bare wood and moisture

[WoodSander]

I have built a large steel / plastic tarp structure (from a kit) to store my Heard 28' (Falmouth Working Boat - gaff cutter) in during the Cleveland winter. The boat is a solid glass hull, but fitted out in wood along with wooden spars. It has substantial wooden bulwarks(pretty tired looking - with a little exposed raw wood) that I am restoring this winter. My question is this - as I wood the bulwarks, how quickly should I seal the newly exposed wood? The wood is not exposed to weather, but it is at ambient temperature - plus exposed to temp swings if the sun comes out. Temps currently are below freezing, though a propane heater warms (and moistens!) things up and so does a sunny day. Can I leave the exposed wood until temps are a bit warmer, come March, and then seal and varnish? I plan to seal with Interlux 1026 and varnish with Captains.

On a separate note, any experience out there with wood stains (e.g. Interlux Brown Mahogany) to even out the appearance of old wood, now sanded raw? Is it best / safer to just keep the 'character colors' and seal and varnish, or are stains worth the effort / risk?

Thanks for any thoughts...

[Ken Hutchins]

I would get the sealer on to prevent staining and discoloration of the wood. You might get condensation dripping from the roof and if the wood isn't sealed you will be resanding to remove the stains from the drips. :( Also no matter how hard you try to not scuff the wood doing things near it the AW-S#$#% :mad: will happen and the sealer will help protect it.

[RonW]

Sealers and varnishes need to be done at temperatures of 60degrees and above.

[ssor]

Free water is a big problem as far as stains are concerned. Moisture regain from high humidity will happen until you have it completely sealed.wrapping with masking paper will help to protect it from the aforementioned aw-s----,with mishaps you might have to replace some paper once in a while, but it's cheap. Wait for the best conditions you can expect before you start to apply the final finish.

[paul oman]

places like box hardware stores sell - wood bleach to lighten old wood.

That said, I too am restoring a boat with weathered stained wood next to sections that still had varnish and look light and good when the varnish is removed.

I'm also looking for ways to 'fix' this, just like you

paul oman
progressive epoxy polymers

[Roger Cumming]

The wood must be sealed/varnished/oiled right after it is sanded. If not the moisture that it absorbs will darken the finish when it is applied and make it impossible to get a uniform finish. You have to wait until it warms up enough to apply the finish - above 50 degrees usually.