Teak - Care and Restoration

[cbadmin]

From: Mike (Original Message) Sent: 11/24/2002 9:47 AM
One of the projects for this winter is cleaning and restoring the teak fixtures on the TyBoo. These include the cabin-top handrails, the cockpit grab rails, and the fish pole holder. Any suggestions on cleaning and sealing? I plan to remove the pieces for the work.

Using sandpaper is not my first choice for cleaning. I like the rough texture of the natural wood (it has never been treated). I'll smooth it up some by hand sanding, but that won't get the ground-in crud off. Pressure washing works very good to remove the deep discoloration, but it is not easy to do on the smaller pieces. Any ideas on how to remove the years of dirt without removing any wood? Maybe someday when my wife isn't home, I can run the smaller pieces through the dishwasher in her kitchen.

How about sealing? A little shine is OK, but I still prefer to keep it as natural looking as possible. What about that Cetol stuff? My understanding is that it does change the surface color somewhat, but not too much. Another option is teak oil. It seems to me that this gives the best appearance, but doesn't keep the wood protected for as long as an overcoat like Cetol.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Mike

From: Mike Sent: 11/24/2002 1:33 PM
Well, the dishwasher didn't do very good at removing the deep stuff. I think pressure washing is the way to go. I can figure out how to hold the little pieces to get them blasted. That teak is amazingly tough wood. I have pressure washed it in place a few times, and even up close with the 3200 psi, there is no scuffing of the surface. Gets it very clean, too.

Still looking for other cleaning ideas, though. And surface treatment ideas.

Thanks,

Mike

From: Sundown Sent: 11/24/2002 2:10 PM
Mike,
When I purchased my '86 Angler last winter, I don't think the teak handrails had ever been cleaned. They were nearly black and cruddy. I removed them and used West Marine One Step Teak Cleaner and Brightener. It took a couple of applications and I let the stuff sit for a little longer than the directions called for and used a stiff brush. I was very pleased with the results. I did use a little sandpaper to clean up some rough areas. After they were throughly dry, I applied West Marine Premium Gold Teak Oil...two coats. They turned out great. A word of caution. The Cleaner is very caustic and will run leather and about anything it comes in contact with, so be careful.

I don't know how your rear teak "laiminate" bulk head and door look but, I refurbished mine and it turned out great. Let me know if you need info on that.
Larry

From: Mike Sent: 11/24/2002 3:09 PM
Larry -

Thanks. Caustic - that's what I want! I'll take a look on the shelf at the local marine store, or order it from West if needed. This must be the stuff you used, huh?

Is the teak oil holding up pretty good? The West Advisor says something about reappling every few months. It will get it once a year around here, at best. It's a fishing boat. Besides, it is too late to enter it in the boat show. I really prefer to have the wood natural, but it gets dirty and grungy too quickly.

The door actually looks quite good for it's age. It doesn't need much help at all. The small piece of wood right above the door is weathered heavily, but it's in good shape and just needs the same treatment as the rails. The bulkhead itself is glass/gelcoat.

I remember reading previously about your bulkhead restoration. If you get real bored and the lake freezes over, it would be much appreciated if you covered it on here. (Copy and paste works good!) I think you had some good before and after pics, too.

Thanks for the info.

Mike



From: "Nancy H" Sent: 11/24/2002 6:06 PM
Mike,
I used Cetol and I am happy with the result. When I was using teak oil I had to sand out the handrails and reoil every year and then reapply the teal oil every 4 months.
I sanded the rails to bare wood and applied 4 coats of Cetol satin. It's messy and runs off the handrail so the rails should be coated off the boat.
After 4 years the wood is showing through in spots on top, but most of the coating is fine.
The color is a little oranger than I would like. They now make a lighter color cetol, but i haven't tried it.
I will definitly use Cetol again.

Larry

From: Sundown Sent: 11/25/2002 4:58 AM
Mike,
I used the combination Cleaner and Brightner. They sell it in kits with the Teak Oil as shown; however, when I went to the store, I found it cheaper to purchase cleaner separately from the oil. The store manager couldn't understand that. I put two coats of oil on in the spring and it still looks good. Just applying oil is a 10 minute job. You shouldn't have to "clean" the teak that often or take it off the boat just to apply oil. Personally, I prefer the look of oil to varnish or Cetol. I did use Cetol when restoring the bulkhead and door and really like it, so much in fact, that I used it on my garage doors this summer. However, the bulkhead really isn't teak but a laminate and oil wouldn't work. I used the "Satin" Larry on Nancy H is referring to on my garage doors. It is a little lighter and has more of a shine to it. Supposedly, it can be reapplied without sanding each year.

From: Fun Patrol Sent: 11/25/2002 7:03 AM
Mike:

I had a big boat with lots of teak for many years. What it boils down to is work vs. looks.

If you want to park in front of the yacht club you will want to sand down to good color and start varnishing, up to 20 coats! The other extreme is just as you have it, just leave it alone, and gray. No work, no sanding dust, no trips to the chandlery for expensive varnish and brushes, thinner, tape. No varnish on your clothes or your cat's feet. Captain Cook did it this way!

In between, for those that want beauty and not much work, there are several methods but, as with all compromises, compromised results.

Teak oil is fairly easy. Prior to the first application you will want to sand down to good color. Then, if you do not get too much dirt build-up, you just keep on applying teak oil. If you do get imbedded dirt, it's scrub and clean before the next application. It IS oil, so you won't want to lean against the nice shiny rail in your white sports coat!

Cetol is popular in the wet country because it is easier than varnish and doesn't require as much dry weather to apply. This is kind of a combination of oil and varnish. The main advantage is you only clean once, getting down to good wood. Then you apply the Cetol Marine, about 3 coats. After that, you just wipe off the fish scales and such and put on another coat before the finish has started to degrade, NO SANDING. The disadvantages: This is a semi-transparent stain, and covers the wood grain along with adding a color that is supposed to look like teak, but is a little off. And, for those that operate in hot sunny climates as I do, Cetol is not near as robust as in the cold, wet north. While it worked good in BC and AK, I lost 3 coats after only 3 months in Mexico. Not even as good a performance as regular varnish. IF...and I don't recommend this....you add a top coat of clear Cetol, you WILL need to sand between coats. Also, the clear has little if any UV protection. So most people simply use the Cetol Marine. Doesn't look as good as varnish, but hard to tell from 50 ft away.

And finally, a solution used by some of the long-distance cruisers: They get the varnish up to top condition, then paint over it with white paint! Then, when they get back after a few years, they remove the paint and re-do the varnish. This saves the wood from being thinned down from multiple sandings and of course is almost no work during the cruise.

Then, maybe the ultimate solution for C-Dory owners. Replace the wood with stainless!

later....Roy


From: Mike Sent: 11/25/2002 4:33 PM
Roy -

Thank you so much for the benefit of your experience. I'll be reading that one a few more times as I get ready to decide.

I don't have any white sports coats, but I do have a wife, so the oil on the clothes is not good. Does the surface stay "wet" as long as there is enough oil left to look good? Can't have that.

It's looking more and more like cleaning and leaving it is the way to go. I am all for stainless steel - in fact I love it - but I really like the wood rails and grab handles.

I think what I'll do is treat the bottom piece of the fish pole holder with the Cetol and see what Kay thinks of it. That piece is down by the floor, and gets a lot of grunge. It is also pretty much out of sight. Yeah, that's a good plan.

Thank you again for taking the time.

Mike

From: Mike Sent: 4/2/2003 11:15 AM
I got the exterior teak all cleaned and oiled. I used a two-part, citrus based caustic cleaner and the expensive bottle(s) of teak oil. The directions say to apply the oil, and after five minutes or so, to rub it dry with a towel. I used that method earlier for the hand holds and the pole holder pieces, and it took a week of twice daily applications to get it to quit drying to the point that it looked like it had not been oiled at all. For the long handrails, I tried liberally applying the oil and not wiping it off between applications (the rails were off the boat). That worked real good. Two days, and a half dozen coats, and she was soaked in good. For the last two aplications, I did follow the directions and towel it dry right after applying. I noticed that the surface felt gummy if the excess wasn't wiped off. After the last coat, it was good.

Thanks for all the advice. So far, I am glad I went with the oil. We'll see how well it holds up.

Mike

From: Mike Sent: 4/2/2003 11:21 AM
I was just reading some of the earlier posts here, and I saw where I stated that the cabin door "actually looks quite good for it's age". Well, it turns out I was wrong. After cleaning, sanding and oiling all the exterior teak, inclunding the small wood piece above the door, the door itself doesn't look so hot no more. I think the door is made of that Decraquard marine plywood. Doesn't that stuff have a synthetic laminate sheet on the outer surfaces? I don't reckon it would soak up too much oil. Any other suggestions on brightening it up without applying a surface coat?

From: sealifemike Sent: 4/2/2003 5:57 PM
Mike,

The cabin door is indeed made up of a laminate of Decraguard which is very thin......I sanded right through it! My intention was to restain it, but due to my heavy hand, I wound up painting it instead. Am very glad I did. It now matches the gelcoat color pretty closely, doesn't fade and discolor, is very durable, and looks more like the new doors made of Starboard. Just use at least two coats of primer, and two coats of paint. Use a color chip from the paint store to match the color, and use a premium outdoor finish.

Mike - Sealife