Unfinished Teak Wood

[SV_Galateia]

The teak on the boat I am looking at has had the Varnish removed from all of the exterior teak except for the companionway. I prefer the look of varnished teak but also realize it's more work to maintain. The unfinished teak appears in good condition but has the grey look and seems rough and porous. Can this be refinished with Varnish if that is the direction I decide to go.

I would think you would have to sand a good bit of the wood away to get to clean wood.

[Quebramar]

There are lots of teak cleaning treatments, mostly with oxalic acid. I would try one of those before sanding, which will take away some thickness.

[Wayne hoath]

Semco teak sealer comes with a two part treatment which restores the colour of the teak before you apply the sealer. If you don’t wan the maintenance of varnish and also don’t like the look of the grey teak then it’s a good option which is simple to apply.

[OldManMirage]

Unfinished teak will always turn grey and dark, and in some places very dark and not so pretty. To effectively use ANY kind of treatment whether it is sealer, oil or varnish you will definitely need to sand it down to clean smooth wood.

In my opinion teak needs something. If you leave it alone it will wear out and dry out and crack eventually. My opinion based on 40 years of boating. Not trying to open a debate.

Anyway, I love the look of varnish but hated all the work. This year I tried Semco and I am sold on it. So easy to apply and clean up. So easy to add another coat, just brush it on and wipe it down.

Here are before and after pics of mine. I used the "Natural" version of Semco and this is 3 coats. All the work was in the sanding, that took me days.