Trojan Boat Forum

Need some advice on teak finish. Ive been using Decs Ole sp? #1 Matte Finish from West Marine. They no longer carry it and i was wondering what would be comparable in product. Also was considering using oil instead. Your thoughts???????????

I've been using Interlux Goldspar. Sand to bare wood. 3-4 coats.

Bmac Iwas thinking of using Decs Ole what did you think of it and how did it hold up

My somewhat limited experience with teak upkeep tells me that no matter what you use you need to do it twice a year, so..........I take the path of least resistance and use Watco Teak oil. I clean the teak with a light paste made with powdered Tide with water, rinse and apply 1-2 coats of oil.........looks great and easy to do again...............John

I wash mine with sudsey amonia and rinse with lots of water then use interluz teak oil. I used deks o le for years but have found that the interlux sems to hold up better now .

Just refinished my teak swim platform and will refinish interior teak this season. Used Sikkens CETOL "Natural Teak" finish on the platform and will use the same on the interior. It's new this year and gives a really nice semi-gloss finish. I used regular CETOL 4 years ago on the swim platform and it lasted 3 years without recoating, but it had an orange tint to it that the new stuff does not. If you want a gloss finish the cetol comes in a gloss that you use on the last coat. 3 coats is usually plenty for exterior surfaces that have been well prepared. I've used teak oils before and they just don't last more than one season, and usually discolor before then. Cetol so far has proven to be the longest-lasting in my experience.

Thanks folks for the ideas. Eddie-O for the four years i have had the boat i used what the marina had used (Decs o le) Great finish in the beggining but soon wore off, but easy to touch up. Directions never mentioned an overcoat after 24hrs but makes sense. my only conceren with the oil is any issues with skin irritation from sitting on the swim platform. Think I will try the cetol on the swim platform and oil on rails and pulpit. I would rather stay with a matte finish above the rub rail. Great forum guys keep it up!

Be careful with slipping on the swim platform when it's wet. I tried mine out after giving it a BEEEEEUUUUUTIFUL semi-gloss finish (wetted it down in the back yard and tried it out with my bare feet) and found out I could play ice hockey on it. I then put down one more coat and sprinkled on some non-skid additive. Let it dry and vacuumed up the residue. Then one more coat of cetol and it's ready to go back on the boat.

My f32 just had a new teak deck put in before I purchased her in late 90s. The previous owner used varnish on the deck and swim platform, which I redid in spar varnish. Unfortunatly I have had a few close calls and 1 broken toe from guests sliding around on the wet deck after a day at the beach.

This winter I am completly stripping and recaulking the deck for a safe natural oiled finish. and I will probably never varnish a deck that may get wet again, too slippery for my guests. But it did look beautiful.

So I'm the odd one for using varnish.... go figure. Interlux also has a no-slip filler that I've used on swim platform. You "dust" it on after tipping off the surface. The some settles into the surface. Some blows off after its dry. You still have a very high gloss surface, but you won't fall on your keister when its wet.

Excellent, I did not realize I could use no slip coating on varnish, Never thought to ask,,,huh....Learned somthing new today seemed counter intuitive to the shiny varnish finish. Does it dull or haze the varnish???

I will try that on the swim platform this year with the new coat of varnish.

But I am still going to oil the teak deck due to the caulk joints and wear coating dont seem to play nice together.

Here is th old deck with varnish, incase anyone is curious......Now imagin it wet and in the waves without non skid.......ouch,

Thanks for sharing about the non-slip interlux filler. I did the same thing with my swim platform over this winter-stripped/sanded & 4 coats of sikkens natural teak semi-gloss, thinking it wouldn't be slick. Will have to check out sprinkling the filler on for grip!

It's not a shiney as finish without the dusting, but it still has that "wet" look. Also, steal the old fashioned flour sifter out of the kitchen. hold it about 2ft' above the surface. It doesn't take much. Be certain to give it time to set. I got out the air gun too fast the first time and just blew wrinkles all over the surface.