Finishing teak?

Landlubber,
I use raw linseed oil so it WON"T dry as it continues to penetrate the wood. Only after about 10 coats of raw oil will I use the boiled stuff or in mid summer as the sun heats the surface and aggravates the stickyness property. See my pics here and they are representative of what my boat has looked like now for several years. The only place that has turned dark is right at the fasteners and I find the degree of darkness completely acceptable. In the 1st photo the deck plate for winch and cleats is Douglas Fir plywood and is varnished w McCloskies oil based varnish and was applied over the teak oil finish I described. Only 2 coats of varnish was applied over two years ago. The oil base seems to give the varnish a lot more millage.

 

Toss a few ounces of Japan Drier per gallon, into your oil mix Eric and it'll actually dry.

 

Everyone has their own preference. I prefer a low maintenance finish that protects the wood and gives a decent appearance. For me the best product is SEMCO teak sealer. One coat lasts 5 weeks. A fresh coat means a quick wash with soap and water to remove dead flying fish, jellyfish , seagull poop then re coat

This deck has many many miles, shows very little erosion and is twenty years old. SEMCO.


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20 years old, wow , that is like new.

Please detail how you have kept it like that for 20 years. I see degradation of the fibre after only one or two years here.
We clean with two part cleaner, only with soft Scotch Brite type cloths then seal with Teak Wonder, has anyone a better system PLEASE, as I do not know of any currently and would love to treat the goos wood better.

 

I don't use teak cleaner. I don't clean the deck. When sailing fresh water is too precious. When during the season the deck needs attention I go to a marina. wash down with normal soap and a normal soft yacht scrub brush then reseal.
Last time the deck got a good going over with a random orbital and 80 git was 7 years ago after a paint job. At present you may consider this deck to be slippery because there is no grain to give traction.

As the season progresss, the sealed teak begins to wear and a bit of grey appears. I just seal right over it. At present there are some "shadows"... . its a buildup of pigment in the grain and sealed over grey patchs . I care little for appearance. Im sure that I could two part teak clean the deck, bring it back to perfect and reseal.

Better to keep the teak protected from UV. It is this UV that burns the surface.

That picture is today.

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PAR,

A actually do put Japan Dryer in my mix for latter coats but I use so much oil and turp that it still is a bit tacky/sticky depending on how long it's been since I put it on.

Now that we no longer live in Alaska and will be under covered moorage I will work up a good oil based varnish top coating over all that oil of the last 5 or so years. It should do well.

Still have your Digger Plans and look at them at times. Still looking for the right long and narrow boat.

 

Ta, look very nice too.

 

This is one of the things I dislike about traditional finishes. Here in the tropics, it's always sticky, so I use especially thin coats and a slightly higher percentage of drier then I would in northern areas.

Have you come down to the lower 48?

 

PAR,
Had to get my password issue straightened out.
Yes. We live in Concrete Washington state (NW).

This season I plan to go back to McCloskie's Spar Varnish. I'll put more oil down (boiled w dryer) and then the varnish. Perhaps w the heavy oil base it'll last for awhile.

 

Semco

@Michael

Your boat's teak looks great! I am looking for a new lower-maintenance coating for my boat's teak. Is the teak on the cockpit seat in that picture also done with Semco? How long has it been since it was cleaned or sanded in that picture?

 

Welcome to the forum Brent.

There is no more difficult finish to have than a clear coating on wood, kept outdoors. There's no such thing as a low maintenance version of any of the choices. You either keep up with it, or pay the price if you don't (stripping, cussing, reapplying, cussing, etc.).

 

I have one book on finishing brightwork by a local author [Brightwork by Rebecca Wittman] that claims that teak does not need any finish at all. she claims that teak is a wood with a lot of natural oil and will not rot, so it is used in the unfinished condition. the only maintenance needed is regular cleaning with a soft brush and soap and water. This also provides the best traction on the surface, putting any kind of a finish on it will make it more slippery Putting a finish on it will require continuous refinishing to keep the finish looking good.

The problem with this approach is that the teak will eventually get bleached out and turn gray and unattractive. The author claims that many boat owners want to avoid the gray washed out look, and think periodic refinishing is the only way to preserve the decks. She claims that grey teak is the way it is supposed to look and only current fashion is why people finish it.

It seems to me without some kind of protection, the wood will not only get bleached gray, but the sun will break down the upper layers and will eventually erode away and require re-decking eventually.

this author has a business refinishing wood boats in the Puget Sound area.

 

Rebecca Wittman is correct and her book is one of the best on the subject. Teak is quite oily and in it's natural state, does offer the best under foot, wet traction on a deck. The moment you wash the grey teak, even with a soft bristle brush, you remove some of the softer wood in the grain lines, which makes a wash board affect. These newly created ridges and valleys collect water and cause issues, usually around fasteners at first. The best thing for a teal deck, is a light mopping to keep it clean, but no scrubbing and no solvents. It is a good idea, if you want the teak to look pretty, is to oil it occasionally. In the tropics, this means every other month or maybe every three months, a light oiling, that's wiped off, after it's stood for several minutes. This will rejuvenate the surface, that's dried out a bit. If you start this process when the wood is freshly installed, you'll easily keep it looking good. If you let it go, which most do, you're better off, just letting it go grey and keeping this state clean. The greying of the surface on teak is self protecting. The grey patina protects the underlying wood from additional UV damage. If you clean, scrub or sand this protection off, you just expose more teak to UV and the process starts all over again, but this time, with less teak to work with. Eventually you'll scrub off all the teak.

 

That teak has not been sanded or teak cleaned in many years. The Semco is pigmented. A coat of Semco or Teak Wonder lasts about 6 or 8 weeks. To recoat soap and water wash the bird poop off and spread a new coat.

UV and foot wear is what deteriorates the coating. You could probably put your boat away for the winter with a fresh coat and return in spring to a deck thats not bad...quick scrub recoat. If you live in a wet, air polluted ,city then other factors might degrade the deck .

 

Thank you Michael!