I will post this to our resident wood working pro's and those that have done this in the past. Whatever boat I eventualy get (boats), I will feel compelled to put in wood flooring. There are some great posts on the floors for the cruisers, but has anyone done one on a 23 Lancer? I was thinking teak, for the non-skid aspects as well as the look. I have been told it could run $2,000 for the wood alone, and about 1-2k for install. Anyone have any comments on the material and price? I have worked on wood (have a '48 CC), but I do not have a shop or tools anymore to do the project, so it will have to be done by someone else.

Kevin
Dreaming of wood floors under my feet and looking for a boat to put them in.

Kevin,

Here are two notable teak flooring projects aboard a 23' Chris Craft hull. Both of these are 23' Commanders but the 23' Lancer is essentially the same hull, I'd love to have one of these hulls with either badge on it. The 20' fiberglass Sea Skiff project, available in the Restoration section of the Master Index, effectively put me out of the market for a Lancer or 23' Commander. I was actually engaged in an actual search, when Steve posted the now infamous post, "hey Paul, look at this" sorta thing.

Both Bill and Thibaud have done magnificient jobs with their teak work. I dare say, it takes a glass boat and pushes it up into the rarified air of an exotic, and since it's allready a classic, and we're talking "floors", sheesh, you can't go wrong. Nobody is going to say, "hey....where is that original indoor-outdoor-marine-carpet, or that Nautolex". People will take one look at that teak and everything will be ok.

23 Commander from Fiumicino, Italy ( Thibauds restoration in France )
http://www.network54.com/Forum/424840/message/1195989472

23 Commander restoration update ( Bill Policastros restoration project in Michigan )
http://www.network54.com/Forum/424840/message/1176411603

Eric Jensen is restoring a 23 Lancer right now as we speak, and he's replaced all the floor structure. Anyone planning on a classic Lancer restoration project, or a classic Commander 23 should check out this thread. It's very informative! (Thanks Eric, for sharing your work world-wide!)

http://www.network54.com/Forum/424840/message/1226773486

Regards,

Paul

I decided a few thousand dollars back that a Teak and Holley floor might not be prudent at this point in the project. So what to do? Of course, it had to be wild untested and unproven like half of what I do, so I have covered the marine plywood with canvas and I will paint the canvas. I realize I'm kinda out there with this, but I'm really pleased with the way that it looks. I covered the plywood with the stretched canvas then flattened with my wife's iron taking my time to get all the creases out. Then the canvas was saturated and bonded with epoxy.

Here's a shot of a floor section.



Here is a close up of one of the hatches where I have wrapped the corner and double sealed with more epoxy.


I'm not trying to hijack this thread about wood flooring. I've seen some beautiful jobs done with several different species. And I may be doing it myself in a year if this project doesn't work out. Guess I'm just trying to point out that it's possible to try just about anything.

Eric

Eric,

That's pretty innovative, and it should work well for you, with a nice texture too, easy on the feet, afordable, should shed water like a ducks back too. I think the whole system would serve as a good foundation for a teak floor sometime later, but not necessary if this works for you, which I think it will just fine. I love working with epoxy, by the way, it comes in several different types, you can even get it mixed with a metal powder. Modern chemistry at it's best.

Regards,

Tom