Painting Over Teak

[Tayana42]

Cape Dory boats are beautiful but Carl Alberg was a pragmatist. Functional beauty must first of all be functional. If paint solves the problems for you I think Carl would approve. I'm sure it will still be a beautiful Cape Dory after you paint the teak.


S/V B'Shert

[Steadman Uhlich]

Becky,
Please post some before and after photos.

[oldragbaggers]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Becky,
Please post some before and after photos.

I will no doubt do a blog post about it and will post a link to it when we're finished. Thanks for the interest!!

[JPA Cate]

orbgr's:

Yeah, sometimes the timber is just too far gone.....

FWIW, I have seen caprails painted teak silver grey color, that looked excellent. The method those owners used was to first take it back to bare wood, then sealed it with varnish; finally, they painted over the varnish. I've also seen it done in teak colored paint, and looked just fine in an anchorage.

Go for it. i only mention the above because there may be some guys out there who can have it both ways.

Ann

[oldragbaggers]

Thanks Ann. I am not going to bother with the varnish. I am treating with penetrating epoxy which will fill in some since the wood has become so porous, then after repairing all the damage and filling ridges (which I will be doing with epoxy filler) I will give a final coat of epoxy before painting. Varnish would serve no purpose after all that.

We hadn't considered using grey. I wish we could see a picture of a boat that has been done that way. I searched online for pics and didn't find much.

When we did our Cabo Rico we did it with the Brightwork Brown and it really didn't look bad. It looked more "workboat" than "yacht" but we didn't have a problem with that. On the Cabo we only did the caprail as Lance had to build new cockpit coamings and other pieces. We wanted the caprail to blend with the other stuff that was varnished bright (mahogany, not teak) and it worked out very well.

[Annie in WA]

To cantxsail, I was one of those wives who insisted that we would not paint the teak. That is, until my husband suggested that I be the one to maintain it... We replaced the teak handrails on deck with stainless and painted the caprails with Pettit Easypoxy, sandstone color, after first sealing the wood with honey teak (HT). Other, smaller bits, are either HT or varnish. One side benefit of the stainless handrails is that they are strongly backed and I feel more confidant using them.

Our philosophy is that the boat is outfitted for us, not for resale. But, if we choose to go back to unpainted teak we can remove the paint and HT. I've taken HT off the caprail before and I know it can be done.

[IdoraKeeper]

Anyone with lots of brightwork eventually faces the necessity to stop removing wood. I have taken to wet sanding. It is also my feeling that finish that is firmly adhering is doing what it's supposed to do. Wet sanding with a good flow of water allows fine tapering of failed areas of finish and retention of non failed areas. Wet sanding is also much much faster. This means you can do large areas rapidly, the days and days of toil are shrunk to the time required for the needed coats of finsh to dry...how difficult is it to watch paint dry? Furthermore, forget brushes. Use no lint foam rollers. Initially you will see some variations in the hue of the finish...but as time progresses and you keep up it all blends in. Its an ongoing processs just like keeping up a steel vessel.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by oldragbaggers

Thanks Ann. I am not going to bother with the varnish. I am treating with penetrating epoxy which will fill in some since the wood has become so porous, then after repairing all the damage and filling ridges (which I will be doing with epoxy filler) I will give a final coat of epoxy before painting. Varnish would serve no purpose after all that.

We hadn't considered using grey. I wish we could see a picture of a boat that has been done that way. I searched online for pics and didn't find much.

When we did our Cabo Rico we did it with the Brightwork Brown and it really didn't look bad. It looked more "workboat" than "yacht" but we didn't have a problem with that. On the Cabo we only did the caprail as Lance had to build new cockpit coamings and other pieces. We wanted the caprail to blend with the other stuff that was varnished bright (mahogany, not teak) and it worked out very well.

Presently Drydocked and I am going to strip the remaining varnish off of the window trim/ 4 handrail /and stern cap rail.
I will then do the same treatment as yours but paint them the same white as the cabin so it looks more like a modern moulding.
How did your treatment work out?

Originally Posted by oldragbaggers

We made the very difficult decision today to paint the exterior teak trim on our Cape Dory 33. Yes, we know it should be a felony, and no, we wouldn't do it if we didn't feel we had to....but at this point it's either that or we need to replace it.

We do not have the time, skill, or resources to replace all the wood ourselves and we can't afford to have someone else do it right now. But what we can do, and what we did do on our Cabo Rico caprail (which was in a similar state), is use epoxy to repair the damage and glue up cracks, fill in the ridges and gouges instead of trying to sand them away, fair everything up nice and paint it.

This poor boat has been neglected and unprotected in the Baltimore winters and summers for too long, plus suffered some damage in a storm, so the condition of our wood goes far beyond just being grey and dirty. We have wood that, first of all, had been sanded too aggressively over close to 30 years so a lot of the wood is getting too thin. I had to remove a lot of screws and counter sink them deeper just to be able to get wood bungs to stay in the toe rail at all. On top of that we have gouges all over the place from the storm and other mistreatment/mishaps, sections of damaged rub rail that need to be replaced, and very deep grooves and ridges from years of weathering. We also have wood that is dried out to the point of splitting. I spent several weeks last year working on parts of it without great results and didn't even get to the worse parts of it. The amount of sanding I would have to do to get to decent wood would just be too much and that still wouldn't address all the damage.

The eyebrows were too thin and damaged even for that so I think we are going to just leave them off and fill the screw holes. We are painting the cabin and deck anyway. If we feel we need the visual break that the eyebrows gave we can paint on a stripe or use vinyl striping.

We plan to use the Pettit Easypoxy Brightwork Brown. That will maintain the traditional look, at least from a distance. I am not worried about treating the wood so that someone could return it to varnish in the future. If it could be done and look decent, I would do it myself. I think this wood is beyond that. Removing the paint in the future would just expose a lot of patches and repairs. We know it will no doubt affect resale value but that can't be our primary concern right now. This is our boat and we need to make it nice for ourselves within the time and money constraints we have.

In my fantasy I win the lottery, pull the boat in to Robinhood Marine someday and say "make her look like she did when she was new, I'll be back to get her in a couple of months." But then I wake up......

So arrest me....I know I'm committing a felonious act but I plead justified.

[dwedeking2]

I've been working on a "new to me" boat with a limited amount of teak on the exterior. I removed all the varnish (what was left) and just treated with oil. I'm finding that I really like the look and feel of the unvarnished teak. Also it only takes me a 1/2 hour once a month to rub down the exterior teak with an oil soaked rag. I'm leaning heavily to removing the varnish on the interior pieces as well even though the varnish is in good condition just because I like the rougher "raw" look.

[Suijin]

You said you're painting over bristol finish, so I assume that means the varnish is in good shape. You can paint over that with careful prep (sanding, washing, paint thinner wipedown).

If you're going to do it, go two part paint. It's more expensive and slightly more work, but it will last significantly longer than any one part paint. As with any coating, recoating in future before the film starts to fail is the key to keeping your work load down, and a two part paint will maximize periods between recoats. It's just a lot more durable than any one part paint.

The one issue you're going to face is priming and then application. Anything you put down, one part or two part, is going to last longer and adhere better if it's on top of an appropriate primer.

Another issue is that most two parts, like Awlgrip and Awlcraft, are difficult if not impossible to brush or roll and tip without the appropriate expertise. I have heard that Alexseal is easier to roll and tip than the other two but don't have direct experience with it. If you're going to have it sprayed, you'll probably want to go with Awlgrip over Awlcraft as it's more durable, despite being more difficult to repair.

[Hudson Force]

I'm sure many would agree that my boat, that I have owned for 32 years, has some design qualities similar to a Chlorox bleach bottle. This allows me to disrespect my bits of teak without conflicting the pervasive quality of my vessel.

I cleaned and dried my ragged, neglected teak with sanding and organic solvents to remove any moisture and oils. Then, I filled and smoothed the surface with an epoxy filler.



I followed this with several coats of Interlux Brightside one-part epoxy paint,



I'm pleased with the outcome, especially since I was not spending my time attempting to keep my teak pretty.



I have also done the same with the teak mounts under my turning blocks and running lights.






I love beautiful teak, but mine was already damaged when I bought this boat in 1985 and I'm not one to spend my time with brightwork!

[Cheechako]

I have seen boats with toerail caps painted brown that looked really good. You couldn't tell until you were right up to the boat.

[osprey877]

The hatch boards are easily repaired: Sand them smooth with 80 grit on a random orbital sander, then glue on a new teak veneer and refinish. The teak veneer comes in rolls and is cheap and readily available at hardware or wood supply stores. $25 should cover it and they will look brand new when finished.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by osprey877

The hatch boards are easily repaired: Sand them smooth with 80 grit on a random orbital sander, then glue on a new teak veneer and refinish. The teak veneer comes in rolls and is cheap and readily available at hardware or wood supply stores. $25 should cover it and they will look brand new when finished.

Not if you want your drop boards to still fit! 2x1/16" veneers = 1/8" fatter drop board. Will likely not fit and/or jam.

[minaret]

Teak I painted on my boat. It's not a crime!