Teak

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bill4169

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Im done with teak oil. What are you guys using? I want a gloss finish that holds up well.
Thanks Bill
 
Try SIKKENS CETOL Marine Natural Teak !

Sold here, at West Marine, and other places:
http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... o?pid=6756

I am VERY pleased with this product. Like you I hated the hassle of re-applying teak oil every couple of months to to keep it looking good, but I do love the look of well-oiled teakwood.

This product gives you the look you love, and yet it lasts all season.
Just remove all your teak trim, sand it down to remove the weathered grey color and apply a couple of coats of the cetol. Re-instal and enjoy no maintenance on it for the rest of the season.

In fact I could have re-installed my teak trim this spring without doing anything to it, but I did re-apply another coat anyway, just so that it looked Finest.
 
If you're looking for a high gloss/varinshed look check out West Systems epoxy's website

They have a special hardner that lets the epoxy cure clear. It may be expensive and a PITA compared to some other products but I doubt you'll ever have to redo it again
 
Another vote for Cetol. I have had it on the boat for about 5 years (I do keep my boat in a covered dock). The first application still looked good after 3 years but I reapplied anyway last year. Reapplication is very easy. My preference is the satin finish. It looks more natural and will hide any imperfections better.
 
A BIG NO ON EPOXY! Will lift and crack, get water underneath, and deteriorate the wood under the epoxy. That's the worst thing you can put on Teak.

Varnish for a high-gloss finish, CAPTAINS or SCHOONER varnish. They are the top brands, will provide a delightful finish but will require periodic re-coating. If you let it go too long and get voids in the finish, you have to strip and start over.

It takes about 8 coats to get a good finish. I used to get 10-12 on them. First couple coats should be thinned with turps, then lightly sand with 220 grit and after every couple of coats. Tack-rag it and re-coat. You need a premium brush, like a hamilton or something similar.

For maintaining the finish, light sand with 220, apply a couple of coats. They can go on top of each other at 12 hour intervals.

I had a Monk designed sailer in the NW with teak EVERYWHERE - rails, coamings, decks floors, hatches, cove mouldings -- acres of teak. The hull was red and yellow cedar, spruce spars, every piece of hardware was bronze. She was quite a show boat. A shipwright on Lake Union had built her for himself, took him 7 years. Wifey would never go out so it sat and got deteriorated. I bought it and restored it, was a gorgeous little vessel.

The decks were teak too, they got Deks Olja, all the teak trim got Schooner Varnish.

You want a top coat that is durable to keep sun and water off, but soft enough to expand and contract with the wood, and easy to sand down and recoat.

If it has already turned gray, scrub it with a stiff brush and a good teak cleaner, then sand with 150-180 grit, finish with 220. Teak is VERY hard, but still wood nonetheless. It is also very oily, and will dull tools quickly. I know, I've worked with plenty of it building and restoring wooden boats.
 
Chris

I would have thought that epoxy would do the opposite and seal/protect the wood.

Not surprising that West Systems claims its the best for teak then again about the only thing they don't claim it will do is cure cancer.
 
LI Grady said:
Chris

I would have thought that epoxy would do the opposite and seal/protect the wood.

Not surprising that West Systems claims its the best for teak then again about the only thing they don't claim it will do is cure cancer.
Click to expand...

The goal of marine finishing development over the years is to get a harder and more weather resistant and durable finish. For a stable sub-surface, like metal or fiberglass, the harder synthetic paints and epoxies have been a godsend. But for wood, the biggest issue comes from adhesion, and to accomodate shrinking and swelling of the substrate.

Of all the woods, teak is probably one of the most stable, so better lends itself to an epoxy coating. So it will go on and probably stay on for a time, and look great. The downside is that you can never completely seal the edges of the finish so your'e always going to have problems with moisture seeping in underneath. Plus, the finish is so hard that it makes re-finishing a giant nightmare.

Same with polyurethane paints over wood. They look great and hold up will, but when adhesion becomes an issue, (which it always does) the paint stays intact over the lifting and the wood will litterally rot under the paint. Traditional alkyd enamel is still the best way to go for wood. For metal and glass, epoxy and polyurethane finishes for sure.

West System is great stuff, but there are places where traditional varnish finishes have their advantages. The brands I mentioned are traditional types, not urethanes, and provide a high level of UV protection. The ol' MAN-A-WAR varnish is okay for interior, but lacks the weather proofing needed for outdoor use. I'm pretty sure CAPTAINS was from Petit, and SCHOONER was from Interlux. My favorite yacht finishes were Interlux.

BTW, if you don't need a high-gloss finish, the oil of DEKS OLJA work quite well. Once you have an oil finish built up they have a gloss product to overcoat. It does however give a very dark appearance to the wood. With the oil finish, if you don't re-coat often you still get the graying appearance to the wood. Also, that gray look on teak is like an oxidation coating that protects the wood underneath. If you sand off the gray it's still teak-brown underneath.
 
I have some exterior teak that needs to be done as well. I was asking around and someone said to use auto tranny fluid. Any one ever heard or tried? He said to put 5 coats on. He works in a boat yard and that is what they all use.It has a red tint that supposedly makes it nice. Not sure if it is a good idea or not.
Could I just power wash it in place or should I take it all off, scrape,sand, and oil? I'm guessing the latter of the two.
What have you done to the teak inside to spruce it up/bring back to glory?
Thanks, norm
 
tranny fluid?? I guess it would make it look nice and the oil will protect it, but tranny fluid is not a very nice substance to get on your hands and I'd be weary on kids touching and rubbing a rail and then eating food or sticking their hands in their mouths......I don't think the local DEP would like to see any boatyard using that on the exposed wood products....
 
Do a search under my postings, there was at least a good thread or two on teak finishing.
Varnish, or Deks olja.

Remove the peices, use teak cleaner, sand them down, and refinish. Not hard to do and will look fantastic. Teak is one of the best woods they ever made. :wink:

ATF??? hmmm...nawwwww.
 
Second finest kinds response. Sikens is the bomb. Did all my teak preseason (cleaned, sanded then 3 coats) looks as good today as the day she hit the water(mid june).
 
I am all over the Cetol also. I did all my teak this season and it still looks perfect. I have used a lot of different products over the years and this is by far the best. Sealed the back of everything with one coat and did the faces with two. Great stuff. I used the Marine Light. I like the color better than the standard version.
 
JeffN said:
I am all over the Cetol also. I did all my teak this season and it still looks perfect. I have used a lot of different products over the years and this is by far the best. Sealed the back of everything with one coat and did the faces with two. Great stuff. I used the Marine Light. I like the color better than the standard version.
Click to expand...

Jeff,
What were the other products you compare to the Cetol? Why did you not like the others as much?
Norm
 
Norm, I have had the boat a long time and have tried a bunch of different teak treatments. My memory as to particulars is somewhat hazy but I know I tried various name brand teak oils. One a brand name I bought at a boat show and the stuff mildewed in a few weeks. I have used the Deks products. Everything I have used previously just did not last. Some lasted better than others but all were not satisfactory for me. I like the look of teak but don't want to be a slave to it. The last several seasons I had used Starbrite Tropical teak (I think thats the name) that held up better but the look was not wonderful. This season I was going to redo the cabin teak and the trim around the helm station with the cetol and then time permitting I was going to change the cockpit trim to Starboard or similar. The cabin trim looked so good I thought I would try the Cetol on the cockpit trim. I am very happy with the result even though I am only three months in. All the trim looks like I just put it back in. I thought about doing the swim deck with Cetol but asked about it here and was advised not to. I still may try it. I did the swim deck teak this season with teak oil and it is just not holding up. Perhaps I just have to live with that. Cetol has, I think, three different colors or shades as I mentioned above I used the Marine Light. I like the color, the standard hue has more orange in it. I think they also have a translucent version now. I recently took all the left over partial bottles of teak oil out to hazardous waste day. Freed up a lot of shelf space.
 
Sikkens cetol is the way to go. I used it on my older Grady and loved it, a lot less work then teak oil. I would remove it in the fall and sand down the teak and then give it 2-3 coats, the satin finish seemed to last 2 seasons with no care, just a rinse down with fresh water as I wash the boat. I'm sure the gloss finish would hold up better since it would seal more, although the look of the satin looked more natural to me. Sikkens just came out with a natural teak color which looks more like the teak oil color and less of a stain orange color of the other stain colors. After 2 seasons I would take the teak off again, sand down and restain with 2 coats, I would rather do the work one weekend every 2 years and have it look great then have to worry about teak oil and cleaners. Have not seen anything better on the market. Only other option is to use formica in white for the trim, do NOT replace with starboard, it will be wavy looking and cheap looking, starboard expands and contracts and is horrible for this job, a buddy of mine did his trim over in white formica and it looks awesome and professional, although I do perfer the look of teak over the other options.
 
Gradyfish, you say not to use starboard for trim replacment? What do the newer Gradys use all around the deck and cockpit area? I thought it was Starboard? I was going to finish replacing all the old teak next Spring with the stuff.....Already did the transom access hatches and heard (too late) that would be a problem, but even the 1 inch and 3 inch trim? Other than for a cutting board...what good is this stuff then?
 
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