Awlwood primer choice

[Maerin]

I'm about to wood my caprail and plan to use Awlwood this time after having done the CPES & multitudes of Epifanes coats (14) routine in the past (pictured). I'm looking at primer colors. Although they recommend red for mahogany and yellow for teak, my teak caprail has a natural reddish tint anyway, I'm leaning towards the red primer. I've never liked a yellowish teak appearance. Perhaps even clear might be OK.


What about overcoating with Awlbrite? A bit spendy, but might be worth it if it extends life to 3-4 yrs as advertised.


Any cautions or recommendations?

 

[Moonfish]

Looking forward to seeing responses. We will also be using Awlwood, and the primer color (yellow or clear for us) is the big question at this point. A professional that does a lot of work in our marina is redoing all the teak on a sailboat and he told me to be sure and use the really good plastic painter's tape as opposed to the paper kind. Evidently the primer can soak through paper tape if left on too long and become semi-permanent!

 

[Cigatoo]

Looking forward to seeing responses. We will also be using Awlwood, and the primer color (yellow or clear for us) is the big question at this point. A professional that does a lot of work in our marina is redoing all the teak on a sailboat and he told me to be sure and use the really good plastic painter's tape as opposed to the paper kind. Evidently the primer can soak through paper tape if left on too long and become semi-permanent!

Your source is correct. DO Not try and skimp on the price of tape.
I have great results with Scotch 2080 painters tape for years after trying many others.

(Blue tape with orange lettering and orange inside roll.)

 

[Crusty Chief]

Steve,

We just had our cap rails repaired. It had a good base coat of Epiphanes that we touched up were needed. Then 7 coats of Helmsman spar Urethane by Minwax. Be sure to use a good quality brush, we tried the foam brush’s, they left too many bubbles. And scuff between coats.
Best of luck!

 

[Cigatoo]

Urethane

Tell us more about the Helmsman over the Varnish. What’s the thought process?

 

[Crusty Chief]

The varnish is for the color, the Urethane is to protect and durability. Seems to last much longer than varnish alone. We went about six years on last cap rail job. Cover’s on when not cruising, about 4-5 months of the year.

 

[Westiculo]

I used yellow primer on my teak. It makes the teak quite dark, it's not yellow at all. I don't know how it compares to the red, but without knowing, I would have guessed my rails had the red primer, not the yellow. It looks amazing.

The finished product looks much closer to what maerin showed than what crusty chief showed, though slightly in-between.

 

[Moonfish]

I used yellow primer on my teak. It makes the teak quite dark, it's not yellow at all. I don't know how it compares to the red, but without knowing, I would have guessed my rails had the red primer, not the yellow. It looks amazing.

The finished product looks much closer to what maerin showed than what crusty chief showed, though slightly in-between.

Can you post a photo, please?

 

[Westiculo]

Can you post a photo, please?

Knew that was coming... unfortunately am away from the boat until next Thursday. I'll try to remember then.

 

[STB]

Mine teak is finished with awlwood and I had them do it with the red. Unfortunately, the only pictures I have are of major defects in the job I wanted redone, e.g. sanding dust in finish, runs, etc.

Regardless, they'll show you the color. So a couple are attached.

 

[Choices]

I used yellow for teak, red for mahogany.

Will use clear for some interior thresholds. Fixing to try the new satin on the interior side of the doors.

Look up grandbankschoices blog, and near the start of the blog you will see lots of pictures.

I bleached my teak before priming. Really made a difference in the grain, and a more uniform color.

 

[BruceK]

Interesting about initial coat coloring. Never done that, but I have used teak stain applied with a cloth, French Polish style. Diluted with methylated spirits(alcohol) as a solvent and to adjust the amount of color I`m adding. Only on nameboards though.

 

[BrisHamish]

I agree with the post by Westiculo.

We have used Awlwood all over our GB46. We use the “yellow” primer, although the finish comes out darker and more reddish than varnish. But it looks good I think.

I will try and get some photos next week. But if you looked at our boat you would perhaps think “Oh he used red primer”. No, it’s the yellow. So the red will be REALLY red, if you go with that.

And so far the Awlwood product has been very tough and long lasting, which is important...

H.

 

[Aquabelle]

I agree with the post by Westiculo.

We have used Awlwood all over our GB46. We use the “yellow” primer, although the finish comes out darker and more reddish than varnish. But it looks good I think.

I will try and get some photos next week. But if you looked at our boat you would perhaps think “Oh he used red primer”. No, it’s the yellow. So the red will be REALLY red, if you go with that.

And so far the Awlwood product has been very tough and long lasting, which is important...

H.

My recent experience exactly...the yellow primer is so red I took the can back after opening thinking it had been mis-labelled. The sales guys said that was a common first time user reaction. Still, the finished effect over teak is a definite red. Darker than I would have preferred BUT I gather it is exactly that depth of colour that contributes to the longevity of the product. It did lighten slightly to reveal some golden tones after a couple of months of tropical sun and I'm very happy with it after 18 months.

 

[tiltrider1]

My experience with awlwood. Very little difference between the red and yellow primer, both leave the finished product looking reddish brown. The clear on the other hand just comes out brown when finished.

 

[Westiculo]

Knew that was coming... unfortunately am away from the boat until next Thursday. I'll try to remember then.

Photos as promised.
This is with the yellow primer.
There can be a pretty good variation based on the piece of wood. I haven't done the top rail yet at the helm.

 

[Photoman41]

I just did my teak cap rail. I used clear primer and clear topcoat. My teak was a bit reddish to start. Very happy with results.

 

[Dcbeach]

This is Salty Lady’s Awlwood with Yellow primer, 9 coats

 

[rgano]

Yo, Steve. I think the lighter the color, the cooler the whole shebang will stay which in turn helps with longevity. Coming from a wooden Grand Banks with so much exterior teak that my anal perfectionist tilt actually capsized over all that Epifanes over a 29 year period, I finally settled on wooding out when necessary followed by an acetone rub down and CPES before the varnish. I assume Awlwood to be something similar. The varnish under polyurethane is an intriguing idea and of course a tight cover with no flutter to take the gloss off is as ever the BEST.