The Perfect Finish For Teak Decks?

[rbrentp]

For the last four years I have used Teak Guard. It comes with a small bottle of blue cleaner. Spritz it on brush off, rinse. No sanding no damage. The teak guard is a watery ;liquid you put on with a sponge brush. One coat, let dry over night LIGHTLY swipe with bronze wool. Then add up to four more coats. (after that it gets more slippery. The coats make the teak look fresh cut. Once a year put on another coat or two depending on wear. No layering, no chipping, no sanding. FWIW, the gray on teak is bacteria poop not bad wood. The bacteria eats the teak oil. The teak guard is a chemical mirror image of the teak oil molecule so bugs can't eat it. You can get it lots of places. I have people asking what I do to my teak all the time...the answer is not much...at least after the first coat. a link: TeakGuard Teak Protectant - Teak Finish and Restoration Superior to Teak Oil - MarineStore.com

[Julie Mor]

Originally Posted by minaret

Any kind of finish will ruin the non skid properties of the teak. Finishing a teak deck in any way is madness.

Normally I would agree with you, but this stuff doesn't leave a skin on the wood that fills voids, like varnish and many other wood finishes. Every exterior finish I've used eventually peels because it skins the wood. This stuff is like water and gets absorbed into the wood. The surface stays pretty much the same as it was prior to application.

Anyway, out of curiosity, I took a piece of teak and planed it to 1/2 thickness then ripped it to 2" widths. It had already been sanded to about 180 so I took one batten and sanded it back to 80 grit. Then I applied two coats of clear Defy. This is what they looked like after sanding but before the Defy application:

Once my camera battery is charged (it died after the last pic) I'll take another pic then find a spot outside to let Mother Nature do her thing, sometime tomorrow. It takes 24 hours to cure. I plan to take pictures about once a week and I'll post them and report what I see.

Now I have something to do over the winter.

[Cheechako]

I think it's a great experiment... even if not used on decks maybe it will work on bulwark caps etc.
One thing you are going to find out though... the vertical surfaces in your first post will stay nice a lot longer than a flat surface like a deck. My work shop is Cedar shingle sided. It was new 14 years ago. I put an oil based household deck product on it when new and only once since. The wall that faces the west sun and with the PNW rain the stuff looks brand new today. I put a similar type of stain on my large old growth cedar deck, it lasts about a year.... It's amazing how abrasive rain is... up here it will remove about 3 layers of varnish in one winter. How do I know? when I was first into boating I put 3 coats of varnish on the teak on my 21 footer, by next summer it was about 50% gone! ie: bare black/grey teak in about 50% of the area...

[Terra Nova]

Looks horrible. Certainly not like teak.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Every Captain or Admiral needs these for perfect teak deck maintenance.

[Kenomac]

No finish, is the best finish for teak decks. Just toss some salt water on them a few times per week.

Mine suffered excessive wear under the previous owner who must have had some knucklehead washing and scrubbing them down on a regular basis. Probably using a pressure washer and some sort of chemical cleaner. Caused me months of repair work and a huge savings on the sales price when we purchased the boat. Probably cost the previous owner $100,000-$150,000 for his mistake.

[Julie Mor]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Looks horrible. Certainly not like teak.

If you're talking about the 2nd picture I posted, both pieces are bare teak, no finish. If you don't like it, blame Mother Nature.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Julie Mor

Normally I would agree with you, but this stuff doesn't leave a skin on the wood that fills voids, like varnish and many other wood finishes. Every exterior finish I've used eventually peels because it skins the wood. This stuff is like water and gets absorbed into the wood. The surface stays pretty much the same as it was prior to application.

Anyway, out of curiosity, I took a piece of teak and planed it to 1/2 thickness then ripped it to 2" widths. It had already been sanded to about 180 so I took one batten and sanded it back to 80 grit. Then I applied two coats of clear Defy. This is what they looked like after sanding but before the Defy application:

Once my camera battery is charged (it died after the last pic) I'll take another pic then find a spot outside to let Mother Nature do her thing, sometime tomorrow. It takes 24 hours to cure. I plan to take pictures about once a week and I'll post them and report what I see.

Now I have something to do over the winter.

Howdy!

I suggest since you are going to the effort to test the products you like, also test a few other approaches, using the same teak, the same exposure to sun, etc.

For example, one of your test battens or teak strips could be sanded as the stained one was, but with just bare wood. This would be the "control."

If you purchase the other linked product mentioned above, TeakGuard, it could be another test strip.

Another candidate would be teak oil.

Another would be simply salt water.

One of my concerns with added any products on teak decks, is the possibilty of causing the deck to be more slippery when salt water is also on the deck, during sailing.

I like the feel and look and nonskid properties of untreated teak decks.

Since the topic is driven by a desire for appearance, and that is a matter of taste, my taste is this: I think Silver teak looks "salty" which has a certain appeal, especially on traditional styled boats.

Good luck with your testing.

[Julie Mor]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I think it's a great experiment... even if not used on decks maybe it will work on bulwark caps etc.
One thing you are going to find out though... the vertical surfaces in your first post will stay nice a lot longer than a flat surface like a deck.

No doubt flat surfaces will take a greater beating. I haven't yet used it on our wood decks so I can't say how it holds up to foot traffic but the product was created for decks. Because of the small pieces, my pseudo-experiment will be kind of hard to create foot traffic wear unless I can get my granddaughter to dance on it with her little feet.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Julie Mor

If you're talking about the 2nd picture I posted, both pieces are bare teak, no finish. If you don't like it, blame Mother Nature.

yeah... I was scratching my head on that one too....

[jkindredpdx]

Originally Posted by Julie Mor

...If I lived near the ocean, I take some of the teak out of my shop and run a test with the Defy. Maybe I'll run a test in the back yard for the remainder of the winter. It's worked great on cedar, but I know that's a very different wood.

Just the other day, my girlfriend mentioned how much colder and wetter it was at the marina than her home... not sure a backyard test will be conclusive. I'd suggest testing on a piece of wood on your boat... maybe a plank bolted to stanchions or the aft rail.

[Julie Mor]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

Just the other day, my girlfriend mentioned how much colder and wetter it was at the marina than her home... not sure a backyard test will be conclusive. I'd suggest testing on a piece of wood on your boat... maybe a plank bolted to stanchions or the aft rail.

The back yard will have to suffice. The boat probably won't be underfoot until spring or summer - still working on which one we're buying.

I realize this is a very unscientific test but at least I'll have a control piece. Both pieces were sanded to 80 grit. One piece had two coats Defy applied.

The Defy coated piece is on top.

It's now dry to the touch but it takes 24 hours to cure. I ran my fingers over both pieces and the one with the Defy on it felt rougher. Defy raises the grain because it's a waterbourne product. But there would be no problem walking on it with bare feet. You probably couldn't tell the difference, unless the boat heeled and I'm thinking the piece with Defy on it would provide better traction.

So where should I place the test pieces? In the grass? On some flagstone next to the grass? On a raised deck where water can drain away? Or on redwood mulch? That's about it for choices.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Julie Mor

The back yard will have to suffice. The boat probably won't be underfoot until spring or summer - still working on which one we're buying.

I realize this is a very unscientific test but at least I'll have a control piece. Both pieces were sanded to 80 grit. One piece had two coats Defy applied.

The Defy coated piece is on top.

It's now dry to the touch but it takes 24 hours to cure. I ran my fingers over both pieces and the one with the Defy on it felt rougher. Defy raises the grain because it's a waterbourne product. But there would be no problem walking on it with bare feet. You probably couldn't tell the difference, unless the boat heeled and I'm thinking the piece with Defy on it would provide better traction.

So where should I place the test pieces? In the grass? On some flagstone next to the grass? On a raised deck where water can drain away? Or on redwood mulch? That's about it for choices.

Where to put them?

I would cut them in half.

Mount a sample of each, side by side on a board or piece of plywood.

One set I would leave outside in sun, horizontal, like a deck.

One set I would place outside in a spot that gets foot traffic, such as the door step area that you or family uses. Then that piece you step on, on purpose, each time you exit your house or return. Tell your family to step on it too.

[hellosailor]

Julie, you can buy sea salt in any aquarium shop. Or cheat, use plain rock salt and call it close enough.


But constantly "new" looking teak decks, serve exactly the same purpose, for the same reasons, as bright green shiny lawns. The English planted grass lawns in Ireland, to show the Irish that they (the English) were so rich, they could afford to spend gobs of money on a crop that had zero cash value.


One of the world's most enduring examples of conspicuous consumption.


So I'd have to agree with the traditionalists, scrub it, scour it, then replace it every twenty years so you can REALLY show that you can burn money. The folks who try to find a cheap way to pretend they can afford conspicuous consumption? I believe the proper yachting term for them is poseurs.


Teak goes silver. A pair of brown sunglasses can fix that.(G)

[Brob2]

Originally Posted by minaret

Any kind of finish will ruin the non skid properties of the teak. Finishing a teak deck in any way is madness.

Light oils such as SeaFin, if applied in moderation, absorb into the teak and don't affect the teaks' non-skid properties unlike heavier Cetol products and such.

I think using light teak oils on your decks is a personal preference, not a cut and dried issue.

If you do apply it and then decide to go natural at some point there will be a period of uneven colour fading.