Help anyone? another teak deck question

Can anyone advise me on what I should do here, I am refinishing the teak on the enclosed aft deck. I have chemically stripped and scraped the old Cetol off, then scrubbed it with Starbright cleaner #1, rinsed then scrubbed with Starbright lightener #2 and rinsed again. The teak looks fabulous.

QUESTION: Do I need to also sand the floor? The stripper & scraping left a very smooth uniform finish and the Starbright left it super clean. The Cetol can says sand to 220 but is it really necessary? If I do sand it all, can I just rinse the deck off to clean it rather than trying to vacuum every speck of dust or will this just raise the grain if I wet it. I just cant see how I'm going to clean the entire area dust free without washing?

What has everybody else done at this point?

I would sand it like the directions and then use tack cloths to get all the dust off . I would think the first coat of cetol is going to raise the grain some also .

Thanks Marty, I guess I will sand it but I have made up my mind to hose the entire area off afterward. This is`a huge enclosed area, over 160 sqft, The dust will be on the walls, ceiling, etc. I just dont see how I could possibly clean it all dust free with a vac & tack cloths. Would take forever.

I guess if hosing it off raises the grain a bit at least it will be less slippery

Can you hook a vacuum up to your sander? Teak dust sticks to everything .Might be worth renting a sander / vac combo I bought one when I started all my teak work . I had to because I'm in a covered slip with boats all around .

Why not try it without sanding it in a small spot and see how it goes.

By the way, we had exceptional performance from Epifanes Wood Finish in this same application. We used the gloss, but Satin is nice too, which we used on an interior stairway. Took a tremendous year around beating from furniture, foot traffic and some exposure to sun and water; the aft deck being the most used room on the boat and the gateway to the swim platform and dinghy. Much nicer than Cetol in my opinion, which I tried on a lark on the pulpit and was not impressed with how it looked ("natural teak").

Epifanes is what we use on all our teak .

Greetings,
Mr. CK. Here's a thought. How about giving the surface a thinned/diluted first coat of Cetol or whatever finish you'll be using, Just vacuum first and slap on a first coat. This should seal the teak somewhat. THEN, after drying, do a light sanding to take care of any raised grain or embedded sanding dust. THEN do a thorough washing of all your deck and bulkheads. This may minimize any water absorption and leave you with a clean, semi sealed, smooth surface ready for a second coat.

What RT said should work .

Capt Kangeroo said:

Thanks Marty, I guess I will sand it but I have made up my mind to hose the entire area off afterward. This is`a huge enclosed area, over 160 sqft, The dust will be on the walls, ceiling, etc. I just dont see how I could possibly clean it all dust free with a vac & tack cloths. Would take forever.

I guess if hosing it off raises the grain a bit at least it will be less slippery

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Are you doing just a deck? Or a deck and trim/cap rail?

Is the deck under cover? Does it have sealant filled seams?

Thanks guys. Bill, it is only the deck and is under cover and is traditional caulked teak.

Great idea`RTF but not sure if I'm up for the second sanding step.

Dammit George, now you have me wondering if I bought the right product. I chose the Cetol because the stuff I just scraped off lasted 10 years under similar traffic conditions as yours. Heard lots of good things about Epifanes, not so much with Cetol and have never used either before

I would use a one part oil based polyurethane designed for floor use.

I'd leave it bare, nice none slip resistance surface as designed, or do at Capt Bill suggested oil base poly for floors and some non skid throw rugs.

Greetings,
Mr. CK. The reason I suggested a dilute coat of "something" prior to a light re-sand and rinsing with water was to attempt to minimize water absorption by the teak. Granted, the teak will not absorb much water BUT water will remain in the various cracks and voids (unless sealed first) in the deck unless enough time is allowed for evaporation. During that time, various dusts and contaminants will get back onto the deck, somewhat negating your reason for washing in the first place. IF you do not allow sufficient time for drying, a poor bond will result IMO.
Here's a possible alternative...How about blowing off the bulkheads and deck and everything around with air? Do you have any marina neighbors that would be inconvenienced/p*ssed off? That would minimize dust and clean the area as well. Hmmmmm.....Rent a compressor? Change your shop vac to blow instead of suck? Drive through a tornado?

Capt. K.,


I would sand with a vacuum attached to the machine (if possible) as suggested then vacuum and coat. Washing would in my opinion defeat everything you did before.

Rob

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. CK. The reason I suggested a dilute coat of "something" prior to a light re-sand and rinsing with water was to attempt to minimize water absorption by the teak. Granted, the teak will not absorb much water BUT water will remain in the various cracks and voids (unless sealed first) in the deck unless enough time is allowed for evaporation. During that time, various dusts and contaminants will get back onto the deck, somewhat negating your reason for washing in the first place. IF you do not allow sufficient time for drying, a poor bond will result IMO.
Here's a possible alternative...How about blowing off the bulkheads and deck and everything around with air? Do you have any marina neighbors that would be inconvenienced/p*ssed off? That would minimize dust and clean the area as well. Hmmmmm.....Rent a compressor? Change your shop vac to blow instead of suck? Drive through a tornado?

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Tent it off and set up a fan and filter. Blow the dust around so the filter traps it. Remove the filter and blow it all off again so the the remaining dust gets blown out. Wipe everything down. Then blow again and wipe again.

It is a deck after all. So I guess it just depends on how perfect you care to get the finish as to how much you worry about the dust.

Thought I would followup on this in the event someone else runs into this dilemma. To recap, I chemically stripped/scraped my aft deck of Cetol to bare wood and prepared it for re-coating with Cetol. The final step called for sanding to 220 but I wanted to skip this step as I feared the dust would be impossible to clean up without rinsing and thereby raising the grain again. I did reluctantly sand and as suspected the teak dust stuck to virtually everything like glue. I could not locate a tornado to drive through and blow it off as RT suggested but I did try an air compressor when my neighbours backs were turned. Unfortunately, other than sharing the loose dust with the entire marina it was to no avail. In the end I gently washed the entire aft deck with soap & water & rinsed.

After it dried I found it did indeed leave a feathery feel to the deck but said to hell with it and went ahead and applied the 3 coats of the Natural Teak Cetol. In the end I was very unhappy with the product both due to thousands of tiny air bubbles that left the final finish looking like it had dust trapped in it and "more importantly" because I could not get the stuff to dry.

The bubbles may be my fault as the rougher surface from washing may have resulted in excessive brushing applying the product but I have no explanation why it would not dry tack free despite waiting the appropriate time between coats. Temps were in the high 80's, humidity was approx 65%. We could walk on it after the 24hr period between coats without leaving a mark but it was tacky and definitely still soft. When we left the boat 4 days later it had not dried hard and still felt tacky. A search of the web found that a few others were having a similar problem but could find no fact based explanation.

There seems to be thousands using Cetol without these problems but unless I can find out what went wrong, I would be hesitant to recommend it and will not be using it again. Perhaps Cetol is overly fussy as to application conditions but I have done enough refinishing to know I would not have had this problem with a traditional product.

I've never used Cetol for a walking surface but I use it for everything else and it does take a bit of time to become hard. I've accidently scrached a surface 3-4 days after the final coat so I understand your frustration.

Next time use a rag soaked in acetone or mineral spirits to clean the dust. It will not raise the grain as does water.

Capt.Bill11 said:

I would use a one part oil based polyurethane designed for floor use.

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That is what I use on the stern teak deck from Lows.

Phil Fill said:

That is what I use on the stern teak deck from Lows.

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The stern deck is canvas enclosed so protected from the weather. The same varnish is used on teak inside flooring. The front teak deck not covered protected is sealed with Daily Sea Fin every year. Varnish on stern deck lasts several years before new coat is applied. The covered stern deck is used year around.

Phil, we are stuck with the Cetol at this point but I am wondering. We hose down the aft deck regularly, would the traditional floor finishes from Lowes that you use on your stern deck stand up to this? Do you have to strip the old off before putting a new coat on?

Greetings,
Mr. CK. Sorry to hear about your poor experience with Cetol. It is our coating of choice for all our brightwork (decks NOT included). With regards to re-coating...I would probably re-sand (I know you don't want to hear that but...) and apply your coating of choice. You've already pre-sealed the wood with the Cetol so I expect a compatible coating can readily be applied without removal of the Cetol.

Capt Kangeroo said:

Phil, we are stuck with the Cetol at this point but I am wondering. We hose down the aft deck regularly, would the traditional floor finishes from Lowes that you use on your stern deck stand up to this? Do you have to strip the old off before putting a new coat on?

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Summer we roll up the canvas and hose down several times per year. I hire grandchildren to lightly sand scuff up varnish and reapply. The same with the front deck. I don't sand down to bear wood. Make sure it's polyurethane gym floor varnish.