Teak Trim

Dan_Y · May 21, 2015

Thanks Alan! Looks like you used either the cedar or Lt. Oak, but then again, wife insists I'm color blind. I might try this for the grab rail "bars" and those two annoying pieces on either side of the walkthrough transom in addition to the pulpit.

Dan_Y · May 22, 2015

Thanks again Alan. I also got rid of the eyebrow trim (it was falling apart), filled and faired the holes, and installed a 1-in Hunter blue stripe in it's place to match the 2-in blue strip on the hull. Kinda modernizes the look a little. SBO has the stripes.

DannyS · May 22, 2015

njlarry said:
I like the idea of wiping with teak oil. The piece in the upper part of your picture looks great. How well does the material accept the oil and how frequently do you redo it?
Great work.

I haven't touched them since I installed them and they still look like new. I did make one mistake and kick myself all the time for it. When I first made the switch, I used a product called Timbertech and it was a uniform color throughout the piece. Machining the material produces the color difference, hence the oil but I like the idea of the wire brush. I think that would have produced similar results. My boat has three sections of toerail on each side. I bought one board and could only get four rails from the board so I just did the front two on each side just to see how I'd like it and how it would hold up. If it worked well, I'd buy another and do the back two rails and the eyebrow pieces next. Time past and I finally got around to finishing the project but almost all of the manufacturers changed the way they make the synthetic boards. Now the core is an ugly grey/brown and the boards appear to be dipped in the outer material so if you rip the pieces down, only the top surface has the final color/finish, the sides are rather ugly. Also, I've had some of the dipped areas peel off. I would not use this product again for this application.

njlarry · May 24, 2015

Hi Danny, thanks for all the great advice and info.
Every project is a learning experience and I would do differently next time I just rebuilt my steering
system,,,,,,next time I'll sell the boat first.

Aginbill · Jun 13, 2015

Replacing teak with plastic

Alan said:
Dan, yes the color choice I used was cedar but looks exactly like teak. I too am going to replace all the remaining exterior wood with this product. Years ago I replaced the two wood lee boards with Lexan so that is one item I don't have to deal with. All that remains is the wood on the sliding hatch and the sides that carry the stern seat.

My son and I just found an 1985 Hunter 23 and I am currently trying to repair some of the exterior trim that is in bad shape. Can you tell me where you got the decking that looks like teak. Can you get it in thin sheets. I have built a lot of decks but not seen thin planks. I am intrigued by the idea of replacing teak with decking. Great idea! PS: I am new to this forum so may be a little slow in using it.

LittleCreek · Jun 14, 2015

Thank you everyone for the great posts on this subject. I will be using synthetics when I get around to replacing my trim, and companionway sections. I am in the middle of varnishing right now, and would much rather be using my time to learn to sail the boat.