Best Teak Varnish or Polyurethane for the Chessie?

[Manny]

So hopefully not starting a war here but just wanted to get recommendations on the best varnish or poly to use on exterior teak (boat is in upper chesapeake - if there local are favorites or formulations better suited for that area). Main concern is ease of application and longevity. Believe it or not I used minwax spar varnish for a long time and it worked great, just a touch up every other year. When I came down to Middle River, I barely get a season out of it, and it goes well past needing a touch up By the way I'm not a fan of teak oil.
Does anything last two seasons?

M

 

[Ken Cross]

I've done well with Cetol light, but some people don't' like the color.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Hey Manny...

One thing you may not realize being in Middle River is the effects of jet fuel from the planes coming into and out of Martin Field. It may be breaking down the varnish prematurely. I've had friends there complain about the soot and oily residue on their decks.

North of you I use regular Cetol on the outside teak and Minwax's Helmsman varnish on the inside teak. The Cetol could go two years, but with so little to touch up, it's an easy proposition to do on a warm, low humidity day each year.

 

[Chuckbear]

I've done well with Cetol light, but some people don't' like the color.

The Cetol "Natural" will give you a true teak look. Three coats of the natural and three coats of the gloss will last for years. We do a maintenance coat of the gloss once a year and in the Chesapeake it was almost not needed. It is easy to touch up and repair dings, unlike most varnishes. Even here in south Florida we only need the once a year coat. Chuck

 

[RichH]

As a former varnish-aholic and if you have extensive teak, I dont think you want to screw around with varnish, oil, Cetol, and all the other complicated coating systems that ultimately and relatively quickly fail, etc.

The following pic is a TEN year old "Honey Teak" (www.signature finish.com) job. HT for the Chesapeake only requires an every two year 'maintenance' clear coat - 'scratch' the surface with a 3M purple pad and 'flow on' a catalyzed acrylic-urethane clear coat. Since its a part acylic base you can powerbuff every other year (when you powerbuff your gelcoat).

HT is expensive but when you amortize over the years it turns out to be the long term cheapest in both cost and labor. Its a 2 part base using ferrous oxide as the UV protectant and a 2 part clear top coat. Its applied THICK for best UV protection (the bane of ALL other coatings). It goes on 'brownish' but quickly fades to be equivalent to an amber/honey oil based varnish finish. Only problem with HT is if you apply the base coats too thin the surface wood cells will be UV damaged and you will get lifting; apply 'extra - thick' and you can have the base last to ~12+years.
Best of all its easily repairable. It requires a HIGH learning curve, can be applied wet-on-wet with brief waiting time to allow it to 'kick'. Best applied in cool/cold weather for best 'flow out' with resistant quality foam brushes .... or sprayed with a PreVal self contained sprayer (self-loadable aerosol bottle) for the finish coat. Horizontal surfaces can be laid down very thick, but vertical surfaces may require 'many' coats to build up the 'thickness' ... its quite flexible yet the surface is hard. Like all other finishes, it should NOT be applied at near the end of the day or in humid weather.

For the Ches (and further south) I recommend to apply the base coat 50% thicker than the mfg. recommended for longer life in the sun.

If youre a fanatic ... like all finishes, you really have to 'finish it' ... either by wet flat-sanding with 1500-2000 grit (wet) and then hand-rubbing with rottenstone and water or by powerbuffing with a foam knobbypad and 3M "Perfect-it" ... if you want a Hinckley type ultra-gloss finish as is found on large mega-yachts or private jet aircraft. I even 'finish' after spraying (with PreVal). Most just apply the last coat with a brush and leave it --- if you already have a well developed 'varnish/brush technique'

I also use HT clear to coat the mirror-polished bronze - portlights, hawse holes, binnacle, etc. ... again THICK coated with 'clear'.

Dont use HT on Iroko or other 'soft woods' such as found on Pearsons, etc.
Ive gone through just about every damn combination and method: epoxy - oil base - urethane - topped with Interthane/Perfection clear; resinated oils; epoxy encapsulation + Varnish, butt-ugly Cetol, Bristol, etc. etc. etc. and now use HT almost exclusively on teak.

Signature Finish recently had a fire and the site was totally destroyed. They are back in business but orders, etc. are a bit slow.

 

[Manny]

Dan - interesting point about the proximity to the airport... I am on Frog Mortar creek somewhat parallel to the runway. I never thought about how the exhaust may affect the wood finish. Funny, in Havre De Grace the boat was always extremely filthy and I had to constantly wash it, but I had no issue with the exterior wood. The boat stays pretty clean in Middle River, but the wood gets trashed, even the trim that holds the companionway board, which is somewhat protected by the bimini...

RichH - you give compelling reasons for using Honey Teak and that sure is a beautiful finish in the pictures. I took a look at their website, I couldn't figure out if the minimum order is 50 sq. ft. or if you can get less. I will call them tomorrow. I have very little exterior wood, so a kit that big would end up going to waste.

Thanks,

M

 

[RichH]

When/if you call them (Tom) tell them of the sq. ft. surface to be covered ... they will sometimes sell you a 'split' so you dont have to buy 'whole' containers' ... at least they used to do this.

BTW --- that ominous ugly yellow-brown cloud that hangs over the western shore: I-95. When I95 is 'blocked' or shut down that massive ever-present pollution-smog cloud usually quickly disappears.