Jump to content

From Finure To Kali II


Mowjo

Recommended Posts

Well Boils and Grillers! it's time for me to bore the pants off everyone, as most know I have a new/old boat, it's a Birchwood 25 Executive, Oooh! don't that sound posh??? the first job I did was put in 240v shorepower, I won't go into details as it's one of those jobs that if you don't know what your doing can kill you,, now anyone than knows Birchwoods will know everything is covered in Vinyl, walls, ceilings, cockpit it's everywhere,  mine was all cream but on looking closer it was originally light cream but it has all been painted in a darker cream, they did a nice job but there is just far too much of it, anyway we had a few leaks around the front windows and from the amount of mastic on the inside and outside I think it's been a long term problem, I cleaned all the mastic from around the glass, masked it all up and re-sealed it inside and out with my new friend TEC7, sticks and seals everything and even sets under water,  went to the boat yesterday and still had leaks, but looking at the water stains it looked like it was the frames leaking, and the only way to get to the frame is to remove the vinyl around the front windows, but it had to be done so made a few small cuts, peeled a bit back and it was thick with black mould, so mask on and remove the rest and the whole front section was covered in the black stuff, so plenty of bleach and a wash down and it was all gone, at this point I thought about taking the windows out and re-bedding them, but discovered they were all riveted in, b****r that I thought, so cleaned and raked out all the old mastic masked it all up and out came my clear TEC7, job done, get to the boat today and it had been raining, whoopee! just a very small puddle each side but not where the front windows were, it was about a foot back, very odd! then I notice someone had made a small repair to the vinyl near the back door and it was peeling off, so I pulled it back a bit more so I could re-stick it and behind it was more thick black mould, Judi makes a cup of tea and I'm sitting in the pointy bit when water drips on my head from the roof lining, so I push it up a bit and more water comes out, now I'm thinking the leak isn't from the windows it the roof, after finding this black mould and knowing how dangerous it is I decided to remove every bit of vinyl in the boat and every bit even the GRP was covered in the black stuff, my theory is any water getting in gets trapped behing the vinyl and as it can't breath it just turns to mould, I take out all the cabin sides first, then start on the ceiling and found pools of water around every fitting where the grab rails were, what had been happening was the water from these leaks was running down the roof lining to the front of the boat and running out at the seams above the windows, so tightend every one up and sealed them with TEC7  a good hose down on the roof and windows and so far no leaks showing, so far today I have got through three bottles of bleach, ruined and new T-shirt and have white patches all over my jeans, but no more mould all gone, I forgot to take any pictures of the mould but here's a couple with the before and after result, now I just have to re-build everything, you'll also be glad to know any further post will be much shorter but I'll try and add pictures as things progress,, 

 

Frank,,,,,

post-39-0-21402200-1413733318_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-92121400-1413733371_thumb.jpg

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Frank,

 

Busy fella i'd say. Hope you have solved all the leaks. Judi can buy you a new pair of overalls for yer Christmas to save damaging any future new T-Shirts :)

 

I am sure once you have finnished all your work, the boat most certainly will mean "Executive!"

Look forward to the next update and pics.

 

cheers Iain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm hoping it was the grab rails causing the leaks, I'm sure the previous owner/owners must have had shares in a mastic company, it is everywhere and it's not even a tidy job, sorry if your a previous owner but if you must use the stuff mask everything up and do it properly, I spent half a day just removing the excess mastic, luckily they never cleaned the surfaces properly so most of it just peeled off, anyway the next few days should tell if I've cured them all, there's no point in me starting any woodwork until I've cured them, there's no vents in the boat apart from one in the loo, so two new shiny solar vents on order, can't believe the price of them,one will be sucking, the other blowing( keep it clean) LED lights on order as well, all the supporting battens for the roof and side was rotten so the next job is fit new stuff but this time i'll treat it with wood preserver first,

 

Frank,,,,

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

A little bit more progress, Ceiling all battened out, glued using Tek7 and screwed, I made the ceiling in eight panels so that if I need to get to any wiring in the roof I just need to remove one or two and not the whole ceiling, it's all had three full coats of Withams varnish, I have to say I'm well impressed with the varnish and it's now my favorite, I'm halfway through cutting all the trim so at the moment the whole lot is held up with screws and penny washers, stupid name that! I think they were 10p each, this time I must remember to number all the trim as last time I forgot and it took me longer to work out where they went than it did for me to make them, it seems to be taking ages but thats because nothing is straight forward on this boat, I've done six before but this is definatly the most trick one, even something as simple as fitting a curtain track has had me swearing, we've had four plans how we wanted to do it, but they either won't work or will look wrong, I now have a plan E that will work, but thats a little way off at the moment so could still change,

 

Frank,,,,,

post-39-0-23002000-1415125120_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-78338700-1415125156_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-55646700-1415125212_thumb.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Frank, just caught up with your thread,

On the black mould issue, it is normally best to use a fungicide based mould remover rather than a bleach. Wash the surface down and let it dry then spray with a course spray using a small garden sprayer and allow that to dry. This will leave a barrier to slow down any future growth. It is a lot less hazardous than bleach.

It is a good idea to use a respirator mask rather than a dust mask.

We don't have toxic mould in this country, they are an American invention :-)

The biggest hazard is the chemicals used in a confined space. Enjoying the progress reports.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mark! whats a mask? I've since given it a couple of spays with HG mould spray dam stuff stinks, the reason it worries me is because Judi has mild

asthma and I have an allergy to it if i'm in contact for too long so the last thing I need is it on the boat as we spend more time on that than we do at home, as you say ours is not bad I believe the American one can be very toxic, it seems odd there is only one small vent in the loo on this boat, so i'm putting in two new solar ones one sucking and one blowing, plus i'll be adding louvre vents under the bunks and anywhere else I think I'll need them,,,

 

Frank,,,,

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ceiling all finished just have one infill panel to make now, lights are in and one vent, one still to do, what a lot of faff cutting the hole in the roof, fitted new battery's, battery boxes, cables and master switch, when looking at the instrument panel I noticed a bit of bad wiring and a few iffy additions to the panel, so ripped it out and now have a new one to fit, did a quick check on the wiring but didn't like the look of some of it, in a couple of places they used cable clips but managed to nick the cable so I've gone through the whole boat and ripped the lot out, fitted a new fuse box and have most of the new cables in place just have to connect them all, the best news of all is I've managed to cure all the leaky windows so the only leak left is on one of the side nav lights where it's badly fitted, have new lights all round to go on so I'll fix that when I put the new ones on, everything is going well but I have a couple of tricky bits to sort out, every time I think of a way to do them I get home then think of another way, I've given up doing things and not being happy with it! because I rip it out and do it again, it must be my age because now I'm thinking first, I should have it all done for the start of the new season but I need the boat out to polish it all up,,

 

Frank,,,,

post-39-0-77475600-1416315218_thumb.jpg

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eric! this is boat number seven now, I've re-furbished everyone and I'm still learning on every one, but I have a habit of doing something then a few months on decide on something better so I end up doing jobs twice and worse still it ends up costing me double, so now I always have a plan A B C D and E just in case, I'm a week thinking about it and half a day doing it now,,,

 

Alan! apart from the ceiling there's not a lot to show at the moment, most of the other stuff is hidden wiring and battery stuff, I'll be trying to do before and after pics as I go, hopefully some of it may help others if they are thinking of doing something similar, as I said i'm in a thinking stage of trying to do stuff so it looks like it should be that way and not just an after thought, Jude says i'm too much of a perfectionist, but for me if something dosn't look right then it isn't,,

 

Frank,,,,

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Just a little update because I keep forgetting to take my camers with me, but I found these from a few weeks ago, there should be more next week, I have decided to re-use the existing cupboards as the wood is all in good condition and just needs stripping and re-varnishing,  I need to adapt a few cosmetic bits but they are minor, my biggest problem is matching the colours of all the new woodwork with the old, because all the new wood is marine is a bit redish and comes out quite dark, all the old stuff is lighter, I've tried every stain and combination but everything looks like a bad attempt to match up, my new plan is to leave it as contrasting, bit of light and a bit of dark, I could cover everything in 4mm ply and stain it to match but it would mean far to much work as there are loads of odd shapes and stuff, it would actually be easier to rip it all out and re-build it, I've made a few panels ready to go in so i'll see what it looks like before I make the final decision, I got my new cockpit cushions back this week and Dale has made a beautiful job of them, I supplied the Cream vinyl, he made the cushions and supplied the new 4in foam,  Judi mentioned to him she would like contasting piping on them to match the Burgandy canopy, I wasn't sure at first but he did it and it reall looks good, and he didn't charge extra for the piping, the picture just shows two of the six he made, anyway more next week,

 

Frank,,

post-39-0-33447600-1422883943_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-92432800-1422883988_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-85077500-1422884019_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-47381300-1422885623_thumb.jpg

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looks good frank.. cheers

 

Please post more ;)  cheersbar

Aye Frank get the picys oan or we will go aff thread here :naughty:  Only kidding, I thought you had flew off to sunnier places, like Southwold :naughty:  to sample the ales brewed there! :hardhat:  I bet you will have it all done in time for the Easter weekend?

 

 

cheers Iain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iain! I must admit I have been pretty lapse so far, for some odd reason this is the hardest boat I've done, I think it's because I normally just gut them and start again, trying to work with whats already there is no fun at all especially when it's badly done, for every little job I want to do, I have to do 10 more to start it, this Birchwood is what I'd call a professional bodge job, it all looks nice but when you start taking things apart you see how badly it's really built, and it's all factory fitted stuff, all the windows are badly riveted in, something I never noticed untiI  I removed all the linings, now I know why every window had silicone around them and leaked, so now I'll have to have them out re-bed them and fit them back with bolts, all the original wiring looked like a five year old had done it, again all hidden so you couldn't see it, some of it was even glassed in, so what started as checking a few cables has ended up a complete re-wire, it just goes on, I will hopefully have it done by the start of the season, I have most of the bits for it made, I just have to strip and varnish a few doors and stuff, then it should come together pretty quickly, I just need some better weather so we can stay on the boat and get things done,, 

 

Frank,,,,

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frank,

 

You will defeat the problems, and when your sitting out some nice evening with your tipple preference, you will just look round and say to yourself,....beat you ya b*****r!!! I felt I had to tone the language down :naughty: , but I am sure you get my gist of things lol

 

I know of a couple of lads who will be boat building unemployed soon if you need extra pairs of hands....that right young Alan? :naughty:  :hardhat:

 

 

cheers Iain.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Iain! I've always believed there is nothing I can't do! only things I havn't tried, so I know I will get there, normally I can look at something and work out a solution in my head and it will work even if it's temporary, but with this one I think of how to do it, get it planed out, then the next time I'm on the boat realise it won't work how I'd be happy with it, Normally I have a plan A and plan B, with this boat I'm getting up to plan M, a simple job like trimming the Windows, bit of D molding job done, but no! because the GRP is all different thickness around the window I now have to make my own moldings, put a bit of carpet on a wall normally easy, not on this boat the cabin side have been so badly molded I now have to batten them then panel them first, I'll keep moaning about it, but know i'll do it right in the end, but one thing is for sure I'd never buy another Birchwood, give me an Elysian, Seamaster, Hampton, Freeman anytime, that lining they use on Birchwoods hide a lot of potential problems,, 

 

Frank,,,,

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

A bit of an update! I've been so busy I forgot about this post until Judi mentioned this weekend that I havn't taken many pictures on this project, so I guess from here in most of the pictures will be the after ones, the main cabin is all but finished now as is the toilet, just the flooring to go down, strip, varnish and re-hang the toilet door, plus I'm not happy with the colour of the kitchen (Galley if Griff is reading this) cupboard door and drawers so I'm stripping them and doing them again as soon as I get time, I've just replaced all the roof lining in the cockpit but I still have more to do so there should be some before and after pics, I changed the colour of the dashboard vinyl using a black vinyl spray paint which turned out quite nice, I had to cut the cockpit floor and build a new locker as some clever person built the old one over the floor meaning you couldn't get under the rear section where the stern gland and prop are so I don't think that has seen any grease in a while, i'll also post some pictures of the new curtains I made and the set up, because so far everyone that has seen the way I've hung them has said what a great Idea, and it's cheap, even had compliments on the curtains, so far these have been my best ones yet, I've even lined them with themal blackout material, amazing what you can learn via Youtube, hopefully I'll have loads of pictures for you next week, things are going a lot faster now we can actually stay on the boat and all the inside should be finished in a week or two, then it's the dreaded outside, topside clean and fill all the mastic filled holes with gelcoat filler, little bit of paint, new names and a good polish, the haul out and do the hull, also should have my new canopy the end of this week, I'll get a picture but it will be coming off and the old one re-fitted until it goes back in the water, thats all for now folks,,,

 

Frank,,,

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a Kitchen then Griff! the boat hasn't moved since I started work on it, once I actually go out on it, I'll re-name it a Galley, you'll be wanting me to use Port and Starboard next instead of Left and Right, I wont go into the pointy and blunt ends yet, strange thing is while working on her it's left and right, yet when I'm out and about it becomes Port and Starboard, Thirty years and I still call the bow the pointy bit, it's just the way I roll innit man! :taunt: 

 

Frank,,,

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's coming along now Steve but for some reason it's been slow going on this one, normaly I plan something and with a few minor changes it works, but I'm finding with Kali I need several plans/ideas before i get something workable, a simple thing like the cockpit ceiling, nothing to fix the new one to so I ended up with three or four plans, then a couple of days to work out which one was easiest and worked best, when I did it only took me three hours to cut and fix the new one, so in all four or five days planing for a few hours work, it may be because I normally gut a boat and start again, but with Kali I was trying to put bad workmanship right, then ripping it out and starting again, at least I know what I've done is done right now so if I ever sell her the new owners will have no worries, I'm just glad I can do it all myself or I'd end up with a bill costing more than the boat is worth, as Judi keeps pointing out, I must be doing something right as every boat we've sold we made a very good profit on,,

 

Frank,,,

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As promised a few more pictures, first the curtains! yup! I made them myself, as for the cheap curtain track, it's just 15mm dowel rod help in place with black 15mm pipe clips, two coats of danish oil on the dowel and black pipe clips from E/bay, curtain rings from B&Q, the only thing you need to watch is fixing the pipe clips, mine were ok as the boat has a double skin but on my last boat I fitted them using small well sealed stainless nuts and bolts, nut on the inside, and you need bolts cut to fit or the dowel won't sit in the pipe clip,

 

Next the Dash! the dash was the same nasty colour as the side panels, I masked it off and spayed it black with special vinyl paint, as used multi purpose spay paint on the throttle control, before I started I decided I'd recover all the side panels as they were damaged and nasty,

 

Front bunk area all finished now, walls all carpeted, and new trim all round, I hate Duvets on a boat so just ordered a couple of extra width sleeping bags,

 

Since taking this one of the cupboard, the two speeps have been carpeted and there's new vinyl on the floor, I still have the toilet door and the seat trim to strip and varnish and have decided to hang the door so it opens the other way and onto the step, The cupboard has all the electrics in it and I fitted a folding TV bracket in there so the TV stores away, even have room in there to hang a couple of coats,

 

Galley area, mostly done, not happy with the cupboard and drawer colour so they will be stripped off stained and re-varnished,

 

A basic start on the Panels, the front ones were tatty and needed too much work, so I decided to cover them to match the side panels, luckily when I ordered the vinyl for the Cushions I went mad and ordered far too much, and that was where the idea of re-covering the side and front panels came from, I have finished them now but forgot the picture so next time I'll get one, I,m over the moon at how well they turned out as it's about the only job I've never done before, forgot to mention I put new vinyl on the cockpit floor as well,

 

Ahhh! the new cockpit roof, the old one was manky cream vinyl, so I decided to add a varnished wood one, and added black car door trim around the roof hatch, I still have to replace the perspex roof light yet,

 

Last one! on the left my cup of tea, bottom middle my new cockpit flooring, middle back, my new storage box/seat/bed, had to make a new one as if you look at the dividing bar across the middle of the floor, from there back the floor was all one section and someone in the past had built the seat/box over it, meaning if you needed to get to the greasers or rudders you couldn't, so it's now in two sections and I can get to everything,   

 

I'll add some more finished pictures next week, It's a shame I forgot to get more before pictures but this boat has been a brain buster for me and I completely forgot them, so far this has been the most taxing boat I've done, mainly due to bad workmanship by the original builder, If I'd had know It would have been easier to rip it all out and start again rather than try to put it right, if you look closely at picture six, just above the piece of ply with the three holes in you can just see a nail, this is how the builders have fixed the bulkheads in all over the boat, in places where you would see them they glassed over the nails leaving large lumps which were all hidden by the vinyl wall coverings, anyway thats all for now folks,,,,,

 

Frank,,,,

 

 

 

 

 

post-39-0-42697400-1429622393_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-51285500-1429622428_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-06158500-1429622445_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-87451400-1429622466_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-40492000-1429622486_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-90868400-1429622514_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-09682800-1429622540_thumb.jpg

post-39-0-62438700-1429622555_thumb.jpg

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Sponsors

    Norfolk Broads Network is run by volunteers - You can help us run it by making a donation

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

For details of our Guidelines, please take a look at the Terms of Use here.