Painting interior teak; sacrilege?

[ssanzone]

Yeah, Sure. I'll throw in re-coring your deck for good measure.

-steve

[JPA Cate]

Don't go for the all white plastic look. Your teak is actually a resource for you, because it can be made to look really nice. Clean very carefully. Light sand, for tooth. Satin varnish. She'll be lovely. It is already too white.

Should you be Scots, and have the right to a tartan, re-do the cushions in your plaid, otherwise, just recover with something you like that is also practical. (We have a friend with a Whitby 42 who used to redo her saloon covers every couple of years, with any inexpensive fabric she fancied at the time.... It worked for them, and always looked fresh and individual.)

Ann

[wristwister]

I do have scottish roots, and there is a family plaid pattern. That's a neat idea Ann. But ... that upholstry that's in there is original, over 40 years old, and in perfect condition. I'd feel worse about getting rid of the upholstry that painting the teak!

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by wristwister

Thanks for the advice all. You're right, I really need to provide a better description and post pictures.

The stock Tartan 30 interior has mostly white panels, headliner and cabinet fronts already, with solid teak trim. The surfaces I'm talking about painting are the bulkheads and cabin top around the ports. I'm not sure if these areas are solid teak or plywood.

Here's a couple pictures of my T30. This one shows the port bulkhead beside the mast:


And this one shows the cabin top around the ports:


But your points are well taken regarding the prep work needed for those teak surfaces if I expect that white paint to look nice. Just cleaning and treating the teak would likely be less total work. ssanzone, thanks much for the advice on cleaning and Waterlox. I'll may give that a go.

I would say white if you are willing to put in the time... but now that I have pics with all that white already... I would retain the Teak ply at least on the bulkheads, but prob the cabin sides too.... I like some white in the interior, but you're getting too close to too much for me! to each his own...
I'm Scottish... but think the blue would have to go! ahah OTOH.. it is getting close to Seattle Seahawks colors! hmmmm

[Jim Cate]

FWIW, the chances of the teak areas being solid teak are slim to none, heavy on the none! The veneer may be a bit thicker than would be found in a modern boat, but a veneer it will be, so sand/clean carefully so as to not remove much thickness of timber.

And I add my vote to retaining the teak. If you MUST paint, the advice to first lay some varnish down is very good. If you don't, and ever wish to return to teak you will be SOOL, for the white will have gotten into the grain of the timber and be impossible to remove safely.

Cheers,

Jim

[Steadman Uhlich]

Now that you have posted some photos, your interior does not look as bad as some very dark teak interiors I have seen on other boats.

So, I would simply clean that teak and not paint over it.

But, the plaid upholstery…..that I would eliminate, even though the boat is a Tartan brand.

[zboss]

We recently removed all the cetol from our exterior teak and sealed it using "natural" Semco. Its a very light color and looks kinda modern. You may want to try this route as well.

1) Scrape varnish off
2) Clean with teak cleaner
3) Sand with 100 grit
4) Brighten with oxalic acid
5) Brush on the semco

[roverhi]

Like the looks of a 'Herreshoff' interior. The painted flat surfaces nicely set off the teak trim while brightening the whole interior. Will probably take a few iterations of high build primer and sanding most of it off to hide the grain of the plywood. Be thankful it's not mahogany as it took me forever to fill the deep grain of that wood.

[IdoraKeeper]

In lieu of painting I recommend beer. No effort, very little mess. Just a few beers and you'll be happy 20th the boat as she is. Seriously tho if it's ply paint is an option.

[UNCIVILIZED]

After seeing the pics, I can without reservation say DON'T PAINT it. You've already got lots of white below. I think that it's likely that the idea for a change that got into your head is because right now the teak needs a good cleaning, & in a pinch maybe a bleaching/lightening.

Over time, just like teak decks, wood belowdecks gets dirty. It absorbs oils from the air, your hands... and gets a lot darker. Yours is just in need of a good cleaning.
Before you go the sanding route on anything which you KNOW is not solid wood, like a hand rail, clean it. If it still is really dark, there are plenty of good options for lightening/bleaching the wood to bring it back to a blonde color. You know, those beautiful blonde hues which you see in the wood in new boats at the boat shows, like on Nautor-Swans & other high end yachts.
Well, with some love, & TLC, yours can look that way too.

And I too vote for some new fabric in the saloon. That'll help brighten things up as well. - A tip on that. Were it me redoing the cushions, I'd use Velcro in lieu of zippers. It makes it a lot easier to remove the fabric for cleaning, as over time, most zippers don't stand up well to the salt air.

[JPA Cate]

Uncivilized,

I like #5 YKK zips for cushions (they are plastic, washable, no metal bits), and I run them around 3 sides, too. Easy to remove for laundering, easy to get the foam back into. I've had velcro and I've made the cushion covers with it, but now, I prefer zips. It was the aluminum bits in the old zips that used to corrode up and be awful. I've unpicked a fair wee few of them, to replace (at first with velcro, then with the #5 YKK's--the #10's are for canvas work.) YMMV

To the original poster,

Perhaps it's the Scot in you that wants to retain that upholstery that is still in such good nick? You could remove those covers, clean and store, and then you could go back to them later on for a change. How do you think your own, proper, plaidie would look in there?

On the subject of the darkness of your particular teak, I'm wondering whether it was oiled at one time, then varnished over. The reason is that the oil oxidizes and gets dark, and sometimes houses mold spores, all of which darken the wood, and even varnish darkens over time. If you do not know for certain that it is presently varnished, you may be in for a really pleasant surprise with simple cleaning.

Go easy with the bleaches, they usually eat the soft grain of the timber.

Ann

[Hi Ho]

Put some white contact paper on and see if you like it! Easier than painting and much easier for the next owner to remove!!

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by wristwister

so the 40+ year old teak interior panels in my Tartan 30 (cabin top, bulkheads etc.) are showing their age. I have 3 choices:

1. It's good enough, don't worry about it
2. Sand and refinish (oil? varnish?) the teak
3. Paint the teak gloss white

I'm leaning toward option 3 for several reasons: it's easier than Option 2, and it will brighten up the cabin. And everything's still trimmed in teak and I'd keep that natural.

So what do you say fellow boaters? Blasphemy? Sacrilege? Will you turn up your noses at my boat and say mean things about me behind my back? Anyone else done this and happy with the decision?

Don't paint. The wood is something not found today.

[Aloha_float]

I cleaned up my teak....looked like crap with stains and was very dirty
I did use oil in some areas that were faded out but for the most part I applied satin finish urethane (helmsman) from Home Depot and it still looks mint after 6 years.


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[UNCIVILIZED]

If you're wanting to brighten things up a bit belowdecks, there's always the option of deck prizims, hatches, or deadlights. If you want to go the prisim route, & are having trouble finding them, let me know.