Ok I just spent six hours striping the first of three doors. After I epoxy soak them do I varnish and go with the older classic look or do I go 21st century and go back with paint. Argh I hate to cover stunning teak!!!!. I haven't even sanded them yet.
View attachment 16559
View attachment 16560
The PO of our boat had painted the teak toe rails white. We (mostly the Admiral) removed most of the paint with furniture scrapers. That left the little flecks of white paint in the grain. The Admiral (bless her heart) slowly removed all those with some paint stripper and a small bronze brush. For a finish, we did what was recommended on this site. Two coats of Smith's Clear Penetrating Sealing Epoxy, followed by three coats of Cetol Natural. We love the results, worth all the effort.
I agree painting teak is a crime, right up there with using 3M 5200 as a sealant everywhere.
Varnished boats look good at the dock.Painted boats look good at SEA!
I guess it's how you define hard work. Our boat is under cover so has less exposure, even so with teak rails on the main deck, bridge and the seating trim it's three days every 1-2 years with Cetol marine gloss. Scuffed area's get a little 3-M pad treatment. It helps being under covered as applying in hot sun could lead to some bubbles. For us the results are well worth the effort.Hah!
But more people see them at the dock than at sea.
Ever priced teak lumber? I didn't think so.
If you knew how much it cost you would understand why people say its a crime to paint it.
DO, Cetol is nice, and it should adhere fine to a properly applied penetrating epoxy substrate, but it is no where near as pretty as a varnished surface, IMO. Paint teak? I believe that would be the recommendation of the person who restored the artwork, below.Whether I paint or varnish I'm going to coat in West with special clear hardener but I have not heard of using Cetol instead of varnish for the top coats. Any problem getting the Cetol to adhere? How long ago did you do it? Did you put the Cetol first coat on before the epoxy was fully set?