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Companionway Steps and Polyurathane

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jotruelove
Deckhand

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USA
22 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/16/2006 : 08:22:02

Greetings fellow fleet members!

I am in the process of cleaning and Cetoling my woodwork, and was wondering if anyone could tell me what kind of wood the steps leading to the cabin are, and what is the best method of cleaning them.

Is it the same as the rest of the wood in the boat? Sand, Sand again, coat, coat coat?

And while on the subject, A buddy at the marina told me that he puts a coat of polyurathane on top of the Cetol for protection and high gloss. Is this an OK practice? He uses the Spar Poly Marine from Lowes and his wood looks great.

Thanks, as always, for the input...

Fair Winds...

James Truelove
Pearl
1985 Catalina 25
Sunny Florida Panhandle

Edited by - on

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 11/16/2006 : 11:49:56

James,

I've been using Cetol marine on my extrerior teak for about five years now. Personally I like the satin finish look more than the high gloss. Adding an overcoat of poly may extend the life of the finish a little but I'd still end up doing it again, and again. I'm finding that I have to touch up my Cetol finish every two to three years. In my opinion, the extra cost and hassel of putting a poly finish on is not worth few months of extended wear you might get.

For your interior, if you want a high gloss finish, Cetol makes a marine gloss coating which is very high gloss. It will save you some time and extra expense to use it first rather than over coating with Poly.

For what it's worth.

By the way, nice boat.

Edited by - aeckhart on 11/16/2006 11:56:35

jotruelove
Deckhand

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USA
22 Posts

Response Posted - 11/16/2006 : 12:15:32

Thanks for the advice and the kind words regarding my Pearl :)

So the steps are cleaned the same way the rest of the teak is cleaned? I am still not sure how to clean the steps.

Every two to three years? Down here, 8 to 12 months is considered success!

Edited by - on

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 11/16/2006 : 13:11:58

That is teak, just like most of the rest of the boat. We pulled the steps out of the boat and did used starbright teak cleaner, then followed the cetol instructions.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 11/16/2006 : 13:18:41

My steps are also finished with Cetol with everything else in the cabin simply oiled. Like Al, I prefer the Cetol satin for its more subdued look.

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Downbucket
Navigator

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USA
188 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2006 : 13:08:32

Hi James:

I would not use Cetol on the stairs. This past spring I removed the wood from the outside and selected pieces in the cabin. I used Cetol semi-gloss on the outside and I am very pleased. I sanded and applied Cetol on the stairs and was very disappointed mainly, because it didn't match any of the wood in the cabin. Not wanting to spend hours sanding again, I brought the stairs and the other pieces from the cabin which I had already sanded, to a furniture refinisher who had done other work for me. He stripped the Cetol I had applied and refinished the stairs and the other pieces in a mahogany finish and then coated the stairs with polyurethane. They look marvelous! And they match the wood in the cabin. The total cost was $150 for the stairs, the wood covering the ice-box and bilge and a couple of pieces of trim.

I have pictures and will post if I can find the time.

Will

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aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2006 : 16:22:22

Good point. There are trade-offs when using an exterior finish on the interior. Although I have been tempted to overcoat the interior, I have opted to stay with teak oil only.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2006 : 16:48:41

I find Cetol is not good for high-wear surfaces (steps being the highest). For the interior steps, I'd suggest waterborne urethane acrylic, which is used in places like hardwood floors in shopping malls. It goes on easily, dries very quickly, can be overcoated in a half hour or so (it takes about 4 coats), and wears like iron. You can get satin or gloss, and a good cleaning agent is Windex. We used WUA in our kitchen, and the floor looked new 12 years later. You might want to stain the stairs before using it.

BTW, I don't get this poly-over-Cetol thing at all--the primary benefit of Cetol is easy maintenance, and the poly coat would seem to defeat that.

Edited by - Dave Bristle on 11/17/2006 16:56:01

aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2006 : 12:15:36

Dave,

I used to work in an ACE Hardware paint department where we sold Cetol products. The company that makes Cetol is a Dutch firm which began making coatings for the Dutch Navy over 400 years ago. You can't beat that kind of experience in that business.

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2006 : 13:57:32

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by aeckhart
 ...The company that makes Cetol is a Dutch firm which began making coatings for the Dutch Navy over 400 years ago. You can't beat that kind of experience in that business.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
No argument--I love Cetol for exterior brighwork, but not for high-wear applications or interior finishing. One of its advantages is that it's permeable, so teak oil doesn't build up under it in the sun and cause it to peel as it does polyurethane. The other, compared to poly, is that you generally don't have to remove worn finish--you can just apply coats over it. A disadvantage for interiors, aside from being soft, is that Cetol substantially mutes the grain of the wood, and teak doesn't have that much to begin with.

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2006 : 14:07:47

I've used Cetol on my entire interior (including the steps)... and am quite happy with the results. Wear hasn't been an issue.

The beautiful thing about Cetol is that it touches up so easily. (besides lasting a looong time).

As far as not having a glistening 'Bristol' varnish finish... I just don't think I'm ever going to enter my old C25 in a boat show.

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