painted teak

Hydro Therapy · Jan 31, 2013

I've used paint remover with little success. I ended up using 60 grit sandpaper. If your removing the wood than a belt sander will make fast work of it. Just be careful, a belt sander can eat the wood quickly. I used the belt sander to remove the majority. I would the. Finish it with a palm sander.

TLW · Jan 31, 2013

Wow, that is unfortunate. No doubt the teak was in poor condition prior to painting, which means prominent grain, furrows, etc. You could try paint removers, but I fear you would never be successful in all the pits. I think your only option is to sand, and you are going to have to remove a lot of material. At least you would have nice smooth teak ready for normal finish.

Merlin Clark · Jan 31, 2013

I like to scrape paint or varnish before sanding. Scraping with a sharp 90 degree tool is faster and easier than sanding. If the paint is stubborn a heat gun can help alot.
If it's possible to take the wood off the boat I'd do so. This will give you the opportunity to rebed the parts and not have to worry about dinging up the gelcoat or deck paint while your working on it. If you can't take it off, mask around it with a couple layers of blue masking tape.
My favorite scraper http://www.truevalue.com/product/95-Inch-Scraper-Bar/17620.uts and I keep it sharp with a fine file. Keep the 90 degree blade perpendicular to the work and draw it towards you with light pressure. You can increase the pressure after you get a feel for it.

smokey73 · Jan 31, 2013

merlinuxo said:
I like to scrape paint or varnish before sanding. Scraping with a sharp 90 degree tool is faster and easier than sanding. If the paint is stubborn a heat gun can help alot.
If it's possible to take the wood off the boat I'd do so. This will give you the opportunity to rebed the parts and not have to worry about dinging up the gelcoat or deck paint while your working on it. If you can't take it off, mask around it with a couple layers of blue masking tape.
My favorite scraper http://www.truevalue.com/product/95-Inch-Scraper-Bar/17620.uts and I keep it sharp with a fine file. Keep the 90 degree blade perpendicular to the work and draw it towards you with light pressure. You can increase the pressure after you get a feel for it.

These are good scrapers but you have to be very good at sharpening to make sure you don't get a "bow" in the blade as it will then cut into the wood at the corners. These "pull" type of scraper (including the replacable blade ones) are much faster than others but if you put too much pressure you can gouge into the wood so be patient. I had an old house in Pennsylvania where I did my share of scraping. My preference is a similar tool with replacable blades. You can sharpen the blades on those too or if they get out of true you can replace them easily. They make pretty fast work of paint. If the paint is very smooth and soundly attached the pull type don't seem to do as well as when the paint is cracked or flaking some. I imagine if you have furrows in the dried out teak it would take down until you get to near the bottom of the furrow and then you can finish up with sandpaper. Good luck - I hope not to have to do that kind of work myself anymore but the right tools might not make it "quick work" but they sure will make it manageable.

Joe11688 · Jan 31, 2013

I used to use a piece of broken glass and scrape it off. The only problem being that there may be some kind of filler that the PO used to hide a deep gouge on the rail. You may be better off removing the toe rails and using a power washer to take that paint right out of the grain. If the bare wood looks good, you'll need to oil it up real quick. I hate to see you go through a lot of tedious work and find out that there are a lot of deep gouges in the wood which prompted the PO to paint them white in the first place.
If you decide to go this route, be careful in removing the bungs. I always use an old egg beater brace with a wood screw for a bit with the head cut off. Most of the time I've been able to drill the center of the bunk and have the screw pop up. For finishing the hole without ruining the ridges, I use an old fashion micro chisel tool with the bits in the handle. I've had this tool for years and I think it was made in the early 1900s, but I'm sure you can find something to use to clean out the holes.

caguy · Jan 31, 2013

I was able to snap the through hole screws by grabbing the nuts with a pair of small vice grips. It only took a couple of tweaks before the screws snapped . Once the handrails were off a simple tap of the screw goes the bongs out easily.
I've had pretty good luck with paint removers and a simple wash after. You will still need to sand smooth.

RichBone · Jan 31, 2013

Might be easier and look a lot nicer if you just replace the toe rails. Not that big of a job. Is this for the Macgregor or Oday?

Brian S · Jan 31, 2013

I see the comments about scraping, and the favorite brands of scrapers.

I would like to add my favorite scrapers are carbide blade scrapers, specifically Bahco/Sandvik scrapers. I bought mine here: http://www.jamestowndistributors.co...5&familyName=Bahco+/+Sandvik+Ergo+Scraper+650

I have used this scraper to scrape down the entire interior and deck of a 14' varnished wood boat. I've also done myriad other scraping projects with the same blade and a heat gun, and I haven't had to change the blade yet, nor sharpen it. My guess is before all is said and done, I'll be scraping the paint off of the outside of that boat, too.

In fact, I've loaned the scraper to my girlfriend so that she can start scraping layers and layers of paint off her house shutters. Notice how I didn't volunteer for THAT job. Oh, noes, I ain't that stupid! That job would probably eat in to sailing time!

Brian

Striker · Feb 6, 2013

Try good oven cleaner on a warm day spray it on let it set a while and pull old paint as a film off, this worked for me to remove old paint from many surfaces at or paint shop. The oven cleaner breaks down the paint adheision and allows it to pull off.

mark_swart · Feb 7, 2013

I'd mask around them with tape, then try multiple applications of chemical stripper/gel. After it does its work, then try a pressure wash. That might get it out of the grain without sanding as deep. Good luck!

RichBone · Feb 7, 2013

Those toe rails aren't all that big, they won't be able to take a whole lot of sanding.

emergpa1 · Feb 11, 2013

seabrooksailor said:
It's for the oday and I did think about replacing them but wanted to explore other options first

If you can replace, do so.

Merlin Clark · Feb 11, 2013

My deck trim was competely worn out and I couldn't justify a grand worth of teak stock so I used Azek deck lumber and am happy with the way it turned out, has held up and no varnishing

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sdstef · Feb 11, 2013

That looks sweet! I think I have another season left with my teak, and that looks like an amazing and better alternative to teak.

Joe11688 · Feb 12, 2013

merlinuxo said:
My deck trim was competely worn out and I couldn't justify a grand worth of teak stock so I used Azek deck lumber and am happy with the way it turned out, has held up and no varnishing.

Merlin,
Is Azek similar to Trex or is it another name for PVC trim board? I've used both and I've found that Trex is heavier in weight than the PVC but the PVC can be adhered with PVC cement.

Also, what did you use for bungs? Do they have bungs for this composit material? I like using PVC Trim board on my boat.

Merlin Clark · Feb 12, 2013

Thank you Sdstef, I really like teak but I only paid a grand for the boat to begin with and had other things that needed replaced. Plus I don't enjoy sanding and varnishing every six months!

Joe, Azek is a different product/company than Trex. Azek does make house trim and is all 100% PVC.
When I was researching this I found that the companies that make composite lumber use pulp wood which is garbage and causes weakness when it rots and molds. There was a big lawsuit against Trex so they may have changed the formula. One of the box stores told me they dropped Trex entirely.
The Azek is a dense foam material and you can get samples at lumber yards that carry the products. I used Fawn, Cobre is a newer color and I think is closer to teak color: http://www.azek.com/azek-deck/colors/
There are other faux teak products aimed at the marine industry that may be better.
Edit: I bought a 3 peice bung cutter kit from one of the box stores and made my own bungs with scraps of the Azek. Set them with clear silicone.

painted teak

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