Best refinish method for teak

Indysailor · Mar 16, 2012

I think if you sand it with 150 grit paper and apply a clear satin varnish or polyurethane you will be very pleased. Try taking a small piece out and giving it a go. The teak plywood really is pretty with a finish on it.

EDIT:
I just added some pics from my woodwork. There were some pieces that were quite a bit darker than others, so when I cut my bulkheads from Okoume, I stained them with some red and also evened up all the other stuff to match better. If yours all match, I wouldn't do that.
The first pic shows a piece that was red (in the middle), the second pic is the refinished cooler cover and the third is the new starboard bulkhead.

oliversdad · Mar 16, 2012

Firstly,Teak is an amazingly weather and rot resistant wood sans any type of finish or oil.Personally,I prefer to leave teak natural.You might consider leaving it bare.The only maintenance then would be to scrub with soapy water and a good scrub brush.This brings back the light new color of the wood year after year.If it's in really sad shape a light sanding might be in order.Varnish or oils require more maintenance and expense.I'm speaking mainly regarding exterior trimwork.Sounds like your working on the interior.In that case I would look at an oil finish.

Shoaldrafter · Mar 16, 2012

another thought

I am from a different school on teak or brighwork finishes for sail boats.

I recommend just using a high quality teak oil finish. Specifically try Messmer's Caribbean Extreme - Teak Oil Finish.

Yes, depending how far north you are, you have to reoil once or twice a year. But no scraping or removing old varnish or urethane.

Understand that teak is an oily wood. The oil in teak protects the wood. So by applying a high quality teak oil, you restore original level of oils to wood.

Where as varnish, urethanes, or Cetol have to scraped or sanded off to refinish.

See: http://www.messmers.com/messmers-caribbean-extreme

Ed K

appleman · Mar 16, 2012

If you are removing and finishing the interior wood, this is what I did. The interior was fully gutted. I removed all woodwork, replaced what was damaged, and then started cleaning the old stuff. I used Don Casey's mix of water, laundry detergent and bleach. Soaked it in good, brushed it with a stiff brush , rinsed and dried by the wood stove. Then I went one step further to try to match the old to the new. I soaked in a solution of oxalic acid and rinsed and dried. Then sanded enough to take off the raised grain and soaked in a homemade solution of 1 part solvent based gloss polyurethane, 1 part boiled linseed oil and 1 part mineral spirits. Soak in just like stain, and after no more will soak in, wipe with a linen cloth. When dry, lightly sand and do again. when the solution starts to "stiffen" wipe to a nice satin finish. Now the only maintenance is a yearly wipe down with lemon oil.

CPseudonym · Mar 17, 2012

Wow John, 4 responses and 4 different answers. I suspect if this was posted in the Ask All Sailors forum you would get 70 posts with 70 different answers and at least 20 pages of debate

In all honesty I'm dealing with interior and exterior teak myself for the first time and am learning that there are almost as many right ways to do this as there are owners of boats. I'll be watching this thread with interest,good topic.

Shoaldrafter · Mar 17, 2012

wood and bleach

Bleach damages the fibers of wood. And Painters bleach, aka oxalic acid, damages caulking.

Consider using ethyl glycol aka automotive anti freeze to kill mildew and stain fungi... Apply with 3M scour pad either green or maroon.

Let dry several days and then wash and let dry then finish what ever way you decide.

And nobody even mentioned bees wax?

Ed K

appleman said:
If you are removing and finishing the interior wood, this is what I did. The interior was fully gutted. I removed all woodwork, replaced what was damaged, and then started cleaning the old stuff. I used Don Casey's mix of water, laundry detergent and bleach. Soaked it in good, brushed it with a stiff brush , rinsed and dried by the wood stove. Then I went one step further to try to match the old to the new. I soaked in a solution of oxalic acid and rinsed and dried. Then sanded enough to take off the raised grain and soaked in a homemade solution of 1 part solvent based gloss polyurethane, 1 part boiled linseed oil and 1 part mineral spirits. Soak in just like stain, and after no more will soak in, wipe with a linen cloth. When dry, lightly sand and do again. when the solution starts to "stiffen" wipe to a nice satin finish. Now the only maintenance is a yearly wipe down with lemon oil.

25yearslater · Mar 18, 2012

I used Deks Olje 2 matte finish on my teak. I used Minwax Fruitwood on my Okoume followed with 2 coats of Minwax wiping polyurethane on the new interior woodwork.

Indysailor · Mar 18, 2012

I tried Joe's fruitwood idea, however, on our boat the interior teak is quite reddish/orange, so the fruitwood over Okoume just didn't match. We went darker, with red oak stain, so that things all look pretty close now.

Interestingly, I was reading about the orangish color that older Cetol left and came across the theory that teak used in the late 70s and 80s was sourced from the Philippines, which has more of an orange than brown look. Not sure if that's what I encountered, but the original interior teak really looks different than the my handrails so I compared them with a piece of Okoume/fruitwood stain and the match is pretty close.

25yearslater · Mar 18, 2012

I do believe you're right Indy. Finding the orange teak is next to impossible. The sustainable plantation teak is about all you can get anymore. It is noticably more brown than the older teak.

Indysailor · Mar 19, 2012

Installed new bulkheads in today. You can see one of the original ones in the background of the first picture. It was very orange, which is why we went a little darker with Minwax Red Oak. Everything came out and is now back in.

25yearslater · Mar 19, 2012

That looks fantastic. Your color matching to your other woodwork is nothing short of professional.

Indysailor · Mar 20, 2012

Given your own attention to detail, I appreciate the compliment very much.

Indysailor · Mar 21, 2012

Just to show the "orange" teak- here is the old port side bulkhead from my boat. It's actually not in terrible shape, but the starboard side was pretty bad.

Bubblehead · May 6, 2012

I am refinishing my hunter 34 interior at the moment, and here is what I'm doing. Firstly, I intend to make this my permanent boat, so I am going overboard a bit but only intend to do this once. I did a 2 part sanding of everything, first with 120 grit and then finished at 150. I am also going with red oak as that seems closest to the 80's red stain already on the wood. Fine steel wool scour when set and translucent cetol over the top to seal. Being interior I expect it to outlast my time as captain and I am 33. A gallon f cetol is around a hundred bucks, but my man hours every six months on a re-oil is way more valuable in my opinion, and I am a "putter offer" on labor if there is any kind of wind, or rum..

emergpa1 · May 6, 2012

Technodad said:
I have got a lot of my teak wood removed from the inside of my 23 so that I can install the new hull liner material. I would like to do something to the teak wood to make it look like a new boat ,ha ha, anyway, has anyone refinished their teak? if so how did you do it. I am trying to decide on the original flat look or a semi gloss or a full gloss!.....easiest would be to teak oil it, is this normal or a no no?

thanks
John

Just to be different I refinished my interior teak trim but painted my bulkheads with a really tough porch paint from lowes. Love it and it brightens up the interior. I had to mix a couple of stains to get the color I wanted then finished with the standard semigloss polyurethane. IMO cetol remains a little sticky for interior. It just has a more rubbery characteristic, which is what makes it durable for exterior applications

Shoaldrafter · May 7, 2012

refinish interior

Bubble head,

Sounds like good start. I have no experience with Cetol on interior but agree with Keith as to not use gloss. In fact I use satin which requires less work on touch up or repairs blending.

I too question the Cetol which is intended for UV protection exterior.

The reason of oil finishes is not the yearly re oil, but you do not have to seriously sand and scrape to refinish.

I would not use fine steel wool anymore on wood finishes. Steel wool leaves traces of steel in wood and can rust. Use the 3M scour pads. Go to 3M web site and find the pads which it gives equivalents to the grades of steel wool.

Now for kicker, do not brush finish on but use use nitrile gloves and small wide container to hold which ever finish you choose and scrub finish into wood. I use maroon 3M pads for first coat then move to the finner white pads for finish coats.

Also thin first coats. I use all oil base paints. I mix plain paint thinner with oil finish then add small amount of satin urethane for first two coats. I wet out good and scrub (rub) into wood with pads. Let dry a short while and wipe any excess with rag. Let dry for day and do similar for next coat.

I thin all layers. I use the cheap jug of paint thinner. All the odorless mineral spirits that cost more are just refined paint thinner.

The two coats to begin are necessary because no matter how good you think you are, the next day will show places you missed. By using two base coats you solve that issue.

Then proceed to your finish coats. Some guys use 6 or 7 coats. I generally just use two finish coats for same reason as stated above.

None of my finishes are out of can urethane or varnish. I always thin. Some of my cans say do not thin, but bullshit. I learned my method from master craftsman finisher.

http://www.gregorypaolini.com/WWClasses/CD-CompFinish.htm

Ed K

Blue Pearl Captain · May 7, 2012

Technodad said:
I have got a lot of my teak wood removed from the inside of my 23 so that I can install the new hull liner material. I would like to do something to the teak wood to make it look like a new boat ,ha ha, anyway, has anyone refinished their teak? if so how did you do it. I am trying to decide on the original flat look or a semi gloss or a full gloss!.....easiest would be to teak oil it, is this normal or a no no?

thanks
John

I bought a 1993 Hunter 27 in February and had the same quandary. Did some reading on a Google search and decided the least labor intensive method was to clean the wood with a weak solution of Pine-sol and applied two coats of Cabot semi-gloss Spar Varnish. The wood was in great condiition in the first place and the varnish deepened it's color beautifully. Teal cleaning solutions seem to be readily available and there are those who oil and those who varnish.
Whatever floats your boat (!), John. Good luck.

Best refinish method for teak

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