exterior wood treatments/care

[Braxton]

This is an offshoot of the fake wood conversation on the swim ladder thread but I thought that thread had already been hijacked enough.   So I'm starting a new one.

I don't envision myself doing the fake wood anytime soon so I need to figure out what to do with my present external wood.

The previous owner had varnished all the exterior wood.   The varnish is now degraded to the point that I need to do something.   I'm inclined to sand/strip off the varnish and simply oil the teak.   I like the look just as much and oiling every month or two is much more appealing then varnishing the wood (even at a much greater interval).

What do other people do/recommend?

Is the exterior wood universally teak or is there a chance that Catalina snuck some other type of wood past us?

[Stu Jackson]

We went through exactly this with our C25 and then Aquavite.

On the C25 we went from bad varnish to oil to cetol.  We stripped the varnish off Aquavite to go directly to cetol.  The oil wasn't worth the effort to remove the old and keep the oil up.

Spend some time on the varnish and cetol searches.

What do other people do/recommend?  Well, you'll get all four, plus leave it go to gray by itself.  Those are the only choices I'm aware of.

Our 1981 C25 and our C34 are real wood.  Only non-wood I've seen are the Mark I-1/2s and the Mark IIs.  You know, the shiny stuff...

[RV61]

Braxton,
On Interlude I stripped off Cetol that was degrading and varnished as I did not care for the Cetol Light color choice of the previous owner when I first  bought Interlude. This season some of the varnish started to degrade as I did not keep up with seasonal topcoating over the years since applying the varnish. With that I had same decision to make and went with Cetol Marine with Cetol Gloss on top due to the fact much easier to build coats and dry time plus Cetol is a very forgiving and easy top coating maintenance.
Found using heat gun and scraper then sanding to prep was best way to remove old varnish and much easier than just sanding.

Its all real teak wood no subs on my 86 Catalina

Grey, Oil, Varnish, Cetol or even paint >> which do you like for your boat?

[Ken Juul]

Cetol for me.  I think it comes in a couple of colors if you don't like the light one.

[Lance Jones]

I started using Cetol back when I had a C-22. It was also used on my C-27 and now on Kitty's Cat. It is very easy to maintain and once you've prepped the wood, all the hard work is done. Clean and rub with a scotch pad annually and then put another coat on as needed. Very easy and durable. Love it and wouldn't go any way else.

Cheers!

Lance

[Michael Shaner]

Cetol for us too. We used one of the newer colors (natural teak) this time around and are very pleased with the results. A boat has enough maintenance issues to deal with...who has time to oil and oil and oil??

Take a couple pieces home with you when you leave the boat...GENTLY sand down to new teak...apply 3-5 coats in the comfort of your own shop...stick 'em back on next time you go down and enjoy the comments from the dock neighbors!

[BillG]

I had tried an early version of Marine Cetol and didn't like the orange color so I went with Cetol 1, followed by top coats of Cetol Gloss.  These products were made for outdoor windows and doors and hold up well. Every couple of years I lightly sand with 600 grit paper and reapply a coat of Cetol Gloss and it looks brand new.

[Craig Illman]

Braxton - a friend that does brightwork has recommended TufShield. http://www.tufshield.com/ It's just become available again in the U.S. Fisheries Supply in Seattle now stocks it.  I plan on doing my grabrails this winter and work on getting the Cetol replaced from around the companionway. It's not cheap, but applies quickly and sounds like it's very durable.

Craig

[RV61]

Craig,
Thanks for the Tuff Shield info as that was what I used as Varnish on the first go around when I bought Interlude. It lasted almost 5 years before degrading on the hand rails and I could not find it to do top coat maintence as there was no distribution for a while after the death of the maker then went back to Cetol as I could not get the product. Searched for a year and finally gave up. This stuff goes on easily dries fast and do not need to sand between coats. Great stuff.
Rick

[Craig Illman]

Rick - Were your handrails exposed for five years? or do you have covers?

Craig

[Braxton]

Thanks for the info everyone.   I think I'll check out the tufshield with Cetol as a fall back.

[RV61]

Craig,
The only time the hand rails were covered is the Winter months while on the hard the whole boat is covered with canvas.
Tuffshield has a base coating then the option of a satin or a gloss top coat.
From what I recall I used 2 or three coats of base then 2 or 3 coats of top coat.
The first two years was able to put on a maintence coat unil I ran out. I do believe if I were to have stayed on top of the quick annual top coating It would not have degraded into the base coats. 
Hope that helps

[Craig Illman]

Rick - that confirms what my friend had relayed to me. She had been doing some "scratch & patch" on a classic yacht built during the fifties. The mast needs some touch up, but it had been last done about seven years ago with Tufshield, supposedly by Rebecca Whitman.

It sounds well worth the cost of the product in ease of use, durabilty and ongoing maintenance.

Craig

[Ron Hill]

Braxton : Don't let others discourage you from using teak oil on the teak wood.  You stated that you didn't mind doing it "every month or two" !!

With that said just remember Cetol when you get tired of sanding and oiling.  3 coats of the regular/light and 2 coats of the clear on top.  Also after you sand off the old varnish to use some 50% bleach/water to kill the mold spores before you resand and put on either oil or Cetol.  A thought

[Kyle Ewing]

How about a question of the week to see how people treat their external wood?
* Grey
* Oil
* Varnish
* Cetol
* Paint
* Other