Teak Wood Treatment

[markbenham]

I recently purchased a Day Sailer and it is in disrepair. The teak is raw and rough. It doesn't appear to have ever had any varnish on it. Should I sand it to a smooth surface? Should I varnish it after sanding it? Please advise.

Mark

 

[Indysailor]

Sorry, but you won't get a definitive answer from anyone here because there seem to be as many opinions about teak as their are sailors.

You can leave the teak alone and it will be fine, or you can sand it, varnish it, oil it or whatever. Both ways work and your choice will depend on what kind of a look you prefer- shiny and bristol, or gray and salty.

You should check to make sure you don't have cracks, splinters that will jab an unsuspecting palm and that there are no leaks where the brightwork attaches to the decks.

 

[Sunbird22358]

Are you sure it is teak? Most of the early Day Sailers had mahogany wood trim (cockpit coamings, floorboards, short seats that connect CB trunk to side seats) It is possible that teak was an option, or that a previous owner upgraded from mahogany to teak.

Your options are sand smooth and coat periodically with a good teak oil, san smooth and apply varnish (thin first coat, then build up 3-5 more coats, sand lightly each year and apply 1-2 new coats), Apply Deks Olje ("Decks Olay") oil finish (part 1 is an oil similar to teak oil, part 2 is an optional sealer that produces a varnish like finish but is easier to maintain), or finally just lightly sand to remove splinters and let the teak naturally weather. There are many different "varnishes", or different formulations and prices. Many are not true varnishes but more correctly clear-finishes.

If you decide to try any idea other than letting hte teak weather, be sure to follow the instructions fully for what ever finish you choose.

 

[RichBone]

Scrub it with softscrub. tilex, or salt water to clean it. Sand it if you want. Oil it if you want. Oil will last for a little while then has to be redone. Varnish or sealers will work for a time but will start to peel because of the oil in the wood then will need to be sanded again to be reapplied. Teak will last just as long whether you varnish, oil or do nothing. It depends on how you want it to look and how much work you want to do. Personally I just scrub it to clean it and then let it weather.

 

[Shoaldrafter]

Cleaner

Scrub it with softscrub. tilex, or salt water to clean it. Sand it if you want. Oil it if you want. Oil will last for a little while then has to be redone. Varnish or sealers will work for a time but will start to peel because of the oil in the wood then will need to be sanded again to be reapplied. Teak will last just as long whether you varnish, oil or do nothing. It depends on how you want it to look and how much work you want to do. Personally I just scrub it to clean it and then let it weather.

- - - - // - - - -

Think clean. For any decent results you have to clean several times before oil, varnish, or other finishes.

Recently I got a gallon of Behr deck cleaner and with a scrub brush it cleaned the wood fairly good. Since it also cleans composites, that is something like fiberglass, you can scrub adjacent areas at same time.

Follow directions and scrub...

Ed K

 

[HillbillyWanderer]

Bought a catalina 22 last year boat had been sitting on trailer for about 3 years. Sprayed straight clorox on the teak hatch boards then used a fairly stuff brush to scrub it down. Not very labor intensive. Then applied varnish, look great for me. New to sailing I love the varnish look from all reading I have done lots of up keep to it. However, I trailer my boat and it will be parked in garage when not using it. Sun shouldn't be issue for me as for durability well see. Still have a lot of sh@# to learn.

 

[Shoaldrafter]

bleach

Bought a catalina 22 last year boat had been sitting on trailer for about 3 years. Sprayed straight clorox on the teak hatch boards then used a fairly stuff brush to scrub it down. Not very labor intensive. Then applied varnish, look great for me. New to sailing I love the varnish look from all reading I have done lots of up keep to it. However, I trailer my boat and it will be parked in garage when not using it. Sun shouldn't be issue for me as for durability well see. Still have a lot of sh@# to learn.

- - - - // - - --

Bleach causes break down of wood fiber which will result in varnish peeling...

Ed K

 

[faustkaren]

Take plain water and a medium brush. Scrub the $#!t out of it. Then take 100 grit sand paper with as big a block as u can to keep from making dips. Once it looks awesome that way take 200 and make smoooooth. Finally nothing makes your boat look prettier than Sikkens Cetol Marine. <- No I don't own stock. But, I still own the better part of a quart. A quart goes a long way. Three coats minimum. Go thinner than it say on the can. The Cetol stretches and breathes so it doesn't chip away like other varnishes. It's like $50 buck a quart but so worth it.