Quote:
Originally Posted by Sixbrothers
Hello,
I have lots of teak on my boat and it's looking pretty shabby. It is a combination of varnish, cetol, and bare wood. I would like to strip it all off and redo it with varnish or a reasonable alternative.
My questions are:
1. How do I strip it?
2. Can I strip it over time before I redo it with whatever?
3. Could I strip and redo a section at a time like the cockpit?
4. What are the alternatives for finishing teak?
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Six,
Your options are pretty broad, and only you can decide what works best for you and meets your own standards.
That said, I'll take a shot at answering your Q's:
1. How do I strip it?
A. Chemical stripper. Slop it on, let it work, scrape it off with a plastic scraper, dispose of residue per local requirements. Repeat as necessary until you're down to bare wood. Wash well with soap and water. Prep sand. Pros: relatively fast; relatively easy on the wood. Cons: Messy; requires great care if used around anything else that has a painted surface.
B. Heat gun. Gently heat the finish until it gets soft, then scrape off carefully with a scrapper or other semi-sharp tool. Prep sand. Pro: Cleaner than all but C. Cons: Takes a fair amount of time. Requires 110v power supply. Unless you pay close attention, it's not hard to mistakenly burn/char the wood with the heat gun. Also requires great care around other painted surfaces.
C. Cabinet scraper. Have at your wood with a VERY SHARP cabinet scraper. Prep sand. Google "cabinet scraper" to find videos of how to use and sharpen scrapers. Pros: Very efficient (if sharp and used properly.) No power tools required. Cleanest method. Leaves a very smooth surface. Cons: Got to be careful with corners and edges -- the scraper will take these down pretty quickly.
D. Sand. You can either do this old school (by hand) or with a power sander -- just be very careful oround edges and corners if you elect to go with the sander. Start with 60 grit, working to 100 grit (or finer depending on your chosen finish.) Pro: It will work. Cons: Messier than B or C, but less than A. Lots of man-hours.
Bottom line: I've used all of the above at one time or another. You'll probably find out that different situations require different approaches. If the wood can be remove from the boat (drop boards, for example) the chemical stripper would be the easiest. For stuff that's permanently mounted below decks though, stripper's probably going to be your last choice. Unless it can be removed, I'll generally take a shot at it with a cabinet scraper first and see how it goes. Next option is the heat gun, and finally old school sandpaper.
2. Can I strip it over time before I redo it with whatever?
Yes, but you need to remember that a finish sanding will be required before you lay on a finish.
3. Could I strip and redo a section at a time like the cockpit?
Yes, and I recommend it. Start with a small project you can tackle start to finish, and use it to try different methods and products.
4. What are the alternatives for finishing teak?
A. Traditional varnish. Very attractive (if that's what you prefer) but has a pretty high maintenance price. You're looking at 8-10 base coat layers, with another 2 annually, plus any repairs to dings/scrapes/scratches.
B. Cetol. Three coats of Natural Teak, followed by two coats of Gloss if you want that glossy finish. Annual maintenance coat -- scrub with a green ScotchBrite pad, wash and coat.
C. Teak oil. Requires more frequent applications than varnish or Cetol, but doesn't suffer dings/scrathes as obviously.
D. Nothing
(TM). Leave it bare and let it weather naturally.
E. Paint. You'll lose the aesthetic impact of having the teak, but won't need to worry about dings in your varnish. If you don't like it, you can always strip it back down and go with another option above.
Hope this helps you out.
Meg Whitman's book
Brightwork Companion is a very good reference, and I've found it more detailed/useful than Don Casey's stuff.
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