varnish alternatives

[lynn1120]

A Tartan down the dock from us has used something called TeakGuard--it is a water based polymar I believe--once prep is done-- easy to apply and the teak has that fresh wood look, low gloss, nice grain showing. He reports it is easy to maintain- has lasted 18 months without a touch up, no blistering or peeling or crazing

I am going to try it out this fall...

[RichSchultz]

I'm in SW Florida and I have used the Bristol Finish on the trailerboards - it self destructed. OK, I can live with that. What I hated was trying to get the remnants off It's chemical resistant so stripper didn't work, it's heat resistant so a heat gun just scorched the wood. Its hard so I ended up using a much coarser sandpaper to finally get it off. NEVER MORE.

Epiphane doesn't work down here either. I had a beautiful finish and even told my friends about how easy it was to get a good finish. Three months later it was cracking and peeling. I did a web search and found that this was a common problem in the subtropics and tropics. Boy was I pissed after weeks of work.

Now I've gone back to the old tried and true. Z-spar Flagship. A little care is needed but it's holding up well.

Good luck
Rich

[KeelHaulin]

You might give the new Cetol natural teak color a try. Two coats of the natural teak and two coats of clear gloss looks very nice. I had a tiny bit of lifting of the Cetol on my cockpit coaming but a light sanding to feather it out and another 2 coats of clear fixed it. That was after 2 years of no maintenance coats and un-covered. I'd say that it's a good, durable product. There was some light checking in the surface finish; but I can accept that since I had let it go an extra year without the maintenance coat.

I agree that the main issue with lifting is moisture getting beneath the wood at the edges; so if you can pre-treat the underside with finish or epoxy it will go a long way to preventing peeling.

[jaydooreck]

Originally Posted by NALANI13

has anyone ever used a product called 'Bristal Finish'? it is billed as an alternative to varnish and that it has better UV protection than varnish. We are refinishing our teak cap rail and i am looking at the various options. A friend of ours had theirs refinished using Epiphanes using 7 coats here in Florida. After a 3 month trip to the Bahamas he came back with the finish deteriorated in a number of places. I know that typically varnish has to be reapplied every 6 months or so here in the tropics - but three months seems ridiculous.

I WONDER IF YOU GIVE ME SOME ADVICE. I want to varnish or use algrip urethane 2 part system on my teak. Which is better.

[jaydooreck]

Originally Posted by NALANI13

john,
we have the same issues here in Florida. We have tried the Epiphanes and since it deteriorated so quickly i think i am going to try the bristol finish. boy has it been hot lately hasn't it?

that is a great idea! we can get part way under our toe rail to varnish but that would be a great way to finish it.

thanks,

wendy

How did the Bristol work out.
I was thinking of using epifane?????

[jaydooreck]

I live i Santa Barbara and have some questions on varnishing
1-Is Awlgrip 2 part Urenthane good to use over varnish?
2-What Varnishes are best Epifane,Zspar 2015 or Bristol
3- Are there dangers ininhailing varnishes or urethanes especially.
4-Should you wear a respiratory mask as 3M in doing varnishing or urethane??

Jay Dooreck
jdooreck@aol.com

[KeelHaulin]

Jay-

I have seen boats that have used polyurethane over the teak and the results are not very good in the long term. The polyurethanes tend to become cloudy over a long period of sun exposure; and re-coating with topcoats also results in heavy build up of finish that is cloudy because polyurethanes are not as clear as varnishes to begin with.

I have seen excellent results with Epifanes; but it is high maintenance as a low uv-resistant finish. The new Epifanes with UV blocking may be a better choice; but I have not used it and therefore can't compare it to a product like Cetol. All standard varnishes are higher maintenance than Cetol; you will only get appx 6-12 months of protection out of them before you need to scuff sand and re-coat to prevent UV degradation. If you don't re-coat on this schedule the sun will damage the finish and everything will need to be stripped off and re-finished.

I would not use Awlgrip over an existing varnish. Awlgrip and DuPont Imron (and possibly others) contains a cyanide based catalyst which is extremely harmful if inhaled. If inhaled while being sprayed it can be deadly. If you hand paint it on I would use a respirator that can trap cyanide vapors. In industrial application the people who spray this type of paint use a positive pressure type respirator to prevent any inhalation of the paint fumes.

Varnishes are safe to use; if you don't like the smell of the paint fumes you can use a respirator. If you are applying it to the interior you probably will want a respirator so you are not breathing too much of it. For exterior finish it's probably OK not to use one.

If you go with a varnish you might want to consider making sunbrella covers (or having them made by a canvas shop).

[mygoggie]

Just my 2 pence from this side of the planet. We do not have the products found in the US, so I cannot really comment, but this is the way we do it:
1. Sand the wood down to real smooth finish
2. Apply 7 coats of penetrating marine varnish (thinned for the first 3 coats)
3. Apply 2 coats clear polyester resin (epoxy) by SPRAYING this on.
4. Apply 3 coats of two pack automotive clear coat by spraying it on.

The clear coat protects the resin from UV and the resin gives shock stress protection from bumps etc to the varnish.

We have no ozone layer here so the UV zaps the wood quite badly and this system works!

[tabakor0ad]

Consider "Honey Teak" by Signature (only available on-line). I've used it on my teak for years and when applied correctly, it wears like iron and looks terrific. Tremendous UV protection. The inventor (Tom Fabula) is available by phone to help you as you go about the refinishing process. Follow the directions provided CAREFULLY and you'll be pleased with the result.

[BillBrush]

With regards to installing rails and getting a good seal, I thought I would throw out a tip that I got from a yacht restorer who also does design.

We call this "bedding". The way I do it to make a really neat job of it, is to lightly trace the outline of the part where it's going to live on the boat. Remove the part then tape around the line, leaving about a 1/16" gap outside of this line. Use some denatured alcohol to remove the pencil line then apply a bead of your goo of choice. Place the part and lightly tighten it down (just enough to make the goo ooze out around the edges of the part, no more). Wipe up the ooze out and leave it alone for a few days, until the goo cures. Now remove the tape (if you haven't already) and tighten down the part good. This smashes the part into the cured "gasket" of now cured goo and makes a very good seal. The tape around the part thing, leaves a very neat and professional looking edge. This line can be used to paint against too. If you tighten down the part, before the goo cures, it can easily get squeezed out of the joint and leave you with a paper thin smear of goo, which doesn't realy seal much.

The above quote brought to you by Paul Riccelli - Riccelli Restorations - Eustis FL (I am not in any way affiliated with Paul, other than he has very patiently explained a lot of boat building technique to this newbie)

Bill