Old Teak Epoxied

[Hudson Force]

I have very little teak on my deck and I've little respect for the labors of brightwork. Part of my attitude comes with having the bits of teak on my 1973 boat already in poor condition when I purchased it in 1985, but lack of care eventually requires a solution. Some of my former teak has been replaced with Starboard or Lexan....

....as seen in the aft cabin slide and hand rail, but some pieces of old teak caused me to consider epoxy such as the base under this bow light.


I start with something ugly (no shortage) like the base of this turning block....

After cleaning and wire brushing with acetone I filled the base with some G-Flex epoxy & a second coat with an added filler to give it more ability to fill and sculpt.



Acouple more coats of thin G-flex with added pigment and fine sanding between left me with an acceptable finish.


Like many others, I am quick to see the imperfections in my work, but it's far better than what I had to start with. I would probably have replaced this with new teak if I had a vessel with a design that repected such a tradition, but on my old "chlorox bottle", I'm pleased with the result.

[rebel heart]

Looks fine to me. I think when you can see teak as a construction material and not some mythical element, it becomes a lot more swappable with other construction materials.

[Hudson Force]

Yeah, I love the look of well kept brightwork, but I spend so much time keeping everything functioning that I sometimes come up way short on pretty. I do keep some pretty teak below and, at least, I have a photograph of an all wood beauty.

[rebel heart]

I love the quote "God bless wooden boats, and my neighbor who owns one."

[Roy M]

The only problem with epoxy sealing of teak is that you need to put a sufficient amount on the surface to ensure that normal heating and cooling won't quickly crack the radii or tight corners. This would then lead to a later separation of the teak from the epoxy sheath. And you MUST have an opaque surface coating, otherwise the UV will penetrate and break down the epoxy. I did a test coating of Gougeon Bros. West System 105 resin and 207 Special Hardener (it holds up better to UV. The surface was gorgeous and looked like the best varnish job available. It lasted about six months before beginning to yellow in sections, and a year later had begun to separate and peel. All in all, a bit more durable than just varnish. My plan is to completely seal all my exterior teak (hatch deflectors, handrails, companionway webs) with the epoxy, then coat these with several coats of clear linear polyurethane, followed by a couple coats of LPU in the same color as my hull paint (with the exception of the companionways - they are too beautiful to paint over). That way, should I ever feel the need to show wood shine to the world, I can sand off the topcoat and apply a shine coat. I've used the clear coat and am quite impressed with its durability, which, while not as great as an opaque LPU (about 12-15 years) has so far kept its shine in varnish form for three years now. I expect that tropical UV would be less tolerant of such hubris.