Refinishing teak strips question

[JC80]

Hey folks. Our boat is uncovered and on the water year round, and the exterior teak on the bow and swim platform shows it (picture below). I am going to attempt to refinish and match these areas to the high gloss of the rails (picture below), which appear to have been sealed more recently or more effectively than the bow and swim step. Research on this site suggests that some sanding and/or te ka cleaner may be the right product for cleaning them, and I plan on using cetol or a varnish to finish if I can figure out what was used on the rails.

The question - how do people go about handling the strips? I obviously desire not to take them off the boat (and the windlass, spotlight and anchor with it). Can I just carefully mask around the glass and the other items (seems as though I'll need a very narrow roll of painter's tape!) before sanding and finishing or is there some other consideration I should be worried about. I have refinished a reasonable amount of wood int he past but I am new to varnish and working in a marine environment. Thank you!

 

[Mike Blake]

I just tape mine off. It has worked ok for me.

 

[dwna1a]

Tape them off. If you can remove the light go ahead and do so. I highly recommend using Cetol up on the bow. If it's like mine it stays in the sun and the Cetol will last longer.

 

[Searaybio270]

You probably already knows this but I think you have to use a certain type of steel wool. It's either bronze or copper. I can't remember which one but I know I have it on my 1988 SR 270. I will be doing mine this year as I want to sell the boat. The PO had it really looking nice and had some kind of sealer (minwax clear) over it. I decided I wanted the teak look without the clear. Sorry I did that. Too much work.
Good luck. Pics when finished.

 

[dwna1a]

Joe, you're selling the 400?

sorry for the question here...

 

[JC80]

Tape them off. If you can remove the light go ahead and do so. I highly recommend using Cetol up on the bow. If it's like mine it stays in the sun and the Cetol will last longer.

Thank you... I believe that the rest of the teak is varnished due to the thick glossy coat... If Cetol is recommended as being more weather resistant, do you think it would be possible to get a close match using one of cetol's four coloring options?

You probably already knows this but I think you have to use a certain type of steel wool. It's either bronze or copper. I can't remember which one but I know I have it on my 1988 SR 270. I will be doing mine this year as I want to sell the boat. The PO had it really looking nice and had some kind of sealer (minwax clear) over it. I decided I wanted the teak look without the clear. Sorry I did that. Too much work.
Good luck. Pics when finished.

Thanks for the tips! I'll certainly post some pictures when we get it done.

 

[DougLas]

Plasteak makes a replacement for the bow teak.

 

[Searaybio270]

Joe, you're selling the 400?

sorry for the question here...

Yes, moving soon to Cary, NC once I sell the boats, house, and decide what the next phase of life is going to be. Hate to get rid of it but nothing is forever.

 

[NorCal Boater]

This job is a PITA so I removed mine on my old 340 and rebuilt it out of Starboard. I love teak but enough was enough.

 

[JC80]

Plasteak makes a replacement for the bow teak.

Thanks for the lead! At $200 it's a little steep, though it would result in being able to seal a lot of those little holes that I've read will inevitably lead to leaking into the anchor locker. I think this will be our backup in case things go poorly.

This job is a PITA so I removed mine on my old 340 and rebuilt it out of Starboard. I love teak but enough was enough.

Thanks, Shawn; I suspected that was going to be the case. I think we're going to give it a go but if it fails to come out looking nice we might go with the starboard or the plasteak that Doug mentioned.

 

[bahamabreisus]

Joe, NC coast only 2 hours from Cary, plenty of good boating here

 

[NorCal Boater]

Thanks for the lead! At $200 it's a little steep, though it would result in being able to seal a lot of those little holes that I've read will inevitably lead to leaking into the anchor locker. I think this will be our backup in case things go poorly.


Thanks, Shawn; I suspected that was going to be the case. I think we're going to give it a go but if it fails to come out looking nice we might go with the starboard or the plasteak that Doug mentioned.

I drilled and countersunk the screw holes in the starboard and used new oval head screws. It came out really nice. It looked clean and was very functional.

 

[Searaybio270]

Joe, NC coast only 2 hours from Cary, plenty of good boating here

I know I keep thinking about taking her with me. Time will tell.

 

[SCORPIO]

I'd use Cetol, varnish won't hold up as long and being that teak is an oily wood, varnish won't adhere as well. Cetol is made for teak, I use the standard version on all my exterior teak and it lasts for years. On an area like you have, I'd recoat every year or so. Clean yours like you mentioned and if you need, bronze wool would be a good choice. DON"T use steel wool, it will embed in the gelcoat and you'll have rust spots all over the bow. A few coats of Cetol will transform that area. Some people don't like the orange color the standard Cetol give the wood, I like it and was told the added pigments help with UV protection, can't say for certain but we like it. There is also clear or natural the won't stain the wood as much, but it look like your rail caps are done with regular Cetol, judging by the deep color.
It will be a PIA but worth it in the end.

You could always just bleach and clean that teak and use oil, less messy buy you'll be doing it every thee months to keep it from looking weathered.

 

[Lazy Daze]

A couple thoughts... You mentioned resealing the existing holes to keep water from dripping into the anchor locker. The bigger issue is water wicking it's way into any wood core that is in that foredeck area, eventually requiring replacement of the core. Given the age of the boat (much younger boats have had to deal with this), I would towards removing everything and, at a bare minimum, resealing. Although a better solution is to oversize each hole, fill with epoxy, then redrill the appropriate size. For larger, looser-fitting holes, you may be able to get away with a few coats of epoxy on the exposed edges, allowing each one to soak in.

Early on you mentioned about having to find "thin" masking tape. No worries - just force it into the inside edges with a putty knife or credit card. Then come back with a new razor and cut the excess away. If, by some chance, you end up with some bleed-through/staining of the gelcoat... You can simply paint the gelcoat with a good, exterior paint. Even if you don't 100% match the color, no one will ever be able to tell because the teak strips (or whatever, should you replace them) act as separation.

 

[JC80]

I'd use Cetol, varnish won't hold up as long and being that teak is an oily wood, varnish won't adhere as well. Cetol is made for teak, I use the standard version on all my exterior teak and it lasts for years. On an area like you have, I'd recoat every year or so. Clean yours like you mentioned and if you need, bronze wool would be a good choice. DON"T use steel wool, it will embed in the gelcoat and you'll have rust spots all over the bow. A few coats of Cetol will transform that area. Some people don't like the orange color the standard Cetol give the wood, I like it and was told the added pigments help with UV protection, can't say for certain but we like it. There is also clear or natural the won't stain the wood as much, but it look like your rail caps are done with regular Cetol, judging by the deep color.
It will be a PIA but worth it in the end.

You could always just bleach and clean that teak and use oil, less messy buy you'll be doing it every thee months to keep it from looking weathered.

This is very helpful, especially the bit about the regular Cetol appearing to match up with the rails - we'd like to do it once and have it last the season, so we will go with this. We will also pick up some bronze wool in case needed. Thank you.

A couple thoughts... You mentioned resealing the existing holes to keep water from dripping into the anchor locker. The bigger issue is water wicking it's way into any wood core that is in that foredeck area, eventually requiring replacement of the core. Given the age of the boat (much younger boats have had to deal with this), I would towards removing everything and, at a bare minimum, resealing. Although a better solution is to oversize each hole, fill with epoxy, then redrill the appropriate size. For larger, looser-fitting holes, you may be able to get away with a few coats of epoxy on the exposed edges, allowing each one to soak in.

Early on you mentioned about having to find "thin" masking tape. No worries - just force it into the inside edges with a putty knife or credit card. Then come back with a new razor and cut the excess away. If, by some chance, you end up with some bleed-through/staining of the gelcoat... You can simply paint the gelcoat with a good, exterior paint. Even if you don't 100% match the color, no one will ever be able to tell because the teak strips (or whatever, should you replace them) act as separation.

Thanks, Dennis. Lots of good information here. I understood your description of oversizing, filling and redrilling; that makes sense to me. For purposes of discussing with the folks working on this with me, what would regular sealing process look like? Is that just some 3M 4000 in the hole and on the underside of the teak before screwing it back in?