EXTERIOR TEAK

HMT2 · Nov 17, 2019

I have done the epoxy and varnish treatment when I replaced my rotten cabin soles about four years ago, they still look like new. Can’t speak to exterior teak.

TomY · Nov 18, 2019

twodzusfittings said:
I am seeking the conventional wisdom of the group in regards to teak maintenance. I am of the old school, where we rub teak oil on cleaned naked teak, in multiple applications (7-10 coats) and then do every two months, a single application throughout the year. This keeps the teak healthy and protected.
Recently I have been entertained by You Tube videos, of owners applying epoxy, and covering that with two coats of varnish. But throughout the videos, all I listened to is the constant complaining of how much work this is. They just don't know how lucky they are to own those beautiful vessels. (Sorry! Off topic)
If you seal the trim pieces in epoxy, does that not keep the moisture in and provide opportunities for the epoxy to break and peel or crack and flake off? Thoughts anyone?

Whether you use epoxy or not, it won't last on exterior brightwork unless it's protected by a sufficient number of coats of varnish.

The number of coats depends on the piece's orientation to the sun and how close you are to the equator.

In MD you'll need likely 6-8 coats over the epoxy and at least one maintenance coat of varnish, applied annually.

I thin an epoxy undercoat can be helpful but I don't use it and maintain a boat with more brightwork than most FG boats.

glaufman · Nov 25, 2019

Rule at my club is don't treat it. Silver teak is beautiful and perfectly healthy. Looks neglected to me, but I've never revitalized the weathered teak that came with my boat. I did epoxy and varnish my tiller, but that's covered when not in use so it's been several years without maintenance.

eherlihy · Nov 29, 2019

I have epoxied and varnished the companionway hatch retainers and the dorade boxes twice. Any teak that you see in the pictures below is epoxied and varnished. The next improvement to my 35 will be to replace the companionway hatch retainers with HMWPE (StarBoard).

I have replaced the teak hatch slide rails on my boat with HMWPE, milled to the same profile as the original rails. This was a VAST improvement.
I replaced the cabin top hand rails with polished stainless steel box tube. This was also a HUGE improvement.

I have not yet done anything with the teak toe rail, but I do plan to replace it with something that requires less attention than teak at some time in the future.

dmax · Nov 29, 2019

I'm a big fan of Cetol - easier to apply than varnish. After 2 seasons, it looks like the day I put it on.
Eherlily: nice job on the hatch slides and hand rail (interesting solution).

gettinthere · Nov 29, 2019

semco. extremely easy to apply, water based. just slather it on. it looks like fresh teak, not old weathered, silver teak. as it fades, it is very easy to renew. no sanding, just scrub and slather.

njlarry · Dec 27, 2019

My favorite is Honey Teak from Signature Finish. Last for at least four years or more if you add two coats every two or three years with just a scotch bright pad prep . Very easy to apply in varying weather conditions. Best thing is you can recoat every 20 t o 60 minutes! Four to eight coats in day.
But with owner Tom passing not sure about future availability.

TheCruisingExperience · Dec 31, 2019

We use the Starbrite system on both boats.

1. Wash the teak first using cheap powdered laundry detergent and water scrubbing with a 3M course pad across the grain.
2. Wash using Starbrite teak cleaner and 3M pad
3. Apply Starbrite teak brightener
4. Apply two coats of Starbrite clear teak sealer
5. Stand back and admire your work which should last the season and protect the teak for 12 months.
6. It's not as difficult as it sounds.

Kings Gambit · Dec 31, 2019

glaufman said:
Rule at my club is don't treat it. Silver teak is beautiful and perfectly healthy. Looks neglected to me, but I've never revitalized the weathered teak that came with my boat. I did epoxy and varnish my tiller, but that's covered when not in use so it's been several years without maintenance.

Yeah. Boats are equipped with teak b/c it’s a durable, low maintenance wood. It does not need to be treated with anything other than clean, fresh seawater. I become amused to hear people say they don’t want a boat with outside teak b/c it requires too much maintenance

. This is invented labor, IMHO.

TheCruisingExperience · Dec 31, 2019

The Starbrite system will leave your teak looking like it was just laid down and protect it. We allowed ours to just go grey and splash on some seawater for the first seven years, but have since found that there's much less shedding of the soft non-grain surface and less dirt when it's protected by the sealer.

Kings Gambit · Dec 31, 2019

In my experience to date teak “brightener”, which may be weakly acidic (e.g., oxalic acid), is not too good for the “grout” of the deck teak. Causes it to deteriorate prematurely, etc.

Barnacle Bill · Jan 2, 2020

As many boat owners there are out there is about how many different choices of teak coatings there also are. For sure, varnishing is a labor of love and if done properly, it looks the best, in my opinion. Epiphanes has a varnish formulated for teak. Stick to the directions and you should do ok. Any varnish has to be recoated at least annually to keep it nice and the UV filters in varnishes don't last for ever, which is another reason to re-coat to replenish the UV filters. I also agree that Sikkens Cetol is a much easier product to use. Again, follow the directions for best results. Their latest teak formula has UV filters while earlier types do not, unless that has been changed. Oiling is good for a different look, but it is subject to evaporation and so has to be re-oiled to keep it up. I have found that there are good oils (expensive) and not so good oils (cheaper) and by far the expensive ones last longer and look better. I used to use an epoxy undercoat before applying the varnish and that was to make adhesion of the varnish better because of the natural oils in teak. But, I also found that some varnishes are even more compatible with epoxies. And epoxies have an amine blush that must be neutralized before sanding, cleaning and applying varnish. That is why I like the epiphanies formulated for teak. No epoxy necessary.

TomY · Jan 3, 2020

There may be some confusion in this thread as to 2 different types and purposes of wood, on a boat.

One falls in the general 'brightwork' category which are exterior hardwoods (that may or may not be teak), that are usually protected by a coating (varnish, oil, pine tar, Cetol or similar).

This category are primarily structural parts; toe rails, cockpit coamings, hand rails, spars, hatchway parts, etc. These parts are usually protected from deterioration of weather by any coating. With regular maintenance, brightwork parts can last nearly forever.

The other category is decking you usually walk on, that is not often protected by a coating. Wood decking is usually teak wood, but not necessarily. 'Teak' decking wears from foot traffic and the worst UV exposure (due to it's angle to the sun) Teak decking has a life span mostly determined by it's thickness and use/exposure. The wear is a slow process but teak decking is sacrificial.

The parts on my old boat, brightwork, that are protected by a coating in this photo(I use varnish), are all original and nearly 60 years old. I suspect that with the same maintenance, these parts could go another 60 years (that is if the fiberglass hull lasts that long, which I guess it will).

The 'teak' decking on the cockpit sole and seat top which are heavily tread on, is a few years old (it's IPE, another very hard rot resistant tropical hardwood). It wears away, slowly. The original teak decking started to require replacement after 30-40 years. Maintenance was in the form of washing and re-caulking when needed.