TOPIC: CPES substitute

I am looking for opinions on wood preservative. I am redoing the upholstery on my '58 Glasspar Trident. The seats are all independent cushions based on 1/2" plywood. I have read that a mixture of 25% polyurethane and 75% mineral spirits is a good wood preservative. My budget is limited but I want to do this correctly at the same time. The boat will see little actual water time, just an occasional day on the lake in Minnesota's short summer. Thanks for you thoughts.

Don't know about that mix but Jamestown Distributors used to carry CPES but have discontinued carrying it so they can carry their own version of it. It is quite a bit cheaper than the CPES but I have not used it so I'm not sure how good it is. Could be worth a shot though.

Bob

CPES is a nasty epoxy concoction and isn't worth the expense or risk of exposure IMO.

Thinned down urethane is pretty much useless. A friend of mine used this mix/method back in the spring when he replaced the decking in his '60 Lone Star Holiday. We removed that decking about 3 weeks ago and there was mold, mildew, and fungus growing on the back of the decking already. He couldn't believe the poor results he got.

We're going with the USComposites 635 thin resin with the 3:1 hardener this time. It's a low viscosity resin that penetrates very well. It hardens the surface of the wood and creates an impenetrable barrier. USComposites has great products and the best prices I've found anywhere online.

I have some pics of the wood we're sealing if you're interested.

I assume that the plywood is on the bottom and covered by foam and the vinyl cover. What about a marine primer and a couple of coats of topside paint? That should give a good amount of protection for that type of application.

Thanks for all the ideas, I think I might try the epoxy resin just to get some experience with it. It's relatively cheap at US Composites and is rated very well for this purpose. I will let you know after I try it.

Thanks for all the ideas, I think I might try the epoxy resin just to get some experience with it. It's relatively cheap at US Composites and is rated very well for this purpose. I will let you know after I try it.

minnesotafox wrote:

Thanks for all the ideas, I think I might try the epoxy resin just to get some experience with it. It's relatively cheap at US Composites and is rated very well for this purpose. I will let you know after I try it.

Epoxy resin is the right way to do it. I'm a huge fan of Mike Holmes (Canadian Contractor)...his motto is, "Do it right the first time". In the long run, you'll be saving yourself the headache of having to do it over several years from now.

The nice thing is that, just like you said, using resin will give you experience.

Good luck.

Hey Jigngrub, any idea how all that nasty stuff got off to such a fast start?

DaveM wrote:

Hey Jigngrub, any idea how all that nasty stuff got off to such a fast start?

I didn't know it was off to a fast start? If it is, it's because people don't bother to compare.

Compare the MSDS of CPES to the USComposites 635 thin MSDS... then compare the prices. After that it should be a "no-brainer" to anyone that has a brain.