# adhering teak to fiberglass



## leonardc (Aug 1, 2001)

I want to teak the interior of my fiberglass cabin. I have read about placing strips of plywood and fiberglassing over and then screwing teak to these strips. Seems like a lot of work. 

Has anyone just tried adhering the teak directly to the fiberglass with products similar to "liquid nails?"

All comments, ideas, problems etc. welcome

many thanks


----------



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I think that actually what you might want to do is take the "furring strips" of whatever wood you are going to use and mix up a two part epoxy and use that to "glue them to the wall.

I am not sure if Liquid Nails has anything that will do the trick. The other thing that I have contemplated using is a hot glue gun using #100 glue. That stuff will stick to anything! My only concern in using anything oter than proper fiberglass epoxy is that something else might react with the hull and cause problems....or just hold temporarily and then fall off.

I myself am waiting for samples of wood.. teak and some others that are tongue and groove that I am going to use to put a good finished look to the interior of several compartments of our boat. The furring strip issue is one of my concerns as well.


----------



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Oh, I forgot to address a concern re; applying the teak directly to the hull.

Probably not a good idea. Hulls have a tendency to sweat due to temperature changes and if the hull is not insulated to prevent this what you mau end up with is water stained wood, mildew, fungus farms and nasty smells emanating from behind the wood. Also it would be a real bear to get the wood to bend and hold the bent shape to the hull long enough for the glue to kick off. I think you are better off finding a way to put in "furring strips", insulating, and then screw mounting the teak.

What kind of teak are you planning on using, and what is your source?


----------



## Skookum47 (Dec 24, 2008)

*howto: applying furring strips to fiberglass hull ....BUMP!*

Saw the post from 2001 but did not see any resolution.

It is now my turn to figure out this issue. The idea of what type of wood to use as a furring strip, how to fasten them to the hull and what type of fastener to use. I have a bare hull essentially. I was thinking about using 1x2 pine. Cheap and easy to bend. Screwing them into the hull. I am lucky as the hull is insulated with another layer of glass over it. However in some parts, mainly up higher to the deck, there is no isulation and I am wondering about whether or not to tack them in in these places or glass them in ...or ???.

Anyone been in this situation or seen a good solution?

Appreciate any advice. Happy holidays,

Mikey


----------



## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Welcome to sailnet. You really generally shouldn't revive threads that have been dead for a while. Often, you're better off starting a new thread, and posting a link to the old one, but you can't post links until you have ten posts...

Don't use pine furring strips... unless you plan on encapsulating them completely in epoxy, since they'll keep changing size as the humidity level changes-they also are not very resistant to rot and swell when they get wet...which they will.

Don't screw the furring strips in to the hull, epoxy them-especially if you have a cored hull. Screwing stuff in to fiberglass is a losing bet, since it is far too brittle to really tolerate it at all. Screwing stuff in to a cored hull is plain stupid, unless you like the hull to delaminate.

Put insulation between the furring strips and then put the ceilings on over the insulation. (BTW, FYI, the interior vertical surface inside the hull of a boat is referred to as ceilings, the "ceiling" is actually referred to as overhead.)

Use cedar, white oak or some other rot resistant wood. Some people have had good success using balsa for the furring strips and glassing over the balsa to give it a bit more strength. The furring strips don't have to be very thick btw... 1/2" is usually sufficient. BTW, make sure the screws you use don't go through the furring strips into the fiberglass.

I'd highly recommend you read the *POST* in my signature to help you get the most out of your time here. It has tips on searching sailnet, writing a good post, etc..


----------



## Joesaila (May 19, 2007)

*What about veneer?*

I am thinking of doing a teak veneer and simply gluing it on after removing the vinal paper. I don't believe furring strips or insulation would be neccessary w veneer. Is that correct? The ancient vinal paper on there now seems to be holding well and mold nor mildew has been significant. Sorry if I am covering or straying from material already overdone here...


----------



## AllThumbs (Jul 12, 2008)

The compound curves found inside boat hulls might make veneer out of the question exept for on flat bulkheads.


----------



## Sabreman (Sep 23, 2006)

sailingdog is right. The other techniques being batted around are a losing cause that will probably lead to either a poor job or a real mess. The veneer proposal, while interesting will be especially problematic. If the veneer has an adhesive backing, it will eventually fail due to moisture and flexing. If it doesn't have an adhesive backing, then getting it to stick over all those curves will be nearly impossible even with a vacuum bag.

One of the most comforting things about boat building is that people have been at it for a while and techniques for most things have been worked out over the years. The technique of adhering vertical furring strips to the hull and screwing the teak (or ash) horizontally across them is a valid one that works. Not to impugn and of the ideas posted, but often times skipping the proven steps isn't really a time saver after all, IMHO.

Pleas understand that I'm NOT slamming any ideas, only emphasing that traditional techniques are proven. Ideas are what this community are all about. Keep them coming.


----------



## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Sabreman's point about traditional proven methods is valid.. in the long run shortcuts don't pay off. As someone once said, if you don't have time to do it right, how are you going to find time to do it a second time?

We've done this sort of job several times, always using some form of furring strips as a basis for the ceilings. Bruce Bingham's "The Sailor's Sketchbook" shows a variation, glassing some aluminum tubiing in place and screwing the wood to that after drilling/tapping. Lots of work, true, but there for the long haul. The nice thing about the tubing is that once bent it will retain its shape, unlike most wood that will try to go back to straight and can require some innovative clamping techniques while the glue cures. Kerf-cut plywood strips are another option.

It is a very effective and properly nautical look, though, once done properly.


----------



## justified (Jun 14, 2007)

Saildog has the right ideas on the cedar or the white oak strips 1/2" should be the right thickness, will still bend nicely to the shape of the hull. If you glue/epoxy the teak you will need to clean the teak with acetone or lacquer thinner to get rid of the natural oils in the wood then the epoxy will work fine. the other way would be to screw the finish on but you would want to use an over sized or elongated hole so that you allow for any movement/ flex in the hull, use a finish grommet washer with your screw.

Peter


----------



## celenoglu (Dec 13, 2008)

Justified's method is best for teak. The only problem is, after you clean the surface with acetone or thinner the traces of the cleaner should evoporate completely. But waiting too lon will cause the oils to reach to thesurface again. You can also use alcohol for cleaning. After cleaning the surface with acetone, alcohol or thinner wait for evoporaiton and apply a coat of epoxy and let it dry. You can later apply a second coat of epoxy and attach them to the fiberglass.


----------



## ronspiker (Jun 27, 2001)

Most glues and adhesives don't work on teak. It is an oily wood so the glue doesn't hold well, that is why you will see teak furniture either screwed together or some type of tongue and pin type construction. If you should try to glue it you first need to wipe the edges being glued with denatured alcohol, that will help with the adhesion.


----------



## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

If there was a faster, easier, cheaper way to do this, don't you think most boat manufacturers would be using it... There's a reason the old proven methods are usually the right ones to go with. Unless there is a change in technology or materials, the old methods are usually the right ones.


----------



## jbondy (Mar 28, 2001)

The original ceiling in our '78 Pearson was attached by 1/2" screws into the core of the deck above. This seems to have caused no problems in 30 years. Maybe it was just dumb luck. Maybe it was because it's the underside of a horizontal surface, so there's no water running over it. So when it came time to replace the ceiling, I followed suit. Maybe it wasn't a good idea, but...

Along a similar line: When I installed the windlass this past summer, I found there were some places where I wanted to secure the 0 gauge wires but therer were no attachment points. I used polyurethane construction adhesive to glue small white oak wood blocks to which I then screwed the cable ties. I suppose only time will tell, but was this unwise?


----------



## nisvan (Aug 12, 2016)

*Re: howto: applying furring strips to fiberglass hull ....BUMP!*



Skookum47 said:


> Saw the post from 2001 but did not see any resolution.
> 
> It is now my turn to figure out this issue. The idea of what type of wood to use as a furring strip, how to fasten them to the hull and what type of fastener to use. I have a bare hull essentially. I was thinking about using 1x2 pine. Cheap and easy to bend. Screwing them into the hull. I am lucky as the hull is insulated with another layer of glass over it. However in some parts, mainly up higher to the deck, there is no isulation and I am wondering about whether or not to tack them in in these places or glass them in ...or ???.
> 
> ...


1) use 3m 5200 to lay furring strips every two feet, vertically; if the hull is curved, you'll have to cut the furring strips into 1.5" squares, so each furring strip will be a column of squares; 2) let it dry - takes a week; 3) attach 2 foot pine panels, 1/4" thick, 1.5" wide; they can only be 2 foot, due to curvature of hull; attach them by screwing them into every other furring strip with 1/2 inch bronze or stainless steel screws. It's a tedious process, but worth the results.


----------

