TeaQua Teak Finish

[arf145]

I know a couple of you have applied TeaQua to your exterior teak and I was hoping to get a performance report now that we've been through another summer. How's it doing? How long has it been on? Pictures?

And man I know this teak finish question has been beat into the floorboards but it is confusing to a newb like me. I'm taking ownership of an 87 Pearson 28 next week and the teak is sorry looking--appears to have been varnished and is 75% gone. No flooring here, just toe rails, hand holds, and companionway slats.

I know I could leave it natural--and that definitely appeals to my lazy side-- but I prefer a finished look, and one of my boat partners, my brother, definitely requires that. He favors tung oil, which he pictures as something you can just wipe a bit more oil on now and then. Is this true?

Anyway, the TeaQua sounds interesting. But I'll take all comers with a finish that looks at least a bit finished but doesn't require stripping, sanding, and 7 coats every year or two--a compromise that satisfies my lazy side, my want-to-sail-not-always-work-on-the-boat side, and my aesthetic side.

Tom

[camaraderie]

Oil looks good for a few days...then it holds and attracts dirt rather nicely.
I will not respond to the teaqua issue since I have not seen or used it.

[ebs001]

I have used TeaQua. My wife sanded down all the teak last January and said "never again". So we applied Teaqua. We were very happy with the result but understand it may not appeal to the varnish purest who would prefer more luster. I took pictures of the cockpit floor boards shortly after the TeaQua was applied. I can PM them to you if you like. They have been sitting out in the Georgian sun since mid April but I will not be going back to the boat for a couple of more months. So I cannot give you an update at this time. Unlike oil which as Cam mentioned ends up looking dirty, the TeaQua finished floor boards did not look dirty at all after 4 months of continuos use. I'll have to wait until I'm back at the boat to give my full endorsment, but we like what we have seen so far.

[TrueBlue]

I have no experience with TeaQua either - but, with such little teak on a P28, varnishing may not be that much work - considering you're just talking about handrails, toerails and hatchboards. There's no mistaking the difference a well-maintained varnish job has over anything else on the market today.

However - as pretty as it looks . . . I hate the initial 8-10 coats traditional varnish requires, the bi-annual, between coat sanding and varnish recoating of exterior teak.

With all the exterior teak on my boat, after stripping, I chose to apply 3 coats of Cetol Light, with only ONE annual maintenance coat of Cetol clear gloss . . . no sanding between coats, and with experience, no blue tape needed either. Looks great!

[arf145]

Thanks TB--that settles the varnish side pretty well for me. Even with my little bit of teak, I know I'm not up for 8 - 10 coats, biannual sanding, etc.

And camaraderie, you've confirmed what I've heard about the dirt problem with oil, so I think that leaves that out.

ebs001, I'll still be interested to hear about your results when you get back to your boat, but I think we're going to go ahead and give TeaQua a try. We don't require the shiny varnish look. And maybe we've been given a gift in seeing the teak look so ratty to begin with--we'll be thrilled with the new look and will enjoy the easier (hopefully) upkeep.

Tom

[chuckg5]

I've had tea qua on my rails an deck for the 9months, here in florida.
i've tried to upload photos but haven't been able to. I like it. after a long hot summer, the deck still looks 'woody', dark stained, grainy. i'm thinking of cleaning it with soapy water an maybe some bon ami cleaners, then reapplying it. if i can upload some low res photos, i will. I put it on a 42' Vagabond cutter, ketch, a boat load of teak.

[sailingdog]

chuck-

upload the photos to flickr.com or use Picasa (http://picasa.google.com) to do so to Picasa's web albums, and then use the little yellow postcard icon in the toolbar to link to the photos. The upload feature on sailnet is basically broken.

[chuckg5]

thanks, saildog
I'll work on that today

[chuckg5]

http://picasaweb.google.com/chuckg5/...ey=ny9TJyvg3d4
http://picasaweb.google.com/chuckg5/...ey=a0s4PgVyDAQ

This is a long road but i tried. these are two albums i put up in picasa, ones
applying Teaqua in Feburary 07 the the other is how it looks today. hope it links up. we'll see

[sailingdog]

Looks pretty good all things considered.. I'm glad Picasa worked out for you.