The teak strips beside my companionway were beautiful varnished gold but as the finish was getting a little aged I decided to wood them out. Stripped first with 80 grit on a random orbital. The finish went almost black. Then brought it down progressively to 220. Still blackish. Scraped probably 1/16" of surface off and sanded again. No change. Did the old two part cleaner (expensive lye and oxalyc acid) routine and NO change. The teak looks as though it got burned, or sat out in the weather for a decade. I have worked extensively refinishing brightwork and have never seen this before. Any ideas on what went wrong? More importantly how to fix it. Did my 80 grit burn the surface? If so, why didn't it come blonde with scraping? Any help appreciated.
Varnish Woes
- Thread starter sandpiper10471
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Sometimes happens when you sand teak.
Remedy:
1. attempt to bleach with more oxalic acid ... this time use oxalic soaked up with paper towels - apply the sodden paper towels onto the wood and cover with saran and tape the saran tight so that the towels dont dry out.
2. HAND SAND the teak again with 220 grit, then cover the bare sanded teak with saran to prevent wetting by rain, etc. and LET SIT in bright sunlight for a week or two (or more).
Sometimes teak will go dark with aggressive sanding (probably the heat from sanding oxidizing the sap/oil (sap pocket?) still in the wood) ... and the usual best way to 'brighten' then is to expose the teak to strong UV (but not moisture) and let the sun bleach it back to normal. Such 'black areas' that show up after sanding will usually 'come back to color' in a few weeks all by them selves when exposed to strong light.
Remedy:
1. attempt to bleach with more oxalic acid ... this time use oxalic soaked up with paper towels - apply the sodden paper towels onto the wood and cover with saran and tape the saran tight so that the towels dont dry out.
2. HAND SAND the teak again with 220 grit, then cover the bare sanded teak with saran to prevent wetting by rain, etc. and LET SIT in bright sunlight for a week or two (or more).
Sometimes teak will go dark with aggressive sanding (probably the heat from sanding oxidizing the sap/oil (sap pocket?) still in the wood) ... and the usual best way to 'brighten' then is to expose the teak to strong UV (but not moisture) and let the sun bleach it back to normal. Such 'black areas' that show up after sanding will usually 'come back to color' in a few weeks all by them selves when exposed to strong light.
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black is rot. bleaching only kills the wood more. teak is not naturally blonde. is a reddish brown wood. goood luck. at 80 dollars and rising per board foot, anyone sanding teak is either too rich, financially , for their own good , or just ignorant of the true nature of the wood. goood luck and happy spending.
Not to hijack a thread, but I disagree. I think well oiled teak looks far better than varnished teak. To me, teak needs to breath and is a part of the life of the boat. To put varnish on wood is fine, but not teak. I sand and oil when the teak turns gray. Granted, this is just MHO.
Sorry, can't help you with the discoloration. Good luck.
If the teak is rotten or if you really go ape on the pressure, perhaps.. but if it's good teak, pressure washing it works great. I've been doing it for over 20 years without incident. Every year or so, hit it with a pressure cleaner and re-oil.. makes it look like new. YMMV.
Cheers,
Brad
There is not much teak on a Hunter 23. If there is any amount of wood, this will remove the softer wood and raise the grain considerably. Before anyone does something like this they might want to talk to their local wood guy and get a professional opinion. Chuck
Whatever you do DO NOT pressure wash the teak. Such will erode the softer (spring/wet-season) grain leaving the harder (summer/dry-season) grain and the harder grain will be 'proud' - thus requiring MORE sanding to bring it FLAT again.
Black is NOT rot, its probably a 'sap pocket' in the wood. Sun exposure will eventually correct the 'hue'. You can even varnish over the dark area .... and if exposed to sun will later most probably correct its 'hue'.
I have a 'teaky' and this sometimes happens when you sand aggressively, especially with 'wild' Burmese teak. If you use a varnish, etc. with not much 'sun-block' or UV inhibiter, the faster the 'return' of color if you 'must' apply any coating 'soon'; although best is to simply cover with saran and let the sun bring back the color before you apply a coating.
Black is NOT rot, its probably a 'sap pocket' in the wood. Sun exposure will eventually correct the 'hue'. You can even varnish over the dark area .... and if exposed to sun will later most probably correct its 'hue'.
I have a 'teaky' and this sometimes happens when you sand aggressively, especially with 'wild' Burmese teak. If you use a varnish, etc. with not much 'sun-block' or UV inhibiter, the faster the 'return' of color if you 'must' apply any coating 'soon'; although best is to simply cover with saran and let the sun bring back the color before you apply a coating.
teak problems
Listen to Rich H. He knows what hes talking about. stop pressure washing stop sanding
Just leave it alone eventually the the sun will bleach and dry it out. You can the try some oxalic acid. After that I would either leave it gray to the weather or put some oil sealer on it. I know some sailors varnish teak but I dont
Listen to Rich H. He knows what hes talking about. stop pressure washing stop sanding
Just leave it alone eventually the the sun will bleach and dry it out. You can the try some oxalic acid. After that I would either leave it gray to the weather or put some oil sealer on it. I know some sailors varnish teak but I dont
Thanks for all the thoughts. I will leave it natural for most of the season and see if the sun bleaching works. Right now that is about my only option that is viable.
I would NEVER pressure wash my teak or let it get that aged looking. While I do like the natural look, it is a lot of maintenance in the north. I have tried the oiling trick but it is constant, weekly maintenance. A super varnish job with a high grade product is my choice, and I prefer a minimum of 12 coats. Keep the thoughts coming please re the aggressive sanding damage.
I would NEVER pressure wash my teak or let it get that aged looking. While I do like the natural look, it is a lot of maintenance in the north. I have tried the oiling trick but it is constant, weekly maintenance. A super varnish job with a high grade product is my choice, and I prefer a minimum of 12 coats. Keep the thoughts coming please re the aggressive sanding damage.
Suggest a 'temporary' coating until the sun does its work.
"Resinated" oil finish. Mix 25% oil based varnish, 75% oil ... slather on, let cure.
When it comes time to varnish, use trisodiumphosphate (TSP) from a hardware/paint store to remove the 'oil finish' ... let dry and lightly sand, etc.
BTW 'resinated' oil finishes that are multicoated/thick can be hand rubbed (rottenstone & water) to a shine thats 'glossier' than varnish.
If your teak has lots of wide dark bands in the grain ... for some damn reason this variation of (burmese) teak can be a problem of turning dark when sanding. The 'sun' usually fixes the discoloration from sanding.
"Resinated" oil finish. Mix 25% oil based varnish, 75% oil ... slather on, let cure.
When it comes time to varnish, use trisodiumphosphate (TSP) from a hardware/paint store to remove the 'oil finish' ... let dry and lightly sand, etc.
BTW 'resinated' oil finishes that are multicoated/thick can be hand rubbed (rottenstone & water) to a shine thats 'glossier' than varnish.
If your teak has lots of wide dark bands in the grain ... for some damn reason this variation of (burmese) teak can be a problem of turning dark when sanding. The 'sun' usually fixes the discoloration from sanding.
When does the wood get too thin? If you sand every year eventually you have to replace the wood. The PO of our boat didn't maintain the teak and we sanded the first year and had to remove quite a bit of wood to get it looking good. The next season the black was back so we sanded lightly. Third season the was the same. I just coated over it and it has been the same ever since. When I get ambitious I'll do it again, but other priorities won out.
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