Teak Oil or Sealer?

[boater4life]

I don't have much experience with Teak but it's time to re-do my teak cockpit and swim platform. What are the pro's & con's of both oil and sealer?

Any input would be appreciated!

 

[Big Island Lifer]

Oil will look good for a couple of days in the elements. I use Sikkens Cetol. It is an excellent alternative to varnish and has a pretty durable finish. I followed the instructions and used 3 coats with a light sanding in between. For the first couple of years I repeated a light sanding and a finish coat. I haven't touched it for two years and it still looks great.

 

[Henry Boyd]

I assume by cockpit you mean the teak decking. Flooring applications (not just teak) require different materials than furniture. The Sikkens Cetol product is very good for furniture and trim, b ut I would not recommend it for a decking application. I built a number of teak floor grates for our boat (as well as for others). Teak oil is what I would recommend. It stands up to the abrasion from being walked on, cleans up easily, and is applied easily. The down side is that it is an annual event.

Henry

 

[JimFromMD]

Oil will look good for a couple of days in the elements. I use Sikkens Cetol. It is an excellent alternative to varnish and has a pretty durable finish. I followed the instructions and used 3 coats with a light sanding in between. For the first couple of years I repeated a light sanding and a finish coat. I haven't touched it for two years and it still looks great.

+1 for big island's approach. Strip current teak clean with a biodegradable stripper (orange product at home depot), light sanding, clean/lighten... then cetol for 3 coats... from then on each next season, light sanding and a new coat.

 

[JVM225]

Another happy user of Sikkens Cetol here!

 

[tdschafer]

Another Cetol fan here!!

Henry,
Oil was a weekly event for me, not annual.

Todd


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Henry Boyd]

Todd,

That should not have been happening. Was the teak polyurethaned prior to oiling? If the wood was sealed then oil would not be able to penetrate and you would end up with a thin surface coat.

I don't think Cetol is a bad product. It is actually very good for decorative work. But the original question was; "What do I coat my teak decking with?". Using Cetol on a swim platform that is frequently soaked with water will be a mistake for two reasons, water and abrasion from foot traffic. Likewise the same for teak decking with respect to abraision. Varnishes/polyurethanes used in flooring applications are formulated differently from those used for decorative use.

Of those who recommended Cetol, who has used it for a deck/floor, or swim platform application?

Here are the two grates from our 280. The shower gets used at least once a weekend during the season. These pictures were taken after three years in service.





Henry

 

[Rich122]

Best to use the clearers supplied by the manufacturer that Sea Ray uses. Teak Decking System www.teakdecking.com

I use the liquid cleaner at the beginning of the season to really clean the deck after the winter lay over and use the powder with warm water mid season. I don't like to use oil, I find no matter how lightly you rub it on it tracks onto the hardwood floors below deck. Also the rubber grout on the deck will get ruined if the oils contain petroleum products. Also per the manufacturer "over cleaning" will reduce the life span of the deck as teak is very soft and you will soon scrub the deck below the grout. Use a scotch 3m pad and LIGHTLY scrub across the grain and use plenty of water.

You can also buy these product from Jamestown, or check with Jim to see if he carries it.

Rich

 

[boater4life]

Thanks for the reply's everyone.

Just to clarify, my cockpit floor and swim platform are all teak laid decks. My swim platform is hydraulic and is either underwater or at least always in the elements which really takes a beating.

I have tried the oil in the past and it does track oil around during it's first week of application. Has anyone tried sealing or at least know much about it.

Nautically,

Todd H.

 

[tdschafer]

Todd,

That should not have been happening. Was the teak polyurethaned prior to oiling? If the wood was sealed then oil would not be able to penetrate and you would end up with a thin surface coat.

I don't think Cetol is a bad product. It is actually very good for decorative work. But the original question was; "What do I coat my teak decking with?". Using Cetol on a swim platform that is frequently soaked with water will be a mistake for two reasons, water and abrasion from foot traffic. Likewise the same for teak decking with respect to abraision. Varnishes/polyurethanes used in flooring applications are formulated differently from those used for decorative use.

Of those who recommended Cetol, who has used it for a deck/floor, or swim platform application?

Here are the two grates from our 280. The shower gets used at least once a weekend during the season. These pictures were taken after three years in service.


Henry

Henry,

Your teak looks great and that is how mine used to look after using the cleaner, brightener and oil. After about a week it started to get darker, almost black. I believe it was the dirt etc in the air sticking to the oil. Two weeks later it looked like ass and needed to be recleaned. It could be the environment that I was boating in.

I did all of the teak on my old 260 with the Cetol product, including the swim platform and steps. The swim platform weathered very well for the entire season. The biggest areas of wear were the top step (on top of the knee wall where EVERYONE stepped to enter the boat) and the bow pulpit! I guess the exposure to the elements on the bow made it more susceptible to degredation. But, as long as I coated it annually, it looked great and held up. The only time I ran into trouble was if I skipped a year or two. But to get back to your main question, Cetol, IMHO, holds up very well on floor surfaces. I would recommend the non-skid additive if it is applied in the cockpit though. It can be a little slick otherwise which is an advantage to using the oil as it seems to have a better traction ratio.

Todd

 

[dwna1a]

Can you shoot me a photo of the teak as it looks now? Also can you tell me what all you've done to it before now, which sealers or oils have you used? Sikkens is a great product, but it has it's place and applications. Pure Teak oil is what I use over 90% of the time, my swim platform only has two inserts, each has 4 coats of teak oil and like yours mine stays in the water year round. I did them over a year ago, this weekend I plan to steel wool them and re coat. It takes less than 20 minutes to do them and my handrail.

If it helps any, I just finished 7 tables and 28 chairs. In two weeks I start a 4000sqft teak deck. We also restore teak hose beds in old classic fire trucks

Henry.....those look very nice, if you lived closer we'd be talking about working