Dare I even post this????

[starfish62]

I know that everyone has their favorite way of refinishing teak and it is alway the best way but I am in the process of sanding the exterior teak on our newly purchased and sadly neglected yacht so.... Varnish, cetol, polyurethane??????

Our last boat had very, very little wood so I am faced with a learning curve.

[Alan Wheeler]

I don't believe there is any right or wrong. No product lasts forever. In my experiance, the longer a product lasts, usually the more preperation is required and the harder it is to prepare next time it needs to be recoated. So the real question comes down to a fine balance between time to prepare and apply vs longevity of the product vs time to prepare and apply again in the future.
IMO, Clear hardwaring surface coats of polyurathane look the best and last the longest. But once they start to fail, they become an eye sore very fast, the underlying timber is not protected and cleanign back to recoat again is a major task.
IMO, oil is the easiest to apply and reapply. It think it is the most expensive product as the timber soaks up large quantities and you have to recoat regularly. Yearly as a minimum, but 6 monthly would be more like it and even 3 monthly if you want the timber looking new and fresh all the time. (we are talking outside decks here)
IMO, cetol is the best of both worlds. It soaks in and protects the timber like oil. It has a hard wearing surface like a varnish. It doesn't break up like a hard top coat and allow water to get in underneath damaging the timber and finish. What I don't like about Cetol is it's stain. It seems to make the wood almost "plastic" looking. However, I think I made the mistake of using "teak" colour on teak timber. It's too dark in my opinion. I would like to try a much lighter colour next time. I haven't done so yet, so do not follow this as a suggetion. Experiment first before you apply.
As for longevity, so far the cetol coating has lasted very well. It has not been a year yet,(8mths) but there is absolutley no sign of deteriation at all so far.

[Pblais]

I used Cetol for 4 years and I liked the look but it took 30 hours to remove it all so I could start over again. You sort of have to do that with any finish once every 5 or more years (with Cetol) depending on your lattitude. I switched to Teaqua. It's a cross between a sealer and an oil. It's water based so it's easy to clean up if you spill or get sloppy. Mostly you just prep with soap and water and reapply. Here at 37 degrees north it's twice a year. Down at 13 degrees probably be 3-4 times. Oil is quite a bit more often. If you have very little to do then any varnish is probably fine and ytu can find lots of discussions here on the various products.

The bottom line is you work pretty hard on a boat so you ought to have a finish you like. Finding out what you like isn't easily found. The nice thing I like about this solution is if I wanted to switch back to varnish it woulld only take me an afternoon to remove it all and start over. Teaqua is also good on decks too unlike Cetol. For untreated teak decks a bucket of salt water every single day with a soft brush work exceptionally well, but the every day part is important.

Alan sums it up well. The longer it lasts the harder it comes off. Once you have stripped a few boats you can decide for yourself.

[starfish62]

I am doing that now to the exterior teak in a hot boatyard. I want to get the exterior teak done before we splash her. The main reason for being still on the hard is she was there when we purchased her and the mast needed to be sanded and painted anyway. Pulled the mast and have ordered all new stainless hardware, LED tricolor and other goodies. I still have the interior teak to do but I will wait till we are on our mooring and not feel so rushed with the 1$ a foot a day thinging adding up.

Still haven't decided what finish to go with. I thought that the point of Cetol was that you don't have to remove it? I like the look of varnish and intend to do it inside but don't want the maintenance of it. Actually I wish I could wave a magic wand and make all the exterior teak go away but my husband would kill me. "That's the most beautiful toe rail I've ever seen!!" All gazzilion feet of her!!

[Tropic Cat]

I'm about 100 miles north of you and have to say that the sun in Florida isn't kind to teak refinishing. In my marina, most of the boats gave up on varnish and just oil it several times a year. I don't have any exterior teak, but I do sympathize as I have loads of it in the interior.

It took me a year (in my spare time...sigh) to sand and varnish all of it.

Good luck with the new boat.

Rick in Florida

[Steve Kidson]

I have just finished teak decking in the cockpit and seats on my yacht.

I chose to oil the teak for a numbe rof reasons, not the least of all being that to varnish or polyurethane would be slippery when wet and hence dangerous.

Oiling is an easy (if anything on a boat is easy), finish to apply and maintain. I figure I will probably have to re-oil every 4-6 months or so.

At the end of the day, comes down to what you like and want.

Fair winds

Steve

[starfish62]

Hey Rick (Cap'n E here, Linda's drinking wine),
Do the boats in your marina agree on a particular type of oil? We're in Palm Beach County and go out of the Lake Worth inlet and generally cruise south of there, so the UV in the summer is brutal. Our old boat had very little teak, and I went "cruiser silver" and liked it just fine. But the boat we just bought has a 4" toerail the length of the deck, which is absolutely beautiful, but is a lot of board feet to treat. Hence Linda's query. We're about 2/3's done with the heat gun and have started sanding and it's a LOT of hours. I'm leaning toward the Epifanes, but would love to hear from other cruisers in the tropics about what did/didn't work. There's a guy from Texas on the hook by the yard we're in who swears by "Bristol Finish," but I've read on other posts in this forum that it didn't do well in the tropical sun. He's only had his on for 5-6 months, so can't tell how it will weather. Another cruiser uses straight poly & loves the look, but it, too, seems to be breaking down rapidly.

I know that there's no "magic bullet," but I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has had success in the tropics.

[starfish62]

Hey Steve,
I was in Sydney this past December/January. Love your city. Really like the little burg of Coffs Harbour to the north, too. What do you guys in Oz use as a teak oil?

[Tropic Cat]

Well,

Knowing the guys in my marina, they probably use 10W30 on their teak. I think I'm kidding.... but will be at the boat tomorrow morning and will ask around.

Rick in Florida

[Steve Kidson]

Starfish,

I use the Sika range of products for teak decking that include adhesive to stick it to the deck, primer and caulking. They are all formulated to work together as a system - that's the advertising blurb anyway; there is a teak oil that is recommended to complete the job.

It is simply called Sika Teak Oil.

Glad you enjoyed your visit to Sydney; come back again

Fair winds

Steve

[Alan Wheeler]

I'm leaning toward the Epifanes,

Been there, did that, never again. It looks awesome till it gets a ding. Then it chips and lets water in underneath and the result is a nasty stain under the coating that looks bad. Ours lasted a bit over a year and then looked terrible. That is when you discover how hard it is to remove again.

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Been there, did that, never again. It looks awesome till it gets a ding. Then it chips and lets water in underneath and the result is a nasty stain under the coating that looks bad. Ours lasted a bit over a year and then looked terrible. That is when you discover how hard it is to remove again.

I tested some two part polyeurethanes. I actually tried Epifanes two part on a couple pieces on our boat a couple years ago, with 5-6 coats of traditional high-gloss on top of it. I am now paying for it as I had to strip the polyeurethane. Heat gun WILL NOT take it off. It has to be sanded or chemically stripped (I managed to find a chemical stripper that worked, but it took a couple coats).

The thing with two part PUs is that most do not have UV protection so you need to top them with traditional varnish. And you still need to recoat annually with regular varnish. Don't use PU on areas where joints might expand/contract as it will break the skin (which defeats the purpose of varnish). PUs do not have much "give" like varnish does.

We are going back to Epifanes high gloss. As with most varnish, this one gets best results if applied in many thin coats with bristle brush (dont use foam brushes).

Epifanes high build varnish sucks. It just looks bad and sanding it is unpleasant.

I have heard good things about Z-Spar Captains Varnish, but have not used it myself.

$.02

[dana-tenacity]

Decking and horizontal surfaces, let it bleach, wash frequently with salt water. Vertical surfaces, any good varnish and do it frequently. If you don't like varnishing paint it.

[starfish62]

Linda cruised the marina and found a H/C owner (ALL teak) here in Palm Beach and asked him what he used. He came out with some "Honey Teak" lit and said that it was the best compromise he had seen. The boat was "Avatar," and her brightwork is beautiful. Then an Islander came onto the hard beside us and had pretty brightwork, and Linda went and spoke with them. They also used the HT. We're taking the coincidence as an omen from the teak gods and are going to use the Honey Teak on the coaming. toerail, eyebrows and handles. Guess we'll do the old salt water wash on the balance.

Thanks for the info. We'll be doing the interior next, so will have lots more questions,

[Mareva]

Hi All,

And now from the totally theoretical perspective...

I just finished reading a good article on refinishing teak. It is in the June 2007 Practical Boat Owner. The author's big point is to avoid sanding at all costs. The article is called "The Truth about Teak".

Just thought I'd drop the info. Hope it helps.

Cheers,
Julie