I am buying a 1994 Beneteau with a teak toe rail. From what I can see the previous owner did little to the teak, and it is a gray color. I would like to restore the teak, but am not sure whether to proceed with varnish, or whether to use some of the teak restorers and cleaners on the market. Any recommendations? JGlackin@erols.com
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Teak restorers and Cetol
Dennis: You will probably want to get the teak as clean as possible and then sand it. To clean up the teak you may want to try any of the several cleaners on the market. Sand it the best you can, being careful not to damage the gelcoat and use Cetol. Its a great product. Check out the color before you do it. You may want to conside the cetol lite.
Dennis: You will probably want to get the teak as clean as possible and then sand it. To clean up the teak you may want to try any of the several cleaners on the market. Sand it the best you can, being careful not to damage the gelcoat and use Cetol. Its a great product. Check out the color before you do it. You may want to conside the cetol lite.
L
LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina
Buy this book
It may look like a coffee table book but it really is the definitive work on brightwork. "Brightwork" by Rebecca Witman. She will tell you everything you could want to know about brightwork. My opinion: Use Teaka A&B teak cleaner. Use lots of water around the gelcoat cuz it can bleach the gelcoat too. After it's all dried, sand the wood down so it's smooth, no major outstanding grain. Now comes the tough part. You have to decide on the finish. Personally, I'm a varnish slob & think Cetol looks horrible. It's very orange and painty looking. On the other hand, maintenance is reasonable (a coat a year or so). Varnish is gorgeous but takes committment to maintain it. There are other products out there probably work beautifully as well so you're going to have to do some research on it. If you're going to go for the Cetol-type product, I'd suggest looking into Armada as it's not as orange. Cetol-lite might look better too but I haven't actually seen it. West Marine also has a product called Wood Pro which is similar to Armada. All I can suggest is to look at as many finishes as possible before deciding on one, cuz once you apply it, it's there for awhile! Nothing worse than applying something and finding out you hate it. LaDonna
It may look like a coffee table book but it really is the definitive work on brightwork. "Brightwork" by Rebecca Witman. She will tell you everything you could want to know about brightwork. My opinion: Use Teaka A&B teak cleaner. Use lots of water around the gelcoat cuz it can bleach the gelcoat too. After it's all dried, sand the wood down so it's smooth, no major outstanding grain. Now comes the tough part. You have to decide on the finish. Personally, I'm a varnish slob & think Cetol looks horrible. It's very orange and painty looking. On the other hand, maintenance is reasonable (a coat a year or so). Varnish is gorgeous but takes committment to maintain it. There are other products out there probably work beautifully as well so you're going to have to do some research on it. If you're going to go for the Cetol-type product, I'd suggest looking into Armada as it's not as orange. Cetol-lite might look better too but I haven't actually seen it. West Marine also has a product called Wood Pro which is similar to Armada. All I can suggest is to look at as many finishes as possible before deciding on one, cuz once you apply it, it's there for awhile! Nothing worse than applying something and finding out you hate it. LaDonna
Ditto LaDonna
I must agree with LaDonna. Cetol and Cetol Lite is not for everyone. The problem with Cetol is you are not really going to know how good (or bad) it is going to look until you have built up 2-3 coats. I would recommend that you just do a very small section of your toe rail 5-6 inches to see how it is going to look. The lite is really a lot better than the original but is still not to everyones liking. You can also test on a scrap piece of teak but unless you put it on the same material you will not get the same results. I have put on on different pieces on my boat and each looks a little different depending on the density of the wood. The West Marine brand of Cetol is very similar to the original stuff. I have NOT used Armada but understand that it is much more transparent.
I must agree with LaDonna. Cetol and Cetol Lite is not for everyone. The problem with Cetol is you are not really going to know how good (or bad) it is going to look until you have built up 2-3 coats. I would recommend that you just do a very small section of your toe rail 5-6 inches to see how it is going to look. The lite is really a lot better than the original but is still not to everyones liking. You can also test on a scrap piece of teak but unless you put it on the same material you will not get the same results. I have put on on different pieces on my boat and each looks a little different depending on the density of the wood. The West Marine brand of Cetol is very similar to the original stuff. I have NOT used Armada but understand that it is much more transparent.
J
Jim Ewing
Bristol Finish
I use Bristol Finish, available by mail order (check the classifieds) and at boat shows. It's a two part polyurethane that looks like varnish and can be applied (6 coats) in one day. The only problem I ran into was some minor bubbling from trapped air in the wood. If I had to do it again I'd do one coat, let it "dry" and sand the bubbles out before doing the rest. It's been on a year and still looks like new. Jim h37.5 "Prospect"
I use Bristol Finish, available by mail order (check the classifieds) and at boat shows. It's a two part polyurethane that looks like varnish and can be applied (6 coats) in one day. The only problem I ran into was some minor bubbling from trapped air in the wood. If I had to do it again I'd do one coat, let it "dry" and sand the bubbles out before doing the rest. It's been on a year and still looks like new. Jim h37.5 "Prospect"
L
LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina
Good news, Jim
I've recently heard much ado about Bristol and will definitely give it a shot next time I have to do some brightwork. I've been leaning towards CPES cuz it's supposed to be fantastic (and I'm sure it is) but the work involved with applying has been holding me back. Jim, do they have a website? LaDonna
I've recently heard much ado about Bristol and will definitely give it a shot next time I have to do some brightwork. I've been leaning towards CPES cuz it's supposed to be fantastic (and I'm sure it is) but the work involved with applying has been holding me back. Jim, do they have a website? LaDonna
W
Warren Tan
Dennis, You have to sand it down with a 180-grit then smoothen it using a 100-grit. You can then apply Sikkens Cetol Marine (3 coats) and lastly, apply Sikkens Cetol Marine Gloss (3 coats). That should do the trick! Warren
L
LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners
Warren, your grits are backwards
I assume you meant to use 100 grit and THEN 180 to smooth it out. The higher the grit the finer the paper. LaDonna
I assume you meant to use 100 grit and THEN 180 to smooth it out. The higher the grit the finer the paper. LaDonna
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