Biggest Job Yet. All the damn TEAK.

[sailandbail]

So I've stripped all of the original Cetol off of the cap rails, though I could swear it was just a bad orange paint. I have a real simple question for those familiar:

1) apply teak cleaner and brightener before sanding the rails?
2) apply teak cleaner and brightener after sanding the rails?
3) skip the teak cleaner/brightener all together and just sand the rails?

... proceed to varnish.

Thank you all!!

Evan
Sea Bird

[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

[Fore and Aft]

Thats harsh Simi60, I love varnished timber work as long as it is not on my boat. I think one better than paint Simi is to use a vinyl wrap that looks like teak?
When I was a boatbuilder I never used teak brightener I just sanded and varnished. Are you going to use two pack Varnish?
Cheers

[AndyEss]

Caprails get a lot of sun.
Sand/scrape and oil.

[sailorboy1]

i hated that teak cap rail so much i got rid of the boat

[boatbroke]

Hi SailandBail,

Mask up and a good hard sand, start 60/80 if need then go to 120/240.

If there is any grey spots you can teak clean at the end (even twice), just be sure to thoroughly wash with fresh water when finished.

Im a fan of AWLWood, have had many years of success with it but needs a bare timber surface to start the system.

Good luck!

[sailandbail]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Thats harsh Simi60, I love varnished timber work as long as it is not on my boat. I think one better than paint Simi is to use a vinyl wrap that looks like teak?
When I was a boatbuilder I never used teak brightener I just sanded and varnished. Are you going to use two pack Varnish?
Cheers

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!

[sailandbail]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

i hated that teak cap rail so much i got rid of the boat

Did you really?! It's been a daunting project that I've stared at every day since getting the boat last September. It feels so good to finally tackle it- let's just hope it lasts. My girlfriend is a seamstress, so after all of the varnishing is finished we're going to make covers for the rail.

I used Epifanes and it really made the teak pop with character.

[a64pilot]

I’m eventually going the paint it route, however my plan is a couple coats of varnish first.
It’s my understanding that if you seal it with varnish first, it’s not hard to strip off and varnish if you change your mind.
I developed this plan after seeing a brand new large Kady Krogen in Stuart Fl being prepped for delivery, all it’s teak on a brand new couple Million dollar boat was painted a light grey, and it looked great to me.

I’m not going to do continual team maintenance, nor am I willing to pay for never ending team maintenance

[wayne.b]

Originally Posted by AndyEss

Caprails get a lot of sun.
Sand/scrape and oil.

===


Teak oil is not the way to go. It collects dirt and quickly oxidizes to black. Then it requires aggressive sanding to remove it. Varnish is high maintenance but if you keep after it, only light sanding is required.

[rbk]

Did you think your first two to three coats? I really hope you did or it will start to pop off in a few years. Paint won’t last as long as a good varnish job and will eventually have to be removed. As long as you give a light sanding and recoat every few years, address any chips it will last a very long time. Everything requires maintenance.

Oh and don’t settle for varnish alternatives. Supplier sent me a can on epifanes rapidcoat, I didn’t want to ship it back and I was ready to get going so I said what the heck. It didn’t last one year before it failed.

[KTP]

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

[Ken Pole]

Plasteak!

[rbk]

Varnish helps seal any checks or joints that would otherwise allow water into the deck joint, backing or just sit under the cap rail. This becomes a bigger problem in cold areas susceptible to freeze thaw cycles.

[jamhass]

Come on down to Mexico and have the local varnish expert do the job for little more than the cost of the varnish.