Finish for teak cockpit grating?

[kayakerChuck]

Our new-to-us O'Day 30 came with a nice teak cockpit grate. I love it- water just drains away. It collects dead bugs & crumbs, but I like dry feet :-)

It's currently nicely finished with something, my guess is Cetol. I like the look of finished teak, BUT- this stuff is slippery when wet. I was not happy when Lake Michigan got a bit spirited. I was sliding around & had to lash myself in place.

I'm willing to remove the finish and either let it weather or to keep it oiled. Is oil likely to be slippery?

What are my other options? We're not Sunday boaters, we have a dog, and the cockpit takes the worst of it. Ease of maintenance is a factor. We are on the hard for 5 months/year, so I do have a bit of time for teak work, but I also have so very many other boat projects.

Thanks!

[svHyLyte]

We have been using Starbright Natural Teak Sealer on our cockpit sole grating for the last 20+ years. Two coats initially and a follow-up coat every 6 months or so. Every other year I clean it with Starbright Teak Cleaner and then a light sanding and then the Sealer again. Works well and is non-skid. Alternately, if you happen to like the "gloss" look, you can add Rustoleum Non-Skid Additive to Cetol Clear Gloss.



FWIW...

[Cheechako]

Salt water, no oil.

[S/V Illusion]

I used to use the same Starbright sealer mentioned above but stopped because it never lasted long enough to make the effort worthwhile plus the unnatural color it imparts.


Have switched to all natural and it never looked better, more durable and less maintenance.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Salt water, no oil.

+1. This is the traditional way to maintain teak decks and keep the natural nonskid qualities.

This would be any easy way to keep them especially w/dogs potentially scratching them up.

[JPA Cate]

Guys, he's from Detroit. Salt water is far, far away. Still, you can fairly easily sand off the Cetol, and just let the teak go silver. If it is the kind of grating that has many little squares, they tend to catch dirt no matter what you do, I have sat on a dock with a hose and a toothbrush, trying to get all the grot out of them. I like the grating that is slats, much easier to keep clean.

Oil would float up off it in the rain, and also may encourage mold.

Ann

[sail sfbay]

Sand the Cetol completely off and seal with Semco natural teak sealer..............not slippery, easy to apply and looks great.

Semco Products

[MorwrMeic]

Semco - as above has already stated great products, easy to apply and great results.

[kayakerChuck]

I LIKE the saltwater idea, but it would require me to mix my own, or take a journey to the St Lawrence to hose off the teak. I'm still a wage slave, so I'm stuck here for a bit.

It's the little squares. Keeping the deck clean underneath is a pain. We get LOTS of flies, and the dead ones collect & start to smell in short order.

Thanks for the ideas. We'll try getting rid of the Cetol & just letting it go au naturel.

[tml]

For a number of years our boat was moored off City Island NY. Unfortunately we were on the path to LGA airport and our teak decks were regularly dosed with "soot" from jet engines. After many failed attempts to keep it clean we put a couple of coats of Cetol on the deck and it looked great and protected the grain from oily soot. Downside it was a skating rink when wet. The solution was to put another coat of Cetol with some sand mixed in. Great non skid and the teak was protected.
Ten years later we moved the boat, got rid of the Cetol and let it turn grey with regular doses of salt water.
Tom

[KadeyKrogen38]

The best thing you can do for your teak is as little as possible. It turns black from mold and mildew but salt water kills both and using salt will provide that nice silver patina. Don’t use any finish on a grate, it is just too much work to keep looking pristine.

[mnh]

Have used teak oil every few months for the last 20+ years. Very nice look compared to teak au natural. Have not noticed that they are slippery even when wet.
mnh

[Cabo Jim]

I had a teak grate and kept it natural on my Cabo Rico. I attached 1/4" thick slices of wine cork with SS screws on the bottom to raise the grate off the cockpit floor in a grid pattern about 6" apart. crumbs, bugs, hair and sand would just wash down to the scuppers with a hose. No need to remove grate for cleaning.

[David B]

Originally Posted by MorwrMeic

Semco - as above has already stated great products, easy to apply and great results.

Totally agree - 'weathered' teak is just that - slowly washing away over the side .....

Interested in how often you re-coat, and how you manage to keep the caulking looking black. We have been using Semco once a year (except for one season we skipped) for a decade now. Very happy with it, and we still have full teak.

[David B]

Originally Posted by kayakerChuck

Our new-to-us O'Day 30 came with a nice teak cockpit grate. I love it- water just drains away. It collects dead bugs & crumbs, but I like dry feet :-)

It's currently nicely finished with something, my guess is Cetol. I like the look of finished teak, BUT- this stuff is slippery when wet. I was not happy when Lake Michigan got a bit spirited. I was sliding around & had to lash myself in place.

I'm willing to remove the finish and either let it weather or to keep it oiled. Is oil likely to be slippery?

What are my other options? We're not Sunday boaters, we have a dog, and the cockpit takes the worst of it. Ease of maintenance is a factor. We are on the hard for 5 months/year, so I do have a bit of time for teak work, but I also have so very many other boat projects.

Thanks!

So you say you like the look of finished teak. By that, I assume you like the oiled, or Cetol look, not the freshly sanded look?
For the finished look, Cetol is the stuff. Over nearly three decades, we have tried a lot of things on our teak garden furniture, and most last a few months at best. Cetol lasts a couple of years out there in all weathers, including cold, wet winters.

Coming to boats, we use Semco on our decks - the teak looks close to freshly sanded, so if you like that look, then Semco Natural Tone. We treat a 50 foot fully decked boat once a year, and it takes around three hours for one person.

The alternative in your case, is as you have a thick teak grating, and it slowly wearing away is not the issue it is on thin teak decks, you could strip and leave to weather, but it will need regular cleaning to kill the mould spores (Semco cleaner, and Semco brightener do an excellent job of that, but again, you are wearing away the timber). However you did say you prefer it to look finished.

Here is how we treat our decks anyway - you may like the look for your grating, and it is certainly not slippery once dry.

https://youtu.be/Qt0uel_v-kY?t=78