Refinishing Exterior teak

[Panhdjoe]

Hello Our recently purchased 27 family cruiser needs all the exterior teak striped and refinished. It has had several re-coats of varnish over peeling varnish with little or no prep work and has peeled off leaving bare wood exposed in some spots and generally looks terrible. I not sure what stripper to use, some of the wood can be removed and some will need the be done on the boat. I dont know weather to use Teak oil or go back with a spar varnish also I have heard about Cetol but it sounded like the prep work to use that product might be to much for me. anyone have experience with this Job?

[jleonard]

I have lots of teak and use Cetol. Not aware of any extra prep work other than sanding, wiping to remove dust, and brushing on the Cetol. 3 coats to bare wood. To touch up if the Cetol is in ok condition just sand lightly wipe off the dust and brush on a coat or two.
Some of it I do at home if I can remove the wood, some on the boat.
I like the look of oil better, but it needs to be cleaned and reoiled several times a season...way to much work.

[westrivertrawler]

I wouldn't use chemical strippers unless you can remove the pieces from the boat. A heat gun and a scrapper will make quick work of your old finish. As for what finish to apply, the prep work is the same for varnish or Cetol; sand the wood progressively to 220 grit. A varnish finish will take at least 6 coats for a protective high gloss finish, sanding between coats. A Cetol finish can be applied with just a light scotch brite scuffing between; 3 coats of the satin color coat and 2 coats of gloss for a high gloss finish.
Good luck!

[tomcat]

Thanks Tom for the pointer for stripping off old varnish. I have the same problem with our outside railing as panhdjoe has. I need to get it down to bare wood but wasn't sure what finish to use. The Cetol, as I understand it, would be less work in the long run? The boat is in the water so have to be careful on what to use to take off the old stuff. What can I expect, time wise, to peal off a foot of varnish? Any idea?
Thanks for the help

[westrivertrawler]

Tom, Once the heat gun comes up to temp, you should be able to strip at a rate of 5 minutes or so per foot. Just be careful that you don't keep heat in one spot too long or you will scortch the wood. Also, be careful not to get too much heat on the gelcoat or painted hull, etc.
Tom

[jleonard]

I never use anything finer than 100 grit sandpaper for teak. Read that many years ago. 100 grit will remove finish fairly quickly.

[tomcat]

Wow! That's less time then I expected.I think I might give it a try this weekend. So far it sounds like a nice weekend to do some outside work. You gotta love this time of year!!

[Panhdjoe]

Thanks for the help, Cetol it will be. There are only a few pieces that I cant get off. I will try a heat gun.

[tomcat]

Tried out the heat gun this past weekend...it worked great! Unfortunately, the decks needed scrubbing. The teak will have to wait until we get the boat to our home port. It's going to take a few minutes to do!!
Again, thanks for the tip.

[tomcat]

I've been working on the teak railing and I must say, it is really looking good. I ended up using a sander and some with the heat gun, after taking the SS railing off. I've done about half with one coat, 2 to go but the weather hasn't cooperated the last few days. I ended up using Cetol Natural Teak finish. Extremely happy with the results.