Biggest Job Yet. All the damn TEAK.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by Baba Buoy

Different types of Cetol. Use their clear gloss with "Natural" or "Light"with little stain. Looks like varnish 10 feet away. It will save your a ton of labor and time, so use whatever brain trick you have to cope with your dislike of Cetol.

Until it comes time to remove all the Cetol. No touching that up once it goes. Unless you let varnish go you can always go back and touch it up or add a whole mother coat. We see a lot of water toside in the SE Alaska, I prefer to keep brightwork sealed from water intrusion. If we were in the tropics I’d be oiling.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by rbk

Until it comes time to remove all the Cetol. No touching that up once it goes. Unless you let varnish go you can always go back and touch it up or add a whole mother coat. We see a lot of water toside in the SE Alaska, I prefer to keep brightwork sealed from water intrusion. If we were in the tropics I’d be oiling.

It's mostly a matter of opinion, of course, so I'm asking vs. telling here. But I've always been steered away from oil, especially in the tropics. No personal experience mind you, but the reasons often cited are fungus build-up and the fact that teak already has so much natural oil in that it pushes the external oil out all too fast. Or something like that.

I've always stuck with a traditional varnish because (a) like paint and other products it sits on the surface and seals, and (b) it's relatively easy to remove (the traditional stuff like Epifanes & Captain's that is). And let's face it, whatever product we put on there it's eventually all coming off (one way or the other).

But Keno is right that, while it looks great, varnish is a LOT of work, and is ongoing. I contemplated going with bare teak, especially for my (endless) toerails, but I have through-bolts passing through the rail that are part of the hull-to-deck joint system, and I've seen first-hand on other Bristol's (among other boats) that the teak wears away to the point where the wood plugs eventually fall out, thereby allowing water infiltration.

Lots of different approaches to this.

[jdecris]

Cetol is not the obnoxious orange product it used to be.

I've refinished all the teak - with Cetol - on an '81 Gulfstar 44 - toe rail caps, grab rails, cockpit coaming, hatch trims, etc.; and I'm now in the process of refinishing all the teak on a '91 Grand Banks 46 - bulwark caps, hand rail caps, cabin trims, hatch trims, etc.

Both had varnish finishes when I bought the boat. The Gulfstar was 1/2 driftwood gray; the Grand Banks lots of peeling and bubbling starting, heavy buildup.

Remove ALL varnish off teak with heat gun and sharp scraper.

Stabilize all teak as/if needed - joints, fasteners, bungs, etc. Loose wood trim DOES NOT hold a finish - any finish.

Sand THOROUGHLY and UNIFORMLY with 60, 80, 120, 150, 220.

Use a good quality sandpaper - NOT Production Paper. It is well worth the extra cost - it cuts faster, lasts longer, and is cheaper in the long run.

Wipe clean with high quality thinner like Interlux Special Thinner.

Apply five coats Cetol Natural Teak

Apply 2 coats Cetol Gloss

Sand lightly between each coat with 220 or 3M synthetic pads, and wipe down between each coat.

DO NOT apply a coat unless the previous coat sands with a dust and does not stick to sandpaper.

When I sold the Gulfstar 44 - located initially in Narragansett Bay, and then I relocated to Chesapeake Bay - the Cetol brightwork was going on it's 3rd summer - with absolutely no deterioration.

It does not look orange at all; in fact to many people it looks like varnish.

I've begun the same refinishing process on the Grand Banks.

If you do it right it looks right - and lasts. If you're looking for something easy and/or fast - it will not last. It's as simple as that.

[SV MAKAI]

This is what I do.

1) keep a varnish repair kit handy. Any time you see a ding, fix it. Doesn't have to be pretty. Just fix it.

2) Once a year sand with 220, and then with 330 and apply a new coat.

That's it.

For varnish I use interlux schooner gold. Easy to apply, lasts long.

I'm in So Cal..lots of sun.

[swordds]

I have a 48 year old Alberg 30. I put a couple coats of amber shellac on all of my exterior teak just to give it some color, no need to sand it first. Then about twice a year I wipe over it (and the deck and the hull) with a lent free cloth (an old cotton tee-shirt) soaked with Zep high traffic floor polish. Looks great, seals and protects the wood and the fiberglass, takes less than two hours to “wash & wax” the whole boat exterior. I do the same for the boat interior. The Zep dries to a hard finish so it doesn’t attract dust like other furniture polishes or oils on the interior finish. My boat gets lots of compliments, I am not sanding away layers of teak or polishing away layers of gel coat; in fact just the opposite I am coating them with a protective layer.

[JBsurfin]

Originally Posted by sailandbail

Well, I ended up just going for it. I spent quite a few days scraping and sanding and though I may regret it in the future simply because of upkeep, I used Epifanes varnish. It looks SOOO beautiful!! I'm planning on 10 coats. Even after the first coat, it looks like a completely different boat. Really brings out the richness and character of the teak and I'm really in love with it. For now.

Thanks!

I have a 83 Dickerson Ketch with A LOT of teak.. Like you, I stripped it down , then applied the cleaner and then, right before application, I sanded. I'm in NJ, so after considerable research and speaking to other owners, I went with Bristol Finish. Did the entire cap rail in one day, 8 coats. 1 day sand and tape, 2nd day application. Its been 4 seasons now, no signs of break down. Touch up on a couple of seams required a quick sand down and re-app of the product. Next year I will quickly sand down and apply 1 quick coat. Hope to get another 4 or 5 seasons. Good luck.

[sailcrazy]

Our Taswell has a teak deck, teak caprails, teak handholds, etc,etc....lots of teak. After 10+ years in the Philippines and Asia, 4 years in the Medd, and now 5+years in the Caribb, we've had lots of high, hot sun trying to trash our teak. Varnish, properly applied, is really good....but it needs to be maintained every year, and it's hard/easily dinged. And a ding or holiday needs to be repaired back to bare wood now. We had really good luck with Deks Ole, both part 1 and 2, but once we left Asia we could not find it anymore. It's a softer finish, but easy to repair or renew. The last 6 years we've used "Natural" Semco. It, too, is a softer finish; it's not as hard as varnish or epoxy, but it can be removed/repaired/restored alot easier. The Semco looks good, soaks into the wood to protect and preserve it, and is easy to redo as needed. From our experience, take it down to bare wood, clean it, and use either Deks Ole (if you can find it) or Semco Natural to protect the wood. And note: the higher latitude you are, the less mx you will need.....the sun at 10*N is really hot and direct!

[jsanton]

Didn't read all the thread, but I'm very light on any sanding on the teak.
Frankly, the material on the boat is very thin and teak is very soft. If you sand it much, before you know it, your teak will get so thin that it looks weird. I've seen it on other boats.

I love Cetol. Once you've got the good 4 base coats, on an annual basis, buff and add a coat. After a while there are reasons to start over with a strip and renewal of the 4 base coats.

But, I upgraded to a boat with no wood

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by jsanton

Didn't read all the thread, but I'm very light on any sanding on the teak.
Frankly, the material on the boat is very thin and teak is very soft. If you sand it much, before you know it, your teak will get so thin that it looks weird. I've seen it on other boats.

You might want to go away and do some research.
Teak is a hardwood and one of the more durable of timbers.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Teak is a hardwood and one of the more durable of timbers.

Definitely true, especially in the marine saltwater environment with all of its natural oils. But also vulnerable to quick erosion if sanded or even brushed too aggressively.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by jdecris

Remove ALL varnish off teak with heat gun and sharp scraper.

Stabilize all teak as/if needed - joints, fasteners, bungs, etc. Loose wood trim DOES NOT hold a finish - any finish.

Sand THOROUGHLY and UNIFORMLY with 60, 80, 120, 150, 220.

On the other hand, if not sanded thoroughly enough after stripping I've noticed it's hard to overcome what looks like brush marks, no matter how many coats you apply. I think this has been my most recent (of many ) mistakes.

[Exile]

Originally Posted by sailcrazy

Varnish, properly applied, is really good....but it needs to be maintained every year, and it's hard/easily dinged. And a ding or holiday needs to be repaired back to bare wood now.

This is consistent with my own experience, but I've found that the new varnish that's applied to repair the dings never seems to blend in color-wise with the rest of the finish, even trying my best to make the number of coats uniform. So I wind up with all the wood suitably protected, but looking more & more like a patchwork of different tinted varnish given that the sun tends to lighten older sections as they age. Oh well, usually good enough for the "10' Rule." Or on my boat maybe 20. At some point I'll strip it all down to bare wood again (ugh).

[thereefgeek]

Cetol is garbage; It's the Saran Wrap of teak treatment.

We have an old classic, and years ago we stripped off all the Cetol and went with Starbrite Natural Light.

Twice a year we swipe on a new coat (once before it starts raining, and once after it quits).

There's a process involved the first time, bleaching, scrubbing, etc., but once you get back down to bare teak, maintenance coats are a simple process. No sanding, no bleaching, no nothing. Hose it down to wash off the bird poo, paint on a new coat with a $1.00 disposable foam brush. Good to go...

There's people who like to take their boat sailing, and there's people who like to preach the merits if varnish whilst sitting at the dock waiting for that 18th coat of varnish to dry so that they can apply coat #19.

Not me man.....

[merrydolphin]

Originally Posted by KTP

Why do you varnish teak rails at all? Why not just leave as gray teak, maybe oil once a year if you want.

Teak is hardy stuff, but it WILL weather and crack. Also gets very grainy because of the variation of hardness in the grain. Areas of harder ridges vs areas of softer pulp. Also if you have bungs, they will leak, weep and give trouble. I have tried it all. And I think a lot has to do with your latitude. When I was in the tropics, I was lucky to get 3-6 mo from quality marine varnish. Up north you might get 2 yrs. before a serious few maintenance coats. I’m admittedly not up on the newest coatings our there. But for the average d i y person. I have had very good luck with Cetol light 5-7 coats. In a real good day can get nearly all coats on in a day! ( no sanding in between. Can start next coat as soon as done with last. Just so it has a more or less dry to the touch feel. ) Then light sand with 220 and 2 coats gloss. Done for a year in the tropics and 2-3 up further north. Then touch up, sand, 1-2 coats light and one gloss. The stuff is just so forgiving and easy to work with. Done right and maintained it is hard to tell from varnish from a few feet away.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Simi 60

Sand it with 60 grit
Paint with solid colour paint
Go sailing

We did our extensive amount of rails this way
Machine sanded and rolled on timber coloured acrylic paint all done in a day
Still looks as good as the day it went on 3 years later

Sherwin Williams Industrial Enamel color "Saucy Gold" over Rustoleum Marine Primer does it forever!!!