We sanded everything. If it was wood, we sanded it. Including the plywood underfloor - that's how nutso we went with the deep clean. We were stuck with the realization that we probably wouldn't ever strip Bessie down to the core like this again, so this was the one shot we had at preventative maintenance, and structural restoration. So after the tiles came up, I rented an edging sander and went to town on the plywood floors. No photos of the used sandpaper (doh!) but I was using 16-grit. SIXTEEN! It should be called gravel paper. I was covered in sawdust. That's probably why there are no photos, I kept the electronics away. The end result was fantastic. A couple hours of back-bending work led to clean exposed plywood that probably hadn't seen the light of day in 50 years.
Original stain in galley...
Please stay focused on the green twinge of the woodworking stain, and not the ravishing beauty growling at you.
We shop-vac'ed everything multiple times (thanks, borrowed shop-vac from work!). It became part of the routine. Sand the interior wood with 80-grit, shop-vac. Sand the interior wood with 150-grit, shop-vac. I grew weary of shop-vac'ing Bessie, but the original green stain on the wooden interior soon gave way revealing mahogany underneath.
Oooo, green.
Once sanded, wiped clean with a damp cloth, hand-sanded along the grain with 220-grit wet/dry sandpaper, and wiped clean with a damp cloth once again, we used sanding sealer on the mahogany. After the sealer was dry (couple hours) we hand-sanded along the grain again with 220-grit wet/dry sandpaper, wiped clean with a damp cloth and applied the first layer of polyurethane coating. After it dried overnight, we hand-sanded with 220-grit wet/dry sandpaper, wiped clean with a damp cloth, applied the second layer of polyurethane coating, and walked away. At least I did. Maybe Brie went back one more time and hand-sanded along the grain with 220-grit wet/dry sandpaper and wiped it clean with a damp cloth one last time. I hope this was repetitive to read, because it sure was repetitive to do.
Patience, patience, patience. It's an excruciatingly slow process that reveals every mistake or shortcut you make. You have no choice but to devote time to doing it correctly the first time. The results are fantastic as you can see below. What a difference it makes! Almost looks like teak on a boat. Actually, I like the mahogany better than teak. I'm so very very happy with the results of our hard work!
