varnished teak decks

Every now and then, I'll see a trawler on yachtworld with some kind of treatment on the teak decks. I don't know if it is varnish, oil, or some kind of magic deck goop from West Marine. Anyway, I was curious if this stuff would be beneficial to the teak in the long run. Here is a link to an example of this kind of deck:

1978 Marine Trader Tri-Cabin Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Greetings,
Mr. sbg. One word if using the boat in FL-HOT! One word if using the boat in the PNW-SLIPPERY! Yes, it looks marvelous and if you want to burn your bare feet in the sun or pay for your orthopedic surgery after your fall, go for it.
As I'm sure others will chime in, best treatment for teak decks anywhere is a regular scrub down with salt water. NOTHING added afterwards. An untreated teak deck is the best non-slip surface one can get IMO.

I own an antique with original teak decks.

Don't touch the teak with anything except salt water!

Don't scrub the teak at all! Use a soft cloth to apply the salt water.

Besides that, leave the teak alone!

Amen !!!

Amen Amen!

I would never think of doing it on a boat I owned, I love the natural teak for both look and feel and simolicity of maintenance, but some people are more obsessed with looks rather than practicality. In that case the only thing I've seen work halfway decently is Semco's sealer:

http://www.semcoteakproducts.com/semco_products.htm

This is funny.

Thread title says it's about varnish. Five threads so far and nothing about varnish. All off topic. Not complaining .. just think it's funny.

SBG,
Looks like a non-gloss varnish like product like Sickkin's (sp?) with some stain added. I mixed my own teak oil in Alaska and was acceptable up there. Didn't keep it up down here in WA so it turned black. My wife used hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and apple cider vinigar to remove the black. We went back to a traditional high oil varnish.

Varnished decks have a place on certain boats. Classic Chris Crafts are one example (decks may be mahogany in these cases). This works because most of them are kept in boathouses out of the elements and UV that can break down a bright finish pretty quickly. Also their decks tend to not be "working" decks. They are rarely walked on other than to occasionally set an anchor. But they are a bad idea for cruising boats like most of us on this forum have.

There are finishes like oils, Cetol, etc. that some people put on teak decks to maintain that new-teak look. That may be what you've seen. These are also bad ideas in the long run for several reasons.

Care of a teak deck has been the subject of numerous discussions on this forum over the years. You can easily find these discussions and posts in the archives if you want more information on the subject.

I took the photo below at a classic Chris Craft rendezvous.

A friend of mine had a sportfisher at Sabine Pass marina several years ago. He was very proud of his teak. He used Cetol religously on every inch. The cockpit sole was teak. This is on a fishing boat mind you. I never fished with him but apparently after enough people had busted there a$$ on the slippery deck he bought some rubber mats. Fish blood and Cetol is not a good combination. Even without the slime when it was wet you couldnt stand up on it in any thing but flat water. And it was that goofy lookin orange color.

If this helps....& I do understand that some prefer varnished teak, so no offense intended. I'm just more old-school...

One more pic....

The previous owner of our boat used Cetol on all of the decks. We are allowing nature to strip it for us.

Starside said:

If this helps....& I do understand that some prefer varnished teak, so no offense intended. I'm just more old-school...

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As it was intended to be I believe.


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

Okay, now I'm being insufferable! I admit it...

Starside said:

One more pic....

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Does the captains chair look like that also?

It looks like cetol maybe . I like teak decks left natural and kept clean. I like teak caprails varnished . The only thing if anything I would put on teak decks is Semco . It's kinda like Thompsons waterseal for teak . It probably would only last one season .

Since we're posting gratuitous teak deck pix...

Old Grand Banks here. Allowing decks to go natural after a terrible attempt by PO to varnish. As for cap rails I am using golden schooner by west marine and it is easy to repair scrapes and dings by simply sanding a bit and re-applying with some mineral spirits mixed in. Decks never again for all the reasons the others have brought up. The rails are worth the efforts for the classic look to me.

Bob Cofer said:

The previous owner of our boat used Cetol on all of the decks. We are allowing nature to strip it for us.

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That's our plan, with bouts of light scraping as it peels off. Problem is, I was interviewed for a documentary and one of the shots is a low angle along the top of the companionway hatch, through a forest of Cetol flakes flagging in the wind...how embarrassing!

Donsan said:

Does the captains chair look like that also?

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Okay I'm being ridiculous now but YES. Captain's chair is also original...

Starside said:

Okay I'm being ridiculous now but YES. Captain's chair is also original...

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My only complaint with these photos of your boat is that I can't click on them and make them bigger!

manyboats said:

We went back to a traditional high oil varnish.

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On your decks!?

MurrayM said:

My only complaint with these photos of your boat is that I can't click on them and make them bigger!

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Thank you!

I'm clearly in the camp of leaving your teak alone.

My thought (& I may be wrong) is that the high gloss & varnish teak cheapens the wood.

I see so many new boats doing the varnished teak...& as an owner of a boat, it just makes it more expensive.

But as a steward of an antique, for me, nothing can compare to the natural beauty of the wood...

Oh...& it's less expensive!

Those are two great points . And I totally get the steward reference too. Right on


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

Capt.Bill11 said:

On your decks!?

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Heavens no. Willard gave us FG decks. Cap rail, door and some other is enough for us. If we had teak decks I'd use the oil mix I used on the cap rails in Alaska. For a day or two my oil finish is a bit tacky. When I sit on the cap rail it clings to my pants a tad bit (very slightly) but nothing ever was transferred to the pants. I used Linseed oil (raw), turpentine, a bit of varnish and a smidgen of Japan drier. I may have missed an ingrededt but that's basically it. Using tung oil probably would be better but we heard tung oil was bad .... in Alaska but that was only local opinions. The turpentine is a natural fungus fighter. On the cap rail I recoated about once every 6 to 7 weeks. Keep that up and it lasts as long as you do .... as far as I know.

Awlgrip(?) paint works great on a steel deck. I almost made a mistake of having a teak surface, but that's hard to maintain and expensive (extra cost better used for a first-class horn).

A new teak deck, particularly one that is glued down instead of screwed down, is no more trouble to take care of than a glass or steel deck. Where a teak deck gets its hard-to-maintain reputation is when it gets old or has been improperly cared for over the years or both. Then they can become a chore to bring back up to snuff.

Mark,
I like your hat.

Howard

"""""forest of Cetol flakes flagging in the wind""""""

They are wind vanes.

markpierce said:

Awlgrip(?) paint works great on a steel deck. I almost made a mistake of having a teak surface, but that's hard to maintain and expensive (extra cost better used for a first-class horn).

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The boat in the picture I posted has a steel deck too. Obviously the owners and operators decided from experience that teak was a preferred surface.

I agree with Marin, teak decks are not a big deal to maintain vis a vis other solutions, and there's nothing like them for non-slip and under foot comfort. I wouldn't hesitate to have them again as long as POs (like mine) took decent care of them.