I like my teak grey. Why touch it?

[TomY]

I doubt those windows were made of teak.

They weren't. Old windows last longer than new windows by design and the materials that were available. Teak has a high rot resistance but it's not the only choice. Someone mentioned Ipe but there are choices today in sustainable tropical hardwoods. I've been on a beautiful 70' sardine carrier that was rebuilt. The owner builder (who knows more about this than any one I know), chose Pine for his decking. He said it was highly rot resistant and would last a long, long time. But the deck was over 2" thick and his source of pine has left over old growth stock. Many of the schooners and work boats around here have pine decks.

 

[TomY]

Thanks Tom! My house is 100 years old this year. Our whole College Hill neighborhood is around that age. Water and exposure has been its worst enemy. Treatment and care, or lack of is easily apparent.

Woods other Achilles heel (which promotes rot) is that it 'moves' (we all know that too well).

It swells and shrinks due to temperature and more so, moisture content.

But how much? I would use a scale of 1 to 10. 1 would be wood that is encapsulated and maintained in a waterproof coating (like varnish). A 10 would be left to gray. It will go through a huge swing as it soaks up water and is dried by the hot sun.

The greatest thing about composite wood is that it doesn't absorb water. Hence it doesn't move much (only expands via heat).

The problem with it I find is it's structural properties> It has none. Unless you call al dente linguini 'structural. I can only think of one place I could use it on my boat(the thick base of the windlass-perfect with paint), because all the wood components are structural. But houses have lots of applications.

Here is a near 200 year old window on my house. I used the same process with composite. The old sill, a full 2" thickness, was old growth. I could find that piece anymore. Too much 'new' pine I buy comes with the rot already in it. Just give it a few years.

Some purists on an old house group online gave me the thumbs down. I'm at peace with it. It should last for a century or more. I know it will if maintained.

 

[surfstud31]

It’s preference. Some prefer the dark grey weathered look for teak. On my sailboat I prefer the orangish color of clean, well-oiled teak. The previous owners of my sailboat actually varnished a bunch of the teak rails so I went back and stripped the varnish off, cleaned and oiled the rails and they look great IMHO. Each to his own.

 

[CarlN]

Try using this cleaner from TeakDecking Systems (who does the teak decks for super yachts). This leaves the teak grey but cleans out the mildew and growth that gets down in the grain. The result is a lovely tan/silver instead of the mottled grey you often see. No scrubbing. Just clean across the grain with a mop of a very soft deck brush. Then rinse. You'll be amazed how much grime gets washed down the scuppers. ECO-300 Teak Cleaner Liquid — Teakdecking Systems (it's available at Defender)