very worn teak

[dory24]

looking to either bring back the old teak trim and v-bearth doors or replace. the teak is just dry no deep oil left and tried to resurface and oil last year and it just soaked in with almost no result after 2 rounds. any ideas to newer products to save replacement costs? the surface is in decent shape just dry as hell.

[Duffman]

Far from expert on teak but learned a s-load from trial and error.

Clean it with Starbrite cleaner, then hit it with StarBrite brightner. The stuff is cheap, but worked well. Follow instructions on the bottles and rinse real well after cleaning and let it dry THOROUGHLY. Cant stress that enough, let it sit for a few days to dry out if ya can.

If you are into a gloss finish, I found Interlux Schooner varnish tough to beat. If you cleaned the wood well, and let it dry completely, the finish will adhere no problem. 3-4-5 coats, or as many as you have time for. I've had it last many seasons w/o chipping or fading and was very easy to refinish when need be.

If you want the look of a matte finish, your going to oil, then oil, then oil some more. Used a ton of different oils (again, no expert, and tried a s-load) found Sea Bowld teak oil cheap/worked well/lasted. Coat it, coat it again, coat it again, then when your done, coat it again. You'll build it up until you get the finish ya want.

Just my observations, hope it helps.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Good advice above by Duff....

Best stuff I've ever used for teak is the 2 part cleaning stuff... One part contains an acid wash and the other a nuetralizer. If you've never used this stuff before, you will be amazed. The teak comes out like new... If it's too dark you can also use a lightener. If the teak is rough on the surfave then you can sand.

Once you go through this process and get the teak where you like it, you can either oil or seal.

If you are looking for a long lasting finish than I reccomend sealing with Cetol. It will last at least the season and maybe a few season in covered areas outside the sun/weather. The trick to sealing is the teak must be fully dry and several light coats is way better and will last longer than a few heavy coats. A light sanding between the coats helps with adhesion.

This is the method most blow boaters use. It's a lot of work but it certainly is worth the effort. Your teak will look brand new.

[dory24]

thanks for replies, did all the prep work this past weekend, compound wax bottom paint and cleaned the top side with power washer and the teak came up almost new with the fine tip on the washer. going to seal it with cetol or something similar, no rush was going to dunk it this weekend but with temps barely in the 40's ill wait till mid week next week.

[River Rat]

Sikkens Cetol is the best stuff I have found. 5 or 6 coats and your good. I usually sand lightly and put a fresh coat on in the spring. Stuff lasts and lasts. I'm done with oil!

[Fish Stix]

if its real bad, sand it until it looks fresh again. then definitely use the cetol marine stain. you can choose different shades and lasts awhile. do atleast 5 coats.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Dory - Those power washers are great but tend to raise the grain of the wood, especially with soft woods like Teak. If you want to get a good protective coat of Cetol on the wood, you need to even out the grain to make it nice and flat by sanding before you seal.

[dory24]

thanks gerry, ran a light sand paper over it when i was done, should have added that, but it came out great. not as smooth as doing A&B on it but pulled alot of old pulp off it with outdoing any noticeable damage.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Great - If you keep after it (a light sanding and recoat every so often) it will stay nice.

Blow boaters usually have a lot of teak on their boats and swear by Cetol.
They are usually on the cheap side too, so I guess this method is actually a price performer too ;)