Teakwood

[5jason5]

I have teakwood that is gray. What are the pros and cons of using teak oil and which type is best.

 

[JB]

Re: Teakwood

Moving to Boats

 

[quinnf]

Re: Teakwood

Keeping teak looking good is a problem with no easy solution. I've maintained several large sailboats in southern California, and I've oiled and varnished. Neither lasts very long, but oiling is perhaps more forgiving. Beware purveyors of anything that purports to be the "solution" to teak maintenance. I've used them all and none are as good as varnishing or oiling with a good teak oil (not Watco!). Make sure you start with clean wood. Once it begins to turn gray, the gray will turn black once oil has been applied. One old timer many years ago advised me to paint it white. I'm beginning to think he was right!

 

[beckerdg]

Re: Teakwood

I have used "teak oil" in the past. It does not last at all and the teak quickly greys and worse the oil can mildew and turn blackish. <br /><br />I got this suggestion on one of these boards and I think it works great. Clean the grey off with a teak cleaning kit, or sand it. Then seal it with a high quality clear wood sealer. I use the tinted ones with some gold tint like a light oak. The color and look is pretty much what you expect of oiled teak. This lasted all year and still looked pretty good. This year I touched up the teak with one wipe down with marine penetrol and it still looks good.<br /><br />It took a while for the sealer to penetrate and dry. Teak wood has a lot of natural oil in it and the wood sealer does not soak in much.

 

[flashback]

Re: Teakwood

have to agree with Mako here.... I have a couple of old boats with some teak trim (toe rails, grab rails, cabin door etc) best thing I have found is to remove the wood and coat it on all 4 sides with epoxy that has sun bloc added. then continue with conventional varnish. If you have a lot of teak then this method may be too labor intensive. even this method requires a coat of varnish every 6 months......

 

[crazy charlie]

Re: Teakwood

I would recommend what I did on my 84 regal 255xl Ambassador.Plenty of teak trim in the cockpit and some anchor doors on the deck.The teak was a very good quality teak so the results were excellent.Clean with a good 2 part teak cleaner with a brass brush(99cent barbque brush works just as good as long as it is gold colored bristles).When the wood dries sand smoothe and rinse off.When absolutely dry use at least 3 coats of Sikkens Cetol Marine finish.It costs about 25$ per quart.My teak lasted for 3 years before it needed a fresh coat.They recommend a fresh coat every year.the best part of it is that you dont have to strip it to put a new coat on.I just rub it with brass wool first.It is maintenance free and it made all the difference when i sold the boat. I highly recommend it.The more coats you put on the less of the grain you see but it always looks awesome. charlie