Teak Refinishing?

Hi mates. I'm wanting to refinish the teak on my old girl before getting her wet this season. The only problem is that I am clueless when it comes to teak. It's currently unfinished and the weather and years of use have really dried it out to a ugly pale gray. From the research I've done it seems that most tend to use an oil. Should I bleach the wood before an application? Any suggestions or recommendations? Thanks guys!

I used a random orbiter sander to take off the rough and the gray, start with 80 or so and work up a few times. I used spar marine varnish and applied about 5-6 coats. When the wood is old and gray like yours, it will soak up the varnish like a sponge. I never bleached, just sand then apply varnish or oil, and you will be very surprised how good the wood looks.

You can wet some of the wood with water before you apply anything, that will give you a pretty good idea of how it will look with varnish or oil.

Many people use teak/tong oil and swear by it, I have no experience with it.

I keep my Capri garaged, so the varnish has lasted 4 years and still looks great. My big boat stays in the water year round and I need reapply 1-2 times a year if you want it to look nice.

I'd urge you to forget varnish as it won't last out in the weather and once the varnish fails its a total PITA to remove. There is a thread here from a few weeks ago in which I described how I removed my three teak pieces, sanded them while off the boat, then cleaned and bleached them before applying many coats of teak oil. I re-installed the teak using new oval head stainless screws and stainless finishing washers so it can be easily removed in the future. I happen to like the look of the exposed screw heads and finishing washers.

My Capri 14.2 stays in the water outdoors and they teak could use removal, cleaning, and more teak oil now, but it lasted very well. It was last done last summer. I estimate its only a one hour job from start to finish to remove the teak, refinish it, and put it back on.

I've been fooling with teak on my various boats for 50+ years and un-varnished with just good teak oil is the best way to go. I use Tip Top Teak's cleaner, brightener, and teak oil. I get it from Hamilton Marine in Maine which can deliver it to my doorstep a lot cheaper than the factory - 60 miles from me - can. Go figure.

Vic Roy

re-finish your teak

I have been re-finishing the teak on my boats over the years with teak oil which works well. Last year i pulled,sanded and applied several coats of cetol to finish the wood. I have canves covers for almost all outside teak to help it last. I have noticed my coeming storage lockers which are exposed are showing the need to be sanded and sealed. So cetol is a little bit better than most finishes i have tried, but is not perfect. I was just thinking about the small amount of wood on the 14.2, and was wondering if anyone had ever considered sealing it with clear coat epoxy? Finish it and forget it, and no damage from normal use. This just sounds too easy, so lets find out. Charley

Charley - I've used thinned (and un-thinned) epoxy (and polyester resin) on various woods, including teak, and while it will last better than most varnishes, it is by no means permanent. The UV rays will eat it up after a year or two. Covers to keep the UV off is a good solution, but down here in south Louisiana we have dirt daubers that love to build mud houses under any sort of cover. And they can do it overnight. So I try to avoid covers unless they are bug-tight, and the bugs almost always win.

I have a fabric cover over the flybridge instrument panel of my 31 Bertram to keep the UV from eating up the plastic Cummins panels. I had it sewn from a fabric called Stamoid, which is made in Switzerland and is pretty much the cat's meow for boat fabric. My flybridge enclosure and cockpit sun shade are also made of it, and its all sewn with Gore Tex thread, which is immune to bleach. My stuff is over 10 years old and looks like new, even tho I clean it all twice or three times a year with a strong Clorox solution to kill the mildew. Costs maybe twice what conventional fabric does and the craftsman needs to know how to use the thread - my guy cussed it a lot.

I have a small green frog that lives under the insturment panel cover and he is very effective in keeping the dirt daubers and spiders at bay. I would consider renting him out for a reasonable fee.

If you apply a few coats of teak oil say once a month the teak finish will last much longer.

Vic

Thanks for all the information guys.

Re:

Use what ever suites your budget.