Very Dry Teak: to oil or not to oil before epoxy?

[cadmus]

I have copious amounts of teak on my new project-boat. Sadly, it sat in the desert for 10 years before we purchased it. Below deck she is gorgeous. The rails, rubrails, and all woodwork on deck is very sun bleached and dry. If living close to a boat, I prefer frequent touchups of an oily spar varnish. But given we plan to leave her for 6 months of the year each year.... maybe more... we are opting for good sanding, numerous coats of epoxy, then numerous coats of cetol. We had good low maintenance experiences with this method.
But unlike any boat I have ever worked with, this teak is dry. VERY dry. Teak typically has an dense oily feel. This does not. Should I give a few coats of tung oil or linseed oil before finishing as above? oily stain? It might restore the wood a bit. Problem is, West epoxy dislikes being laid over oily finish. Drat. What to do?

All opinions are greeted.

[psk125]

Epoxy will not stick to oily teak, to tung oil or linseed oil. Or motor oil. You say you have done this before? On teak? Surprising. Epoxy over the dried teak might work, if it is as dry as you say. Sanding it may get it down to where there’s oil.

[JPA Cate]

@cadmus

If you sand, and varnish, maybe three coats, to protect the teak, then paint over the varnish. This combination can be stripped off with a heat gun. But the paint will last and last, if you use a good quality exterior house paint. It allows you to protect the teak, and your knees (by not having to kneel to varnish). I have seen the paint be a teak color (looks teaky from a distance); dove grey (looks like weathered teak from a distance); and cordovan, a sort of dark maroon color, which didn't look bad, either, surprisingly.

What I like most about it is that if you paint the teak directly, the soft grain will absorb the paint, but if you varnish first, it can all be undone, not too labor intensively, and the boat will then look really sharp.

Ann

[RaymondR]

Would you use polyurethane paint and varnish Ann or something else?

[Gaia]

Originally Posted by psk125

Epoxy will not stick to oily teak, to tung oil or linseed oil. Or motor oil. You say you have done this before? On teak? Surprising. Epoxy over the dried teak might work, if it is as dry as you say. Sanding it may get it down to where there’s oil.

I would echo this but add that you are lucky it is that weathered. If it was not you would need to use acetone on the wood before epoxy and then use epoxy thinned with acetone as a first coat. I like a clear coat of thin epoxy before varnishing with two part polyurethane but would hesitate over outside teak especially in the tropics and especially if I had to leave the boat for long periods. And could not protect it.

You end up using a good part of boating time doing maintenance

Last year when GAIA was still in Florida we saw a neat idea where our neighbour used cut off sections of large diameter PVC pipe as frequent clamps over his toe rails to hold down cut open blue fire hose. He claimed it worked a treat to protect the varnish. It would certainly keep the UV off but it would still get mighty warm. Perhaps that is less important.

Jim SV GAIA presently and for the foreseeable future in Guatamala where it is blistering hot.

[KadeyKrogen38]

The best thing you can do for teak is as little as possible. It is not dried out or rotten. It has developed its own protective skin. If not black with mildew /mold and is silver in color, leave it alone. If it has some mold wash it down with salt water or mop with a mixture of soap and bleach. It will turn back to silver.

Anything done to teak to make it look new are really harmful in the long run.

[Squanderbucks]

I have a 55 year old boat with teak trim along the cap. It was in bad condition when I first got it 30 years ago. I started out oiling it after bleaching and sanding. What a PITA. Good for 3 months or so. At the most. IMO only for those rich enough to pay someone to do it every 3 months.
Then tried the varnish route that was slightly better with about 6 months of looking good here in Florida. The even more of a pain to strip and refinish.
Went to Cetol Sikens and stayed with that route for quite a few years. Can get about 2 years of it looking nice but if left too long then it too has to go through the strip, sand sequence. If you are dedicated and motivated and preventative and lightly sand and recoat at 18-24 month intervals this can be a good routine. Just don’t let it slide one time.

But the last few years I went to stripping it back to bare wood and applying epoxy as a sealer in two coats to get the wood sealed and smooth. Then two coats of Sikens. Light sand to scuff it up and single recoating every 18 months and this has looked pretty good and fairly easy. 38 ft boat is 90 ft of teak.

Purest don’t like the color of Sikens because it is not as pretty as a newly varnished surface but it can be a good substitute it you look at both 6 months or more down the road and see which looks better then.
There are several Cetol Sikens colors but I feel the Natural Teak gives the most varnish like look. The original and light are much more Orange in color. Stay away from the Gloss as it is only for interiors as it has no UV stabilizers.

[Squanderbucks]

As far as leaving it natural. Might work well in many climates but not here in south Florida. After a few years of leaving it natural with an occasional oiling it splits,the grain opens up and the soft part between the grain washes Away and it gets really bad looking. Hence the need for sealing.

Mine started out about 7/8 inch thick and 6” wide with all the screw holes plugged with teak plus glued to place. I’m some places the wear had worn the thickness enough to make the plugs pop out. Many of these I removed the screws and replaced them after countersinking further and covering with new plugs. Those that remain - while thinner are more secure now with the epoxy penetrating under and around the and should not require the trouble the others caused.
The previous owner thought it would be maintenance free because it was teak and told teak is indestructible with no care needed. Guess it depends where you live and how long you plan on keeping the boat.

[moseriw]

Not to oil, paint or epoxy. Just rinse with salt water once a week

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Squanderbucks

Stay away from the Gloss as it is only for interiors as it has no UV stabilizers.

Cetol gloss is meant for both outdoor and indoor use. It does have UV stabilizers.

[jmschmidt]

Super dry or not, after stripping, scraping, sanding or whatever to bare teak I flood it with clear watery epoxy resin thinned at least 30%. The next day it will look terrible, but not to worry, just sand it smooth with 150 grit and then apply another coat of the same resin but only thinned maybe 10% (sand again and apply a 3rd coat if necessary) you end up with a great base to clear coat with four or more coats of with a high-quality Tung oil varnish or a 2-part LP varnish. Even in the tropics you'll only need a maintenance coat once a year. I have yet to fine an oil finish that doesn't turn black in the sun. Most come for cold cloudy northern Europe environment that get maybe two days of sun a year.

[mjsmjsb]

As a woodworker, oil, at least 3 coats, wait 3 months then epoxy. Epoxy is not a permanent forever solution, but it is long term. Give the wood the juice it needs and the seal with epoxy. Good luck. Just my opinion and experience.

[darrelweb]

I just finished up a Pacific Seacraft 30 year old vessel in Mexico. All the exterior teak was in really bad shape. The wood might have been recoated once in its 31 year old life.

I used a penetrating epoxy from Jamestown Distributors. Teak was sanded with 120 grit, dust blown off with compressed air. NO OIL..... Applied the first coat of epoxy thinned with 30% acetone, then a second coat full strength, when the first coat got tacked up.

I primed the wood when the second coat tacked up...then used a good top coat, 2 coats.

As an alternative, use a good exterior marine polyurethane, 2 to 3 coats, sanding 220 between coats.

I would rather go boating than sand, coat, or oil wood for fun. Remember, my 2 cents worth, but this works for me.

Darrel

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by mjsmjsb

As a woodworker, oil, at least 3 coats, wait 3 months then epoxy. Epoxy is not a permanent forever solution, but it is long term. Give the wood the juice it needs and the seal with epoxy. Good luck. Just my opinion and experience.

Epoxy should not be used over oil - won't likely last and goes against everything West epoxy states. Over epoxy varnish or cetol foe uv protection.

Oil as a top coat picks up dirt easily.

[JPA Cate]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Would you use polyurethane paint and varnish Ann or something else?

I would use the old varnish, thinned with turps. ANd, similarly, with the paint, either oil base, semi gloss, or, if unable to find it, I'd use water-based exterior trim grade house paint.

Sorry it took me so long to get back to your question.

Ann