Refinishing smoke damaged wood???

[lago]

MY SIL is in the process of refinishing the smoke damaged wood in a 35' Catalina sailboat that he picked up for next to nothing off of EBay. It had a small fire in the main cabin and damaged was contained to melted cushions and smoke damage to ceiling, walls, doors, and some of the hatches.

He has repainted the walls and ceiling, replaced the railings and cabinets. His main problem now is trying to refinish the doors.

We are not sure what kind of wood the doors are made with. He has sanded down to remove the smoke damage but when varnish is applied, it turns it a dark black color.

Anyone have any suggestions?

TIA

Ken

[LinuxRandal]

I was told when the neighbor had a fire, that you DON'T want to sand. You want to use denatured alcohol, to remove the varnish, until you get down to removing only the varnish color, not the black/soot/damage.

[Mr__Bill]

I would try shellacking the doors and then using a chemical stripper to remove the shellac and let the shellac pull the stuff from the wood as it comes off. You may have to do this several times. Use the stripper that is nasty and must be done outdoors. This has worked for me with old heart pine boards from a house that had a fire. It left the boards a nice soft pink just like the boards that were not smoke damaged.

Good luck,
Bill

[billwmeyer]

Fire Damage

This is a great topic. When my daughters house burned a few years ago, one item I haven't dealt with is a jewelry box that my mother gave to her for her high school graduation. My mother died a little later and this was a prized gift. I have tried the magic eraser on it, but it did little to remove the damage. I will try the denatured alcohol myself, and then if that doesn't do it, I will proceed to the shelac stripper method. I was afraid that I would have to paint it.

Thank you guys very much.

Bill

[just started]

Unless the boat is a real POS the wood should be teak. When he sanded the new finish down to the wood again did it look like all the black was gone again?

[cabinetman]

In lieu of initial sanding or stripping try using TSP (trisodium phosphate), as it's a cleaning compound, and just may do the trick.
.

[dbhost]

Lago,

The TSP thing is definately worth trying. Kilgore's Lumber Company on FM 518 in League City has the stuff. (Talk to Leon he'll fix you up!).

[lago]

The wood could be teak.

He sanded it down but when he put a new finish on it, it turned it dark again. Not sure what type of finish he was using though. I know he likes wipe-on poly.

I will mention TSP to him. Not sure if he has tried that.