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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Stripping Teak

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Alan Clark
Captain

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406 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/18/2005 : 09:02:40

While We are busy Sailing and trying NOT to do maintaince..On "Leprechaun" when we bought her, the teak came..."Varnished", As you know difficult to maintain. We just had a coach roof cover made but the varnished teak is needing MORE varnish again this year and I want to strip the hatch boards first than around the cockpit door, Anyone have any easy ways to do this other than sanding or hireing it done! I intend to put cetol on them all when done! Thanks for all your information!

Alan & Eileen
2001 Catalina 310 Hull #155
"Anam Cara"
ex-1987 C25 TR/SK #5612
"LEPRECHAUN"
Troy Ohio USA / Lake Erie-Catawba Island
ASA 101 103 104

"The clink of an anchor - chain, the 'Yo-Ho!' of a well time crew, the flapping of huge sails - I love all these sounds."

John 'Rob Roy' MacGregor

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Edited by - on

thacket3
Navigator

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USA
101 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 09:35:33

When I did mine a few years back, I sanded to bare wood and then used continuosly finer and finer grits to a nice smoothness, then built the varnish back up. I think I did five coats to build it back up. First coat was a 50/50 mix of varnish and thinner. It's really not a difficult project. The sanding took maybe a two-three hours and I did the varnish one coat per day after work. Total project was four days long and maybe 5 working hours total. ( oooppps, I forgot, you also have to sand the varnish between coats, but that would take about ten minutes. Your just scuffing up the top layer to give the next coat something to adhere to.) It's really not the difficult project people make it out to be. Then twice per year, I scuff the top coat and add a new coat of varnish. I can do all of the exterior teak in about 2 hours and it lasts a good 5-6 months.

Edited by - on

John P
Captain

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USA
324 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 10:03:34

hmmm,

related question here, do you remove the wood and sand/varnish in a shop or just leave it installed and sand/varnish very carefully? Obviously, your hatch boards can be done elsewhere.

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mfasis
Navigator

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114 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 10:10:14

The teak on my boat is in pretty rough shape. It was previously varnished and most of the varnish has come off. Do most people sand and varnish with the teak removed from boat or do most leave it on?

I see that JohnP was quicker with this question.

Edited by - mfasis on 07/18/2005 10:11:59

John P
Captain

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USA
324 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 10:18:51

ONly because I was about to ask that very question. There has been tons of post here about oil vs varnish, etc. but not too much about the actual action of the refinish. I am in the process of refinishing the tiller, then my hatch boards, and I am sure the effort will trick down to other areas.

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 11:07:53

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">related question here, do you remove the wood and sand/varnish in a shop or just leave it installed and sand/varnish very carefully?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"><blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Do most people sand and varnish with the teak removed from boat or do most leave it on?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">My preference is to remove the teak trim from the boat for sanding and refinishing whenever possible. Others prefer to do the work on the boat. They are the ones who from time to time are asking how to remove spilled wood finishing products from gelcoat!

One caution about frequent removal of exterior teak trim -- be prepared to encounter unknown adhesives the first time you remove the teak. When reinstalling it, don't use any adhesive/sealant you wouldn't want to have to get apart yourself later. Realize that everything fastened to the deck will need to come back off someday for some reason.

A suggestion for saving time and making less of a mess -- before removing the handrails, trace around their contact points on deck with a pencil. (Or, if you're a fast wood finisher, mask around them.) When reinstalling, apply masking tape up to the pencil line, and wrap tape arount the "feet" of the handrails. After the squished out sealant has cured, trace around the contact patches with the tip of a sharp knife. Then peel away the bead of excess sealant, and then the masking tape. The result looks neater than trying to wipe away the squeezed out goo before it sets. I've replaced the mounting screws for the handrails with square drive stainless steel decking screws (w/same style trim washers as original). I can spin them with a square drive bit in a cordless drill without risk of chewing up the heads as might happen with phillips or slot head screws.

-- Leon Sisson

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5902 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 11:13:58

I try to avoid sanding teak as much as possible, especially grab rails, because it eventually weakens them. If you remove them from the boat, you can strip them, but that brings up the grain and isn't the best thing either. The best solution I found was to use cetol, because you can sand it lightly, without sanding it all off, and then refinish it, and it still looks good. Also, I keep my teak covered when the boat isn't in use. That keeps the sun and rain off the teak, and it lasts a long time without having to refinish it. When I leave the boat, I put a sunbrella tarp over the coach roof and a sunbrella cover over the hatchboards, and that protects most of the teak. Some people routinely put one new coat of cetol on every spring. My practice is, when the teak just begins to weather, I refinish it. If you don't let it get bad, you don't have to completely strip and sand it to keep it looking nice.

The thing I don't like about varnish is that I never found a way to refinish it so that it looks nice without completely stripping off all the old varnish.

Edited by - on

Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3321 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 12:10:03

I agree completely with Steve regarding Cetol vs varnish. I had a lady who for a living details boats on the Texas coast, tell me that Cetol would last at least 6 months longer than varnish even in a salt water environment. As Steve says, it is also easier to touch up without stripping down to bare wood each time.
There is one other finish that is, without a doubt, the best. It's called Honey Teak (they have a website). It is expensive but seems to look like new forever! PS are still running a 6 year old test on it (the varnish and Cetol samples deteriorated a long time back!)
Derek

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Sea Trac
Master Marine Consultant

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Vanuatu
1357 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 12:29:15

I was a rather adamant and vocal proponent of varnish, until recently. Having spent two days sanding down my teak, which had been neglected for six to ten years, I then spent a day applying Bristol Finish. All with the wood still attached to the boat. So far so good.

Then came the first fall, winter and spring cycle. Every place where teak met fiberglass water wicked under the varnish and it began to lift and turned a milky yellow. That process continued through a second fall, winter and spring cycle. The wicking, lifting and yellowing continued to progress upward on all surfaces and is now breaking through and sloughing off (hopefully one more cycle will eliminate any need for sanding).

So, I would highly recommend removal of the teak from the boat when refinishing with varnish in order to thoroughly seal all surfaces; not just those that are visible.

I'm switching to Cetol Light (and Dave Bristle can feel free to say, "I told you so").

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John G-
Admiral

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793 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 13:26:59

The [url="http://www.signaturefinish.com/index.php?topic=Honey+Teak"]Honey Teak [/url] sounds really good. It looks like the [url="http://www.signaturefinish.com/index.php?topic=Honey+Teak+Application"]application [/url] would take a bit more work as it seems to be a three part system.
“Use the ratio:
8 parts paint
2 parts catalyst
4 parts flow fluid”
But because it is a multi-part system it probably lasts longer than Cetol.

I have been using [url="http://www.armadacoatings.com/"]Armada [/url] finish that is like Cetol but IMO much clearer. I use the [url="http://www.bluewatermarinepaint.com/vsite/vcontent/page/custom/0,8510,4682-146768-163984-29448-116449-custom-item,00.html"] “Satin Original Clear” [/url] and I think the wood looks very natural. I don’t think it lasts longer than Cetol I just think it leaves the wood with less of a change in color. This is my second year using it and this year I just had to do a slight touch-up in a few spots and none on the handrails.

Underlined words are a HOT link.

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mfasis
Navigator

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114 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 14:10:52

How hard is it to remove the companionway threshold?

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existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 14:11:11

I took my teak off. It hadn't been done in at least 10 years. Ran my hatch boards through a planer. Finished with Cetal. My screws had teak plugs covering them, I'm not replacing the plugs.
I cleaned off all the old adhesive from both the teak and the gelcoat, this by far took the greatest amount of time for the project. I used 3M 4000UV when I put the teak back on. I'm making a cover out of sunbrella to put over the hatch etc to extend the life of the finish (and keep the rain water out of the cabin). The results were very rewarding and I'm glad I did the work.

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George Beck
1st Mate

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USA
48 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 17:39:57

Alan, serveral years ago when I purchased my Cat 22 I removed all outer teak and had it dipped by a furniture refinisher and then hand sanded off the residue. Finished with Cetrol and it came out looking like new. Now have 25 with good teak thanks to cetrol product. Luck

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mwalkup
1st Mate

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USA
79 Posts

Response Posted - 07/18/2005 : 18:11:26

Mark,
Fairly easy to remove the companionway threshold, as long as someone didn't use gm 5200 to anchor it to the boat.
Just use a drill to remove the plugs in the threshold, unscrew the screws and work it loose. If the adhesive is old and dried out it should come off with relatively ease.
Good Luck
Mike
83 t/r f/k

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Happy D
Admiral

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921 Posts

Response Posted - 07/19/2005 : 17:16:56

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">When reinstalling it, don't use any adhesive/sealant you wouldn't want to have to get apart yourself later. Realize that everything fastened to the deck will need to come back off someday for some reason.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
This is why I was thinking of using Dolphinite bedding compound to seal the teak. I am under the impression that it is more like a putty and does not have adheasive properties. I am correct in thinking this?
Dan

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