building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

[jeffz0rz]

im building everything from the floor up, and im at the stage where i am starting to design and build my seat frames. what should i coat it with to protect it against the elements ? my floor is birch and all glassed in. should i glass the seat frames too or can i seal them with something ?

 

[relocyo]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

i would say it makes since to glass them... once youve got the FINAL design all nailed together i would say glassing them would be the most effective. if it keeps water from getting in the boat it has to keep the seat frame dry too! good luck !! lemme know how it turns out...

 

[stevetedder]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

I just finished building some for my pontoon boat and I used pressure treated wood. It is kind of heavy but Im expecting it to last a while.

 

[Thad]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

Have you given any thought to steel studs? Don't let the name scare you. They are reletive in price and less weight. They cut easily with tin snips and assemble with sheet metal screws. They are straighter/truer than lumber and can be easily manipulated to get the over all desired effect that you want.
We did a bench seat and sun deck on my buddies Larson several years ago and they are holding up very well. We are planning on completely redoing a pontoon this fall the same way.

Just a thought. May not be everyones cup of tea.

 

[pinellas50]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

I just re did one of my seats. I coated the wood with epoxy resin to seal it from water.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

Epoxy resin thinned with MEK is what I do to protect plywood if that's what you are using. Buy thinning the epoxy it allows it to penetrate better.

 

[scca vette]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

where do you get the epoxy?

 

[milmat1]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

Have you given any thought to steel studs? Don't let the name scare you. They are reletive in price and less weight. They cut easily with tin snips and assemble with sheet metal screws. They are straighter/truer than lumber and can be easily manipulated to get the over all desired effect that you want.
We did a bench seat and sun deck on my buddies Larson several years ago and they are holding up very well. We are planning on completely redoing a pontoon this fall the same way.

Just a thought. May not be everyones cup of tea.

+1 !!!

Great Idea !!!

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

I just finished building some for my pontoon boat and I used pressure treated wood. It is kind of heavy but Im expecting it to last a while.

keep them moist/wet and they will last a long time! open to air, drying out, not so long....

pressure treated is meant to be on the ground or in wet/damp areas, otherwise it dries out and cracks, splits, and splinters.

but im sure others will disagree........since they do sell pt for decks ;/


i forgot to mention....... glassing them would be the best, or atleast epoxy.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

keep them moist/wet and they will last a long time! open to air, drying out, not so long....

pressure treated is meant to be on the ground or in wet/damp areas, otherwise it dries out and cracks, splits, and splinters.

but im sure others will disagree........since they do sell pt for decks ;/


i forgot to mention....... glassing them would be the best, or atleast epoxy.

I disagree.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

Epoxy resin thinned with MEK is what I do to protect plywood if that's what you are using. Buy thinning the epoxy it allows it to penetrate better.

Thinning epoxy kind of turns it into junk, it becomes much weaker and far less water resistant, plus you gain almost nothing in penetration.

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

but im sure others will disagree........

I disagree.

told ya so

im not saying it wont last a few or more years....just not as long as you would expect.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

The problem with seats is that when you staple the vinyl on you're poking holes in whatever protective coating you applied, so it kind of defeats the purpose.

I don't have the link to the plastic boards designed for this purpose, but if you're looking for rot resistance that would be the best way to go.

PT and stainless staples would (may) cost less.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

Thinning epoxy kind of turns it into junk, it becomes much weaker and far less water resistant, plus you gain almost nothing in penetration.

The epoxy does some of its strength but strength is not the purpose here. I have done this quite a bit on docks and on my boat and have excellent results. Epoxy hardens up just fine although it takes longer to harden.

The epoxy that the Rot Doctor sells is exactly what I am doing...its epoxy thinned with a solvent excpet he wants a lot more for his.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

told ya so

im not saying it wont last a few or more years....just not as long as you would expect.

My seats are bolted to PT plywood that has been in place for almost 10 years, still looks great, no warp (its screwed in place so it can't), no cracking, no splitting it doesn't really look any different than when it did when new. There's a 25 year warranty on it.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

The epoxy does some of its strength but strength is not the purpose here. I have done this quite a bit on docks and on my boat and have excellent results. Epoxy hardens up just fine although it takes longer to harden.

The epoxy that the Rot Doctor sells is exactly what I am doing...its epoxy thinned with a solvent excpet he wants a lot more for his.

Read the sticky on thinning epoxy at the top of the page, the same results have been found in every study I've seen. The testing shows the best way to waterproof wood with epoxy is to use it straight and un-thinned, multiple coats are needed for the best results.

Thinning seems like a good idea, but the chemistry doesn't allow it to work.

There are several places that hype their penetrating epoxy and make great claims for it, then charge big $$$ for a product reduced with cheap thinners. Like I said, it sounds good, but it just doesn't work that way.

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

My seats are bolted to PT plywood that has been in place for almost 10 years, still looks great, no warp (its screwed in place so it can't), no cracking, no splitting it doesn't really look any different than when it did when new. There's a 25 year warranty on it.

you said it.......(its screwed in place so it cant)

but if its a seat back or side or armrest i dont think the result would be the same after ten years.

 

[Realgun]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

Personally if its get wet and stays wet use epoxy unthinned two coats All side and especially edges. You can use oil based paint two coats if its vertical and is only subjected to splash water and is not staying wet.

1. Floors, seat bottoms -Epoxy.
2. Side rails, seat backs- oil paint.

Another way is to say if it gets stepped on-epoxy. If not then oil paint, varnish, or poly.

Last way- If its has carpet it gets epoxy under it. Yinyl then not needed as much.


Personally I got rid of the back to back in favor of swivel seats.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

Read the sticky on thinning epoxy at the top of the page, the same results have been found in every study I've seen. The testing shows the best way to waterproof wood with epoxy is to use it straight and un-thinned, multiple coats are needed for the best results.

Interesting article. Considering that the strength of the epoxy is not an issue and just the waterproof characteristics are important, I wonder if the fact that you are trying to seal the ends of plywood and that you are going to puncture it with staples if it is still the best choice to use un-thinned. I think next time I am going to try the heat method of reducing viscosity.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: building my own seats, what to coat them with ?

you said it.......(its screwed in place so it cant)

but if its a seat back or side or armrest i dont think the result would be the same after ten years.

I went out and looked at the rest of the sheet I cut that from and its still straight. I'm just refuting the claim that it will fall apart soon and won't work. For most applications in a seat it will be screwed in place and can't warp, plus there are different grades of PT, so if you want even less warp get KD sheets.