Citristrip Paint & Varnish Gel on Teak on boat?

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Mike McDonald

Has anyone used Citristrip to remove old finishes (Cetol) from the teak while on the boat.  If so, did it damage the fiberglass/gelcoat?  Can you rinse with fresh water after scraping off the finish?  I used it on some teak that I removed from the boat, with good results, but am concerned about possible damage to the boats finish, fiberglass/gelcoat/non-skid, if I use it on the teak that is still attached.  I'm planning to strip the forward grab rails and eyebrows, and would prefer not to remove them.  Thanks.
Mike....
Mike McDonald
1987 / #0396  / M25xp
"Irish Diplomacy"
Pultneyville Yacht Club
Lake Ontario

mregan

Shouldn't hurt the gelcoat.  I used it to remove the old boat name which was painted on the transom.  Washed off with water then used soap and water to wash the transom just to get any residue off.  Didn't have any issues.

Kevin Henderson

 Mike,

I have not tried a citrus strip on my teak.  However, I have used it on varnished wood in my home.  Honestly... It's an absolute mess and I didn't enjoy doing it at all.   :( 
That being said, I have refinished my eyebrows and I'm going to tackle my handrails very soon.  I have found it easy to mask the area off and use a heat gun to peel away the old varnish.  A little sanding and its good 2 go. 
If you have not considered stripping using heat, perhaps you should.  At least that's my take on the issue. 
Have fun either way   :abd:
The sail, the play of its pulse so like our own lives: so thin and yet so full of life, so noiseless when it labors hardest, so noisy and impatient when least effective.
~Henry David Thoreau

Fuzzy

Mike:  Don't know about the paint/varnish stripper but when we did my grab rails we took them
off the boat and had no problems getting them back on.  Much easier to varnish and no masking
necessary.
Larry
Larry G. Trumble
East Jordan, MI
Katarina
1987 #475

Mike McDonald

Thanks for all of your thoughts.  Maybe I should re-think removing the handrails.  It might be easier in the long run.  I'll also try the heat gun on the eyebrows.
Mike....
Mike McDonald
1987 / #0396  / M25xp
"Irish Diplomacy"
Pultneyville Yacht Club
Lake Ontario

Jeff Tancock

The eye brows are very easy to remove and replace......although many don't bother replacing them once they're off.
Jeff Tancock
Stray Cat #630
Victoria, BC
Canada
1988 25xp

Bobg

i used citristrip with no problem on gelcoat' quite a mess tho..after a while i just went to scraping with cheap scraper from local ace, tried heatgun but left it too long in one sot it turned it black and was difficult to get out so be carefull.







,
.
Bob Gatz, 1988 catalina 34, Hull#818, "Ghostrider" sail lake superior Apostle Islands

Les Luzar

I removed my handrails and had no problem re-installing them. It was also a good time to rebed them with buytl tape which prevented any leaks. When you rebed with buytl tape, give the handrails some time to seat properly, and retighten all the bolts and screws the next weekend. Then trim the excess. I had to trim the excess a few times due to the additional seating. I found varnishing the handrails on the boat was very time consuming and a pain because you have to do so many coats, and it is hard to varnish the underside of all of the arches. In my case, I left them natural and use blue covers on the handrails all of the time. Once a year I lightly sand the handrails and they look very nice, and it is a lot less work. The rest of my teak is varnished with 12 coats of Epifanes High Gloss Varnish. Took a long time but looks great! Regardless of how you proceed, if it were me, I would remove the handrails and work on them at home. You can turn them upside down to do the bottom side and then right side up to finish them off. It will be faster, easier, and will give you something to do at home during the week!
Les Luzar
#355    1987
Windshadow
Long Beach, CA

mervdog

I like the idea of removing the handrails to refinish. I am think of putting the boat to bed for the winter and doing the handrail in my shed at home.. I need a good idea to seal the holes between taking the handrails off and getting back a month or two later to rebed them. 

Jim Hardesty

I've never had a problem with just tapeing over the holes or seal them with what you are planning to use to seal or bed the handrails.  Butyl tape?
Jim
Jim Hardesty
2001 MKII hull #1570 M35BC  "Shamrock"
sailing Lake Erie
from Commodore Perry Yacht Club
Erie, PA

Steve W10

Timely, I'm doing mine this year as well.

My plan is to pull them off next month and sleeve the deck holes (excavate a small amount of wood and fill completely with epoxy).  Next year I'll drill 'em out and mount my new rails, bedded with butyle.

In the past I've found that silver duct tape, the aluminum version, works excellent for temporarily sealing holes over winter.  You can use your fingernail to force it into the grooves to get a great seal.  As long as it's clean it sticks really well but is easy to get off in spring.  (I use the aluminum duct tape to seal off the bottom of the holes to fill with epoxy as well)

Steve

mregan

Thinking of removing my handrails also.  Are they screwed in from below, in the cabin or do some screws come in from the top?

Stu Jackson

#12
Quote from: mregan on October 09, 2013, 03:43:26 AM
Are they screwed in from below, in the cabin or do some screws come in from the top?

mr, take a look at them from below.  On our Mark 1, there are two different attachments:  every two rungs are screwed in from below, every third one is held in with a nut, washer and acorn nut attached to the bolt that comes through the handrail from above and is capped with a teak bung on the top of the handrail.

Loosen the nuts and back out the screws.  Do NOT hit up on the bolts from below or you'll knock the bungs out.  Tap lightly on the screws from down below and the handrail will lift up.
Stu Jackson, C34 IA Secretary, #224 1986, "Aquavite"  Cowichan Bay, BC  Maple Bay Marina  SR/FK, M25, Rocna 10 (22#) (NZ model)

"There is no problem so great that it can't be solved."

RobertSchuldenfrei

Hi Everyone,

I have had very good luck with a heat gun.  Just be careful not to burn the wood or overheat the non-skid.  Then hand sand with a 150 grit paper and then a 600 grit wet/dry paper.  I use a hand mirror to make sure the undersides get coated with the finish.  I use Cetol light for two coats and Cetol clear for the finish coat.  Once you do this you should be set for a year and then it should only take Cetol clear.  Since we have only had Esprit du Vent for a year now, I cannot say if "once a year with Cetol clear" will work.  However, the first thing I tried was back in January and it still looks bright and new now in November after a hot summer in the Florida sun.  For those of you in snow country, make sure your tarp covers all of the bright-work.  Boston winters were hard on my Bristol 26 that had a lot of teak.

Cheers,

Bob
Robert Schuldenfrei
Esprit du Vent - #422

mregan

After stripping, anyone just leave the handrails bare and let turn gray/natural?