Anybody use plain teak oil on the exterior?

[weinie]

I just re-coated my cabin today with West Marine teak oil and it really looks beautiful.

I know people advise against using it on the exterior due to the short time it lasts. However, because one can apply it with a rag and not have to tape off the entire wood, I could probably do all the exterior wood in 15 minutes!

If i had do this 4 or five times a year, I'd still be way ahead than if I used a sealer like Semco or worse, varnish.

I live in NY so I'm not facing a tropical climate.

Does any one do this?

 

[azguy]

I use Watco Teak Oil about 3-4x's a year and it works fine even in the Arizona blistering heat. Once a year I lightly sand the wood and recoat with a few heavy coats on successive days. In between, it's wipe clean and a light coat a few times a year..

 

[Eddie7045]

You betcha !

Teak oil is an excellent preservative and it is easy to maintain. Varnish is real nice finish but it is a lot of work refinishing it periodically. If you are happy with the way it looks stay with the teak oil.

 

[hewebb]

I sanded and oiled all the teak 3 years ago. Now I clean and wipe on a fresh coat every year. Still looks like new. Also, I added a boat cover that covers all the wood a couple of months ago.

 

[LakeOntario270]

I use to use West Marine teak oil on my old boat and it does a nice job of protecting the wood. Be careful to wipe up any excess because the first rain will cause it to run down and streak up your fiberglass.

That said, I switched to Sikkens Cetol and asked "Why didn't I do this years earlier?". The wood looked much better and it lasted for over a year.

 

[zeehag]

i do not use west marine anything if i can help it..i go to home depot and i buy watco teak oil finish for longer protection.

i have used regular teak oil and it does fine.

i am now using what i can find..at present citronella oil at dusk for skeeter control and wood protection and nourishment..is mineral oil, so it works. oil is oil. i would use motor oil if i had nothing else, as i have seen it suck into the wood nicely and last a while....... dont ask how i know this.....

i been preaching sea water wash and teak oil cover for years now, as i recall.... welcome to the real world of teak maintenance....


my exterior teak wood when i wash with sea water then oil takes me a good 6 hours. per year.
i have and cruise a formosa 41, with teak wood house exterior and rails of over 120 ft running..lol.. been doing it this way and bragging for looong time...

 

[weinie]

i do not use west marine anything if i can help it..i go to home depot and i buy watco teak oil finish for longer protection.

i have used regular teak oil and it does fine.

i am now using what i can find..at present citronella oil at dusk for skeeter control and wood protection and nourishment..is mineral oil, so it works. oil is oil. i would use motor oil if i had nothing else, as i have seen it suck into the wood nicely and last a while....... dont ask how i know this.....

i been preaching sea water wash and teak oil cover for years now, as i recall.... welcome to the real world of teak maintenance....


my exterior teak wood when i wash with sea water then oil takes me a good 6 hours. per year.
i have and cruise a formosa 41, with teak wood house exterior and rails of over 120 ft running..lol.. been doing it this way and bragging for looong time...

Zee,

I would love to see some pics of the oiled teak on your Formosa if you have any handy!

 

[Stu Jackson]

Gentlemen,

The "natural" progression of "dealing with exterior teak" usually runs like this:

--- teak oil

or

--- Nothing

--- varnish

--- cetol

--- nothing

---teak oil

--- nothing

--- varnish

--- cetol

Repeat as nessary...

 

[weinie]

Gentlemen,

The "natural" progression of "dealing with exterior teak" usually runs like this:

--- teak oil

or

--- Nothing

--- varnish

--- cetol

--- nothing

---teak oil

--- nothing

--- varnish

--- cetol

Repeat as nessary...

lol

 

[RECESS]

I am on my third round of nothing after doing it in cetol last year. I have priced varnish.....but I am far too lazy to apply 12 coats of anything. Will get out the steel wool and cetol again.

 

[zeehag]

mine has been practical as i have maintained mine with pretty much same stuff until i couldnt find watco oil finish in mexico yet
still lookinjg
lots of teak oil but no oil finish, which lasts an entire year on my boat.
as far as i can see, the only difference between oil finish and oil is that the finish has added mineral spirits.makes a crust when painted onto wood outside.

 

[kito]

I cleaned and oiled the teak cabin boards on my C22 last spring. It started to turn dark and ugly within 2 months. The PO used Cetol on the cabin top grab rails and still looks great. I am going with Cetol for all the exterior teak anyway.

 

[zeehag]

teak isnot a blonde wood.. dark is normal black is due to dirt in wood. want blonde wood, redo in maple.

 

[LANCE ON CLOUD NINE]

to those that are happy to use oil, try Kramer's antique restorer. I noticed that it's label mentioned boats, I tried it with good results, and am certain I will never varnish again.

 

[Brian S]

I use Watco teak oil on my cedar kayak paddle (it's a Greenland thing, don't ask…) I put on at least 4 coats with several days in between each coat. It will set up into a bit of a resin-y finish, but it won't last a whole season of kayaking. Based on that, it will last even less time out on the boat in the sun all day. I have started doctoring the Watco by pouring in small amounts of varnish leftover from projects, just to give it a bit more resin. We'll see how it works out when the girlfriend is finished putting 3 coats on her wood kayak frame, before I skin it. (Skin on frame kayak I'm building her…)

There's a guy over on trailersailers.com forum, lives in FL, swears by Semco teak oil. http://www.semcoteakproducts.com/SEMCO_PRODUCTS.HTM

There's also Owatrol's Deks Olje: http://www.deksolje.com

And Honey Teak: http://www.signaturefinish.com/index.php?topic=Honey+Teak which is a 2 part catalyzed polyurethane product. Eek, that would be almost as bad as doing varnish...

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I'm going to try Azek this year! I ordered a couple of deck planks in Redland Rose to try. Can you believe $56 per 12' plank (at Lowes), 1" thick? Ouch! But I'm tired of looking at and running my fingers over peeling varnish, and I never seem to have the time available when the weather is optimal for varnishing. Besides, I'm not nearly patient enough. I'm not ready to try oiling it either.

When I get these planks, I am going to shape them into the coach roof slides and hatchboard slides and even a handle and trim for the coach roof.

I removed the teak handholds for varnishing in the basement, though.

 

[Brian S]

Scott, others have had good luck using Azek for handles and such. I would like to make swim ladder treads out of it, but like you, I'm not thrilled about having to buy a 12' board, and I think the lumber yard quoted me $89-something or other last year. (It was high enough I promptly forgot how much…)

I'm going to try Azek this year! I ordered a couple of deck planks in Redland Rose to try. Can you believe $56 per 12' plank (at Lowes), 1" thick? Ouch! But I'm tired of looking at and running my fingers over peeling varnish, and I never seem to have the time available when the weather is optimal for varnishing. Besides, I'm not nearly patient enough. I'm not ready to try oiling it either.

When I get these planks, I am going to shape them into the coach roof slides and hatchboard slides and even a handle and trim for the coach roof.

I removed the teak handholds for varnishing in the basement, though.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

Wow, that seems really high-priced! I have to admit that I figured it would be expensive, so I purposely didn't ask the price first. I didn't want to know what it would cost till I took out the CC, figuring that if I mulled over the price, I would do nothing. That's the purpose of working for a living, right? On a cruisers budget, I wouldn't be able to do that!

Maybe I can send you left-overs??

 

[zeehag]

scott..is why i often use citronella oil..i can get it cheap and it does work. not bad for repelling skeeters either, for 2 - 3 days, even.....

 

[Brian S]

Scott, I send you a private message about those Azek scraps…

Brian