Restoring/refinishing teak

[Ben H.]

Hi everyone,
This spring I stripped all the teak off Happy Camper and have been restoring and prepping the teak for Cetol. I've used Starbrite's Teak Restore to clean, brighten, and oil the very weathered wood. I'm just about ready for Cetol and would like your collective thoughts.

1, Should I worry about putting Cetol on the underside of pieces that will just be bedded to the deck?
2, If yes, any special considerations when bedding?
3, When bedding should I use butyl tape everywhere or something like 4200? I have all trim, grab rails, companion way, and sliding hatch removed.
4, Any tips on applying Cetol? Min number of base coats? Gloss coats?

Thanks
Ben

[Ralph Masters]

Just completed the process of refinishing my teak, I used Pettit 2015 Varnish, 4 coats.

[Noah]

Caveat: I am a varnish man myself, so have no Cetol experience, other than what I have read; which is it will stain your gelcoat if dripped/spilled and is a bear to remove from nonskid. So be careful. Also it won't last any longer than a good varnish acording to Practical Sailor.  Are you "finishing" the pieces off the boat before installing? How do you plan on finishing the teak plugs after install? They will need multiple coats as well.

Underside:
Wouldn't hurt to seal the raw teak as well although multiple coats is not necessary IMO.

Bedding:
I would use butyl tape on all through deck install. Bevel all holes. Other areas not through the deck, like vertical sliding hatch face trim, you might consider Dolfinite bedding compound? Kinda old school, but seals the entire underside and makes it easy to remove pieces later.

[Noah]

Ralph: just finished my "blue tape rodeo" yesterday, finishing with four coats of Epifanse gloss varnish. I build-up/spot patch "worn areas" first with Epfinase Rapid Coat, which allows you to apply multiple coats every 4-5 hours without sanding between.

[Ralph Masters]

Noah,
Tape on, tape off is the most time consuming part of the entire affair.
Pettit has a new product, 2045 that lets you put 3 or 4 coats a day on. But I have used the 2015 the last 3 times I've done the teak and I know its not going to react to the old stuff.
As a side note, finished just in time , before it got really hot.
The next project is wash and wax. I use NuFinish for wax.

[Noah]

👍😎 BTW— I wax first. That way any errant drips, etc. clean up easy and no wax gets on the new varnish. Tape still sticks to wax ok.

[KWKloeber]

I don't see a benefit to butyl taping every piece installed nor all of every peice that does need to be sealed.

Put a countersunk (3/16"?) into BOTH the back of the teak  and the gel coat into which the tapping screw is going. Roll out and form the appropriate-size donut around the screw (install all just poking thru the teak to hold the donuta) and drive them home. A tiny donut under the head before the last bit of  tightening will be an additional barrier (wipe away the excess after tightening.)

You should epoxy-seal the thru hole/core of any thru/deck fastener (eg, handrails) and properly butyl around the holes. per above.

Are you planning to re-bung the handrails, or do away with that mess and the varnishing after the install?

-k

[Noah]

Are you planning to re-bung the handrails, or do away with that mess and the varnishing after the install?

-k

Ken, not sure how you would  "do away with that mess"? I would be interested to know how one would reinstall handrails and hatch hold down rails without thru-bolts and plugs?

[KWKloeber]

Hey Noah

I discussed that (I think) in a previous thread. I won't get into the precise detail (for fear of contradicting myself and proving I can't CRS!!).  But basically what I plan to do "next time" is epoxy either carriage bolts or hex bolts into the handrail thru holes and permanently re-bung. Then I can prefinish everything and not need to worry bout finishing after installing.

I haven't decided whether to install through bolts in place of the wood screws.

See any downside of that?

-k

[Noah]

I believe that would work, assuming there was enough a good bond between the wood, epoxy and carriage bollt or stud. Mine don't leak (yet) so I never had to remove them. I always tape and varnish in place. I do have a bit of a tell-tell varnish ring around them in the nonskid from years of tape bleed and/or bad eyes. Not noticeable to causal lookers (as they are blinded by the shine)  . However,  I know it's there and when I'm in a detailing mode I pick it away with a tiny screwdriver or corner of a razor blade.

[KWKloeber]

Noah

As I had described about epoxying a stud in the stringer when replacing the engine mounts, I would (subject to further thought/revision) prefer a hex head (head solidly embedded in epoxy) probably a fully threaded bolt) with either a nut on it for additional epoxy embedding, or a tee nut on the bottom of the hole (the bolt and tee nut all epoxied up and tightened securely.)  Then epoxy poured down onto the hex head for further embedment. Maybe run a grinder groove down the thread above the tee nut for further deformation/grip. I know I could have them so they'd never budge - just unsure how much is overkill.

I did something similar when I installed winch crossovers blocks on either side of the companionway on a J/120.  I put permanent captive nylock nuts embedded in blocks of G10 under the deck reinforcing stringers.  It worked slick as marvel mystery oil and the blocks can be removed/serviced without removing the headliner (which is a royal PITA.)

-k
 

[KWKloeber]

Ben

https://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/44_7/psadvisory/Cetol-Versus-Teak-Sealer_12440-1.html?ET=practicalsailor:e38069:119702a:&st=email&s=p_Waypoints070718

After using it once, I've never been a fan of Cetol. I see its only benefit being you can recoat with much less fuss than traditional varnishes.  And you WILL need to recoat more often, for a inferior appearance over varnishes.  Cetol isn't the magic bullet many believe. 

JTSHO, others' mileage will unquestionably vary.

[Roland Gendreau]

Ken

My recent experience with Cetol is quite different than what you describe.  Four years ago, I stripped all of my brightwork down to bare wood, applied 3 coats of Cetol and 3 coats of clear gloss.  It has required near zero maintenance since then.  My experience is that the gloss finish provides a hard uv resistant finish; when I previously had Cetol without the clear gloss, the finish was soft and wore easily, requiring periodic touch-up.

Roland

[KWKloeber]

Ken

My recent experience with Cetol is quite different than what you describe.  Four years ago, I stripped all of my brightwork down to bare wood, applied 3 coats of Cetol and 3 coats of clear gloss.  It has required near zero maintenance since then.  My experience is that the gloss finish provides a hard uv resistant finish; when I previously had Cetol without the clear gloss, the finish was soft and wore easily, requiring periodic touch-up.

Roland

Roland, roger on that.  My experience was without the gloss, it was so long ago I'm not sure gloss was even on the market.  The "paint-like" appearance is something I also did not care for, but that's just personal likes/dislikes.

-k