each coat....wet or dry 300 grit sand the final coat and 0000 steel wool for a satin finish that is not only as close to waterproof as it gets but you can use it for setting wet things on without stains appearing. cloths, glasses, bottles et al

I've used this on furniture for a very long time (50 years plus)...and I've never had a stain....exposed to the sunlight it will uv degrade and must be kept up like any exterior surface finish....

any organic material will develop fungus/mold and rot before your very eyes...the smaller the pieces of organic material the faster it goes...hence, flakeboard's instant degradation...the vinyl film just helps to retain the moisture in the base

mold spores are one of the most prevalent things on earth...they're everwhere

Thanks for the boat wood expertise. This is what I would hope the original manufacture would have done to the wood originally. Readying it for the various seasons.

 

[moondawg]

I've had some further experience with applying finish to the paper "veneer" on my Fleet cabinets. I cut some openings and banded the exposed plywood edges with birch veneer, Then I sealed the birch with my favorite water-based finish, Bona Seal and Bona Mega. The Bona that got on the paper "veneer" didn't stick at all -- it just peeled right off after drying.

Maybe some kind of furniture wax could be used to protect the surface. I'll try it on one of my left-over cutouts, when I get some time...

- Bernard

Thanks for the tips Bernard.

 

[SignalMtn]

My 2013 Grandby has the paper "veneer" covering with a few spots where the veneer has peeled off. Just wondering if anyone has tried sanding off the paper and then coating the plywood with traditional wood coatings? Wondering if the plywood surface underneath the veneer is suitable for this?

Cardwell

 

[Happyjax]

I would rather have plain plywood than those paper/vinyl veneers. I'm buying a camper, utility is more important than pretty paper.....

 

[buckland]

I would say you would be opening a can of heartache. Removing all the paper to obtain a continuously flat surface takes a belt sanding machine (like a planer but with 20" wide sand paper belts). Trying to do that by 'spot sanding' with a handheld rotary sander will make it not as flat as you'd like. Spot repair, building up a surface, then top coating is the least intrusive. If you are concerned about appearance a graining pen can be used to recreate the grain pattern that has been lost with the paper. One way to be sure you can 'undo' a mistake in this process is to lightly spray a waxes shellac (seal coat) in between each step. In that way If you don't like what you just did you can remove that layer and try again. Another thought for those you have done veneering, If you want a nice project sand off the paper and re-veneer with wood.... never use peel and stick... easy but not suitable for a countertop. I agree with Rusty. build up with multiple layers and finish as he states. I would wait a few weeks thereafter and apply a carnauba wax each season. Nothing is better for moisture.

 

[SignalMtn]

Thanks HJ and Buckland...I actually wasn't thinking in terms of "spot" repair, but since the areas of concern happen to be on cabinet doors, was thinking about just refinishing the doors only (maybe have a little contrast with rest of cabinets). Re-veneering all of it with a little darker wood is what I would really like to do...but not sure I want to tackle that right now!

 

[buckland]

If you or a friend has a vacuum bag for veneering that is very easy to do. If not setting up a back press with a lot of clamps would work as well...though there is a bit of "glue slide shift" and so be sure to have a 1/4" overhang and trim off after with a flush trim touter bit. Doing only the doors would not be difficult as they are small. Frame face is not worth it in my eyes...just as easy to replace.