Paint for teak rails.

[ancora]

Looking to paint my sundeck teak rails. Not interested in Concors De Elegance, ergo the painting. Saw a boat with the rails painted a reddish/brown color that looked presentable but do not know the brand of paint.

 

[Comodave]

We painted a lot of the teak on our last boat with Brightside polyurethane paint. Sanded to bare wood, wiped with acetone and then 2 coats of the primer (forgot the name right now), followed by 3 coats of Brightside. Looked great and was holding up bery well when we sold the boat.

 

[Simi 60]

You can see what ours looked like.

Gave it all a quick sand with a random Orbital and 60 grit
Rolled in a couple of coats of Sherwin Williams self priming acrylic paint tinted to appropriate colour
Drank beer

6 years in sub tropical climate so far
Have given a high wear area a coat since then but as an experiment in how much prep does it really need , I simply scrubbed with a scourers and water and next day rolled in two coats and a year later it hasn't shown any sign of letting go

Add: these rails are merbau, but similar characteristics as teak

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I used Brightside, white. Love the result. So far it has held up for three years and still looks great.

pete

 

[Kaniksu]

That's the way. It looks great

 

[ancora]

You can see what ours looked like.

Gave it all a quick sand with a random Orbital and 60 grit
Rolled in a couple of coats of Sherwin Williams self priming acrylic paint tinted to appropriate colour
Drank beer

6 years in sub tropical climate so far
Have given a high wear area a coat since then but as an experiment in how much prep does it really need , I simply scrubbed with a scourers and water and next day rolled in two coats and a year later it hasn't shown any sign of letting go

Add: these rails are merbau, but similar characteristics as teak

That's the color we are looking for....Sherwin Williams for sue.

 

[Mako]

NIce job Simi.

And if you have a few spare afternoons, could apply a subtle wood grain faux finish. Bet you couldn’t tell the difference at that point from a few meters away. I assisted the engineer on a big woodie as he “created” zebra wood paneling in his boat. Really beautiful.

 

[Kaniksu]

Simi if at all possible, could you post the colour or formula from the paint can? I like it enough to copy it.

 

[w8n4sun]

Simi, does the paint hold up to the wood moving from cold/heat temperature differentials?

 

[Simi 60]

Simi, does the paint hold up to the wood moving from cold/heat temperature differentials?

This is the condition today of the self priming acrylic done over 6 years ago
Prep then was sand off old flaking varnish with 60 grit using sander
Dust with banister brush
Wipe 2 pack epoxy primer into bad cracks
And paint over the top with 3 coats of self priming acrylic

Pic one shows the worst of it at 9am this morning
Pic 2 shows what the majority is like
Started work @ 9:10am

 

[Simi 60]

I have lightly hand sanded worst spot
Wiped 100 ft of rail with metho soaked rag
Forced some paint into the cracks with plastic scraper
And rolled 2 coats of paint on.
Job completed @ 10:30am

 

[w8n4sun]

Wow, very impressive work. Thanks for the tips.

 

[BruceK]

A neighbour uses Semco on his, yours are an improvement, and they don`t need redoing every 3 months.

 

[Simi 60]

Simi if at all possible, could you post the colour or formula from the paint can? I like it enough to copy it.

Nope, sorry, paint is out of tin and in plastic bottles now
Go to hardware store, get paint swatches to find a colour that suits.
That's what we did.

 

[heysteve]

This is the condition today of the self priming acrylic done over 6 years ago
Prep then was sand off old flaking varnish with 60 grit using sander
Dust with banister brush
Wipe 2 pack epoxy primer into bad cracks
And paint over the top with 3 coats of self priming acrylic

That looks great! My boat has some teak caulk in various places to seal joints. Did you have to deal with that?

 

[Simi 60]

That looks great! My boat has some teak caulk in various places to seal joints. Did you have to deal with that?

No

 

[Cheeky]

I'm giving up on traditional varnish types after doing a full bare wood sand and varnish that didnt last well even with 6-7 coats.
Switching to Cetol Marine Natural Teak once ive got all wood prepped again.
the local boat painter did a neighbours boat a few years back and it still looks great. my understanding is the NATURAL version of this looks less 'orange' which is what put me of initially.
Will post pics when i get a rail done.

 

[HypnoBob]

"BEHR DECK Natural Clear Transparent Waterproofing Wood Finish.

"BEHR's best wood finish, this advanced 100% acrylic formula delivers complete protection from the elements for up to 4 years on decks and 6 years on fences."

Here's what we did. I took the handrails and caprails on our DeFever 49 CPMY down to the bare wood. Then slathered on a coat of the Behr finish. By the time I finished one circuit around the boat, it was ready for the next coat. Did that one more time (3x).

Kept a jar with about a pint of the stuff along with brush inside the jar in a cabinet on the flybridge. About every six months in places of heavy usage, I would slather a little more on.

Lasted our three years onboard and another year after before we sold the boat.

Created a natural beautiful semi-gloss finish. We were constantly being asked what we used. I would definitely do it again.

 

[Comodave]

I'm giving up on traditional varnish types after doing a full bare wood sand and varnish that didnt last well even with 6-7 coats.
Switching to Cetol Marine Natural Teak once ive got all wood prepped again.
the local boat painter did a neighbours boat a few years back and it still looks great. my understanding is the NATURAL version of this looks less 'orange' which is what put me of initially.
Will post pics when i get a rail done.

We did that and it didn’t last 3 years in Michigan where the boat is in a shed half the year. We prepped very carefully. Personally I would go with paint.

 

[Bmarler]

We switched to the same cetol several years ago. Was so tired of how much time it takes to maintain varnish.
We also lowered our expectations a little and don’t feel like the wood has to look perfect, just good.
The cetol is easy to touch up, and easy to add coats to. The natural teak color is perfect for us.
We are thinking though, in the future, we may find a paint color scheme that will do away with the wood finish on the exterior. Maybe.

 

[Cigatoo]

I'm giving up on traditional varnish types after doing a full bare wood sand and varnish that didnt last well even with 6-7 coats.
Switching to Cetol Marine Natural Teak once ive got all wood prepped again.
the local boat painter did a neighbours boat a few years back and it still looks great. my understanding is the NATURAL version of this looks less 'orange' which is what put me of initially.
Will post pics when i get a rail done.

I use the natural and it looks nice with lots of staying power. 3 coats natural and 2 coats gloss gets you at least 3 years in New England. Providing the finish has not been damaged, just scrub with scotch bright, water, and tsp then 2 more coats of gloss in 3 years. Sanding between coats of gloss not necessary but will provide for a better finish.

 

[crusin_canuk]

I've started the same transition from varnish to paint. I'm using Epifanes Yacht Enamel #11. Most people don't notice that it's paint until I point it out. I started with the bulwark cap three years ago as an experiment. Haven't touched it since and it still looks good.

 

[ancora]

Painted one piece of the teak rail with Sherwin Williams Weather Shield paint color matched to the original rail. Here it is with two coats of paint:

 

[Caballero II]

I'm giving up on traditional varnish types after doing a full bare wood sand and varnish that didnt last well even with 6-7 coats.
Switching to Cetol Marine Natural Teak once ive got all wood prepped again.
the local boat painter did a neighbours boat a few years back and it still looks great. my understanding is the NATURAL version of this looks less 'orange' which is what put me of initially.
Will post pics when i get a rail done.

Yes, please do that (post pictures). My 1982 GB 36 takes a lot of varnish, and I'm enjoying this thread. I never thought I would, but the taking off and putting back on the canvas covers is ridiculous work. Life is too short, I think.

 

[DennisB1]

I have teak frame windows on my GB 49. I have been stripping the frames of the oil painted finish which is loosing its bond strength. As far as I know the bottom layer is original with the boat from1990. I has may over lapping coats over the years. I am now at the point of stripping. Paint can last a long time. basic process as noted earlier is sanding then a good wipe down with solvent to reduce oils from the teak. The sealer, primer and several top coats. I am using an International paints.

 

[Hyperion]

I actually enjoy maintaining the brightwork on my '73. The trick for me was doing 1/12 th of the brightwork every month. Now, instead of dreading a long tiring job once a year I have 12, very small, gratifying jobs every month.

 

[Caballero II]

I used Brightside, white. Love the result. So far it has held up for three years and still looks great.

pete

I looked at a friends GB 32 today who used Brightside White to paint his saloon window frames. They look good, and cover very well, but are toobright white. They don't match the GB Gel Coat quite enough, I think. Mine are in need of repair as they are beginning to crack, flake and expose corner joints. Does anyone have some particulars for a good hard paint for the GB window frames that matches the gel coat a bit better?

And, did GB Classics come with natural teak frames, or were they factory painted. I don't see any teak frames around, and just assume most people painted them to lessen their workload. But, I don't know. Maybe GB has a paint specification for those window frames.

 

[Xlantic]

And, did GB Classics come with natural teak frames, or were they factory painted. I don't see any teak frames around, and just assume most people painted them to lessen their workload. But, I don't know. Maybe GB has a paint specification for those window frames.

They were factory painted, at least based on the old "Spray" magazines and brochures I have seen.

Having said that, a 1979 GB 42 I owned had the side-window frames bare of paint (and the hand-rails bare of varnish) when I bought it. There was no sign of paint on the frames so I suspected they were originally varnished. The windshield frames were painted.

When I painted the boat the yard varnished the side-window frames. Looked good but extra work ...

 

[Comodave]

Maybe look at the colors available in Brightside and see if there is a color that you might mix a bit in with the white to get it closer to your preferred color. I painted the inside of a previous boat with Brightside Seattle Grey but the grey was too dark so I mixed in some white to lighten it up, actually 3 parts white 1 part grey. It came out great. I bought sole empty gallon paint cans and mixed the paint in them.

 

[Endeavor GB 32]

I just did my handrails and caprail with Semco teak sealer. Removed failing varnish with heat gun and scraper, sanded with 60 grit, and applied 2 coats of Semco. There are various shades available, I used a 50:50 mixture of Cleartone and Natural. Semco will never peel, wash and add a coat every year. I will report back on how it goes. I think it looks nice, not like 8 coats of varnish, but I can spend the next two weeks boating instead of varnishing! Just another option, paint will eventually peel like varnish, also hard to go back to varnish, Semco could be removed by using two part teak cleaner/brightener and ready for varnish if so desired.
Best of luck,
Scott