We have a teak foormat we use at the coach door and would like to seal it. Any thoughts on products? I've been out on west marine and there is a bunch listed. I also have some teak chairs that I would like to either seal it or varnish it.
thanks.
I have used Sikkens' Cetol available at many marine supply stores including West Marine. Kept my teak stored in the sunlight spiffy year round. Top coated once per year and spotted any scuff during the year.
Lightly sand surface to a smooth even appearance and coat the bare wood with several coats. Leaves a satin durable finish.
If scuffed, just spot coat the scuff or the whole surface as needed.
Best finish-- varnish. Satin or gloss, your preference.
OK if not left out in the sun too much-- oil.
I don't care for the look of Cetol-- looks too much like a stain (which it is).
Any suggestions on what varnish to use? I will look at both to see which I like better!
Mostly a preference in looks. We have used Captain's Varnish on several boats.
Don't know how complex the piece is-- if lots of small areas that would be hard to reach with a brush, varnish may not be practical. By chance to you have a photo or link to the piece?
Ours was 41" with lots of teak above and below. Used urethane, gloss above, satin below. It lasts longer than regular spar varnish and once you get the hang of it, you can make the rails look like glass. Satin with a little sanding prep makes below decks look like new. Used gloss urethane sprayed on cabin sole. Just pulled them out, sanded, sprayed, sanded, sprayed. Repeated this process about 8 times and they looked like glass. No shoes below decks afterwards.
Not familiar with Sikkens marine products. Sikkens does make the best automotive paint along with their unadvertised Lesonal brand in my opinion. Also the most expensive.
Has been years so not sure about which urethane I would select now. When you find the right one, you will know it. The more sun it sees the faster it deteriorates. Best to lightly sand and recoat before gloss loss is noticeable.
If you don't want as much constant upkeep, just use oil on the teak. Looks good to me but if selling, the urethane varnish is the ticket.
Every boater with teak on his/her boat has his/her own ideas about how to finish the teak. Some like varnish, some like products like Sikkens, some use tung oil. We didn't use anything. We washed the teak periodically and lightly scrubbed it with a soft brush but we liked the look of unfinished teak beached by the sun and salt water. Of course, we didn't have much of it (bulwark rails, handles, salon skylight, forward hatch and companion way trim.
Some boaters try to have zero teak trim to reduce or eliminate the chore of keeping teak up.
If you do nothing to it at all it will bleach out (a little like a cedar beach cabin) but still look nice. And will withstand wear.
I advise you not to use the commercial teak cleaners because they tend to dissolve the soft parts of the wood grain and leave the harder parts; this results in wood that you can feel the grain ridges with your fingers and eventually destroys the wood.
I use tung oil on my wood (Greenland style cedar) paddles and would recommend it for teak as well if you must have that "golden teak" look.
As always, ymmv and opinions vary too. :)
Craig
I like a two part varnish. It's harder to get a mirror finish with it, but it lasts over five years in saltwater service.
We use the Cetol Marine Natural Teak by Sikkens. Holds up well in the Michigan weather. Last time we did it was 08. Will need to redo next season.
Dick,
So, what boat do you have?
We have done most of our sailing on a Pacific Seacraft Crealock 37' (Pacific Seacraft : PS 37 (http://www.pacificseacraft.com/html/ps37.html))-- can you say WAY TOO MUCH experience varnishing exterior teak.
Now we are partners with my brother in a Catalina 350. Took it from Texas to the Bahamas last winter.
Brett
As the owner of 3 commercial vessels and a Bertram sport fisherman here is what you should do.
If you varnish the teak eventually it will start to peel off and it will be a bitch to remove the rest and re-varnish it.
I clean my teak with Whitsleys whitewall cleaner and a very fine brass grill brush flushing it with fresh water several times. This removes all the old oils and once it is dry it looks like a brand new piece of teak. Then oil with any good quality teak oil several times a year.
It will only cost you in supplies about $10.00 and can be re-cleaned every year with ease.