When we bought our boat the topside teak was in bad need of a facelift. Naive and not knowing the price of teak, my first thought was full replacement, but my experienced husband assured me it would rejuvenate beautifully. Of course I thought he was joking, it looked like crap to me and he’s known to be cheap, I mean frugal, so I figured I’d be working for nothing. But I ended up being totally blown away at the amazing resilience of this incredible wood.
I tackled the handrails first. The finish was scratched and the wood suffered bare areas and the varnish had turned white as water had gotten in under it and in some areas black mold had moved in. They looked dry; as if they’d crumble in my hands and I wasn’t hopeful they would ever look anything but old. Gregg thought it best to remove them because we were experiencing several leaks below that we couldn’t pin point the source of; the sealer was missing in areas and what remained was dry and crumbly and looked suspect. Reinstalling them with new sealer would hopefully guarantee years of problem free maintenance suiting our mantra of “an ounce of prevention”. Also, the varnish needed to be on the underside of the handles for the finish to last longer. Any place water can get in will ruin the finish within a season and this was a job that should last a few years.
So we removed them. Unfortunately one had a hairline crack and snapped clean through so the first job was to glue it back together. Then Gregg was called away for work in Alberta and left me to refinish them, which I was very happy to do. I went to work with the heat gun removing all of the varnish. It was slow tedious work but I must say I enjoyed every minute of it. There’s something rewarding in seeing a transformation begin. The only drawback was the heat. At times not only had the humidity beaten down the garage door to stifle me, but the heat gun radiated enough warmth that I could have been a contender in a wet T-Shirt contest. Sorry, there’s no photo for that!
Funny how the rails look so small on the boat but in the garage they spanned the length of the six foot work bench and hung over both edges by several feet. They were curved and rounded which made them awkward to work with so I had to clamp them to the surface to stay in place while I melted the finish with the gun. At times I used a card scraper but I found the gun more effective especially with the rounded edges, used in conjunction with a small sized paint scraper it was the most effective tool I found to do the job.
There were grooves in the wood where the finish had settled and turned dark so I used the edge of the scraper to dig at them, the varnish was brittle and would flick out, I can still hear the little crunches as it cracked free. I fussed more than I needed too but I had plenty of time on my hands, with a month to go before Gregg got home so we could install them and launch the boat.
Once the sanding was complete I used Two Part Teak Cleaner, recommended by Doug at The Boat Locker in Lunenburg. It would bleach the wood, taking care of any mold that might have been lingering in the cracks. The first time I used it I couldn’t believe how Part One darkened the wood, and then when I rinsed it off and applied the Part Two, the wood looked fresh and clean. Another thorough rinse and then I let it dry. I laid them on their sides to apply the Epiphane Gloss to the bottom area that would mount to the boat. I put on eight coats to seal it.
Then I mounted both rails on 2 x 4 strips of wood using the existing screw holes, leaving a gap between the handle and the wood to varnish easily around the base. This allowed me to work on both sides at once making for quicker work. This was the fun part, watching the mirror shine build. I sanded between the coats, vacuumed and wiped them down with Epiphane thinner. The result was amazing. They looked like new rails off the factory floor. Hubby was right!
Gregg and I installed them, a tricky little job, me on top adding the sealer and holding them in place while Gregg was below with screws and the drill. It’s been three years now and they are looking a bit dull as the shine has been weathered but this year I plan to sand and put on two more coats to bring back the brilliance and they’ll be good to go for another few years. I also want to have covers made for them as the sun is brutal on the finish.
I tackled the handrails first. The finish was scratched and the wood suffered bare areas and the varnish had turned white as water had gotten in under it and in some areas black mold had moved in. They looked dry; as if they’d crumble in my hands and I wasn’t hopeful they would ever look anything but old. Gregg thought it best to remove them because we were experiencing several leaks below that we couldn’t pin point the source of; the sealer was missing in areas and what remained was dry and crumbly and looked suspect. Reinstalling them with new sealer would hopefully guarantee years of problem free maintenance suiting our mantra of “an ounce of prevention”. Also, the varnish needed to be on the underside of the handles for the finish to last longer. Any place water can get in will ruin the finish within a season and this was a job that should last a few years.
So we removed them. Unfortunately one had a hairline crack and snapped clean through so the first job was to glue it back together. Then Gregg was called away for work in Alberta and left me to refinish them, which I was very happy to do. I went to work with the heat gun removing all of the varnish. It was slow tedious work but I must say I enjoyed every minute of it. There’s something rewarding in seeing a transformation begin. The only drawback was the heat. At times not only had the humidity beaten down the garage door to stifle me, but the heat gun radiated enough warmth that I could have been a contender in a wet T-Shirt contest. Sorry, there’s no photo for that!
Funny how the rails look so small on the boat but in the garage they spanned the length of the six foot work bench and hung over both edges by several feet. They were curved and rounded which made them awkward to work with so I had to clamp them to the surface to stay in place while I melted the finish with the gun. At times I used a card scraper but I found the gun more effective especially with the rounded edges, used in conjunction with a small sized paint scraper it was the most effective tool I found to do the job.
There were grooves in the wood where the finish had settled and turned dark so I used the edge of the scraper to dig at them, the varnish was brittle and would flick out, I can still hear the little crunches as it cracked free. I fussed more than I needed too but I had plenty of time on my hands, with a month to go before Gregg got home so we could install them and launch the boat.
Once the sanding was complete I used Two Part Teak Cleaner, recommended by Doug at The Boat Locker in Lunenburg. It would bleach the wood, taking care of any mold that might have been lingering in the cracks. The first time I used it I couldn’t believe how Part One darkened the wood, and then when I rinsed it off and applied the Part Two, the wood looked fresh and clean. Another thorough rinse and then I let it dry. I laid them on their sides to apply the Epiphane Gloss to the bottom area that would mount to the boat. I put on eight coats to seal it.
Then I mounted both rails on 2 x 4 strips of wood using the existing screw holes, leaving a gap between the handle and the wood to varnish easily around the base. This allowed me to work on both sides at once making for quicker work. This was the fun part, watching the mirror shine build. I sanded between the coats, vacuumed and wiped them down with Epiphane thinner. The result was amazing. They looked like new rails off the factory floor. Hubby was right!
Gregg and I installed them, a tricky little job, me on top adding the sealer and holding them in place while Gregg was below with screws and the drill. It’s been three years now and they are looking a bit dull as the shine has been weathered but this year I plan to sand and put on two more coats to bring back the brilliance and they’ll be good to go for another few years. I also want to have covers made for them as the sun is brutal on the finish.
The broken area now glued and taped to hold. You can see how badly they need to be stripped and re-varnished.
Me with the gun and scraper.
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The miracle chemicals, but make sure you wear eye protection, a mask and gloves.
Left rail is bleached and finished, the right rail has been coated with Step One and waiting for a rinse.
The bow pulpit teak, wheel and handrails ready for installation.
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