Carver Owners Forum

We are in the final steps of looking for a Mariner 1997 to 2003. We have found several candidates all over the country that we like different options and features on. My wife does not care for the bleached / pickled / light wood finish on the interior wood surfaces of the early model mariners. She likes the darker finish on later generation models.

I understand there is a lot of wood inside the cabin. What could be done to darken the wood. What are my options if we end up with a boat that has the options we like, but a light interior?

The light wood is not a deal breaker, but I if I could darken it up, it would make her happy.

"My wife does not care for the bleached / pickled / light wood finish.."

Your wife must have a good sense of taste for design... I hate that stuff too.

Not sure what your options really would be, other than paint, which could look worse. I would think those surfaces would be sealed so you couldn't just put a stain on top of them to darken them up... you'd have to remove the sealer first.

Actually, the lighter wood was used in later models, the ones from the 1980s used teak with a nice golden finish. However, teak got really expensive (try buying some now!) and somewhat out of style, so Carver went to the lighter wood - birch, etc. Then styles changed again and folks wanted a more classic look, so cherry in a nice medium brown became popular. But the light colors can be changed! You can scrape/sand the finish off, stain the wood to the hue of your choice, and re-varnish. It's a bit of work, but you can have about any color finish you want. All you need is a scraper, some sandpaper, some oil-based stain, some good oil-based varnish, a good brush, and lots of elbow grease!

Please don't paint it...

Minwax makes a product I believe is called "poly shades" it is a stain and polyurethane all in one. You simply rough up the existing surface with steel wool or fine sandpaper and apply. I would try it on the inside of a cabinet door before going to far, as it doesn't bring out the grain like a strip and new stain and poly would do.

In my opinion, I would continue looking for the boat with the darker wood interior . You have no idea how much work would be involved changing the colour . Take for example, hinges, some cabinets have double doors with three hinges on each door.
You will have to remove and re adjust dozens of hinges on reinstallation. If you like a nice even gap and proper closing on your cabinets , it will be a nightmare.
I take it you want to use the boat. A project like this will take many hours to complete.
Keep searching for the right boat. My two cents worth
Good Luck.

SplashyLady wrote:Source of the post Actually, the lighter wood was used in later models, the ones from the 1980s used teak with a nice golden finish. However, teak got really expensive (try buying some now!) and somewhat out of style, so Carver went to the lighter wood - birch, etc. Then styles changed again and folks wanted a more classic look, so cherry in a nice medium brown became popular. But the light colors can be changed! You can scrape/sand the finish off, stain the wood to the hue of your choice, and re-varnish. It's a bit of work, but you can have about any color finish you want. All you need is a scraper, some sandpaper, some oil-based stain, some good oil-based varnish, a good brush, and lots of elbow grease!

I would never ever paint the wood. That's just wrong. I'm looking at second generation mariners. 1997-2003. What is that wood?

Our 2001 has the lighter coloured wood..... I am not a huge fan of it but the amount of work to change it would be daunting. I have seen 2003 and 2004 with darker finishes and the layout change in those years is very nice.

Fraser

I would keep looking. There may be easier ways but to get the true look of the wood, to see its grain, etc., you need to strip and sand. While you can plan and list the steps in a few sentences to change to a darker colour, it's a way more daunting task in reality to do it right. A lot of elbow grease, your precious time, not to mention the saw dust that no matter how cautious you are will get into places that you'll be finding for years.

amanphoto wrote:Source of the post

SplashyLady wrote:Source of the post Actually, the lighter wood was used in later models, the ones from the 1980s used teak with a nice golden finish. However, teak got really expensive (try buying some now!) and somewhat out of style, so Carver went to the lighter wood - birch, etc. Then styles changed again and folks wanted a more classic look, so cherry in a nice medium brown became popular. But the light colors can be changed! You can scrape/sand the finish off, stain the wood to the hue of your choice, and re-varnish. It's a bit of work, but you can have about any color finish you want. All you need is a scraper, some sandpaper, some oil-based stain, some good oil-based varnish, a good brush, and lots of elbow grease!

I would never ever paint the wood. That's just wrong. I'm looking at second generation mariners. 1997-2003. What is that wood?

The wood in 1997 model year is teak...maybe into 1998. They then switched to whitewashed maple for a year or two, then offered cherry as an option, eventually making it standard in 2002 or 2003