The journey from rough to perfect...

Beautiful!

I hate epoxy

So, today was mile one of this ultra marathon we shall call "operation: old wood"...

Didn't know where exactly to start, so I started searching the forum, then the internet, then the guy next door...etc. turns out there are way too many ways restore uncared for teak, but they all start with sanding and most involve oiling.

Had some great helpers. Learned a lot of lessons. Had a small (HUGE) accident with a few drops of oil hitting the drink (unfair, really...2 pints barely covers 1/3 of the bright work but two drops covers ALL the water...le sigh...thank goodness for pig mat)...

But most of all, loving the look of the railings all ready!

Pizza and beer is too cheap for this kind of labor (But don't tell them that!)

And now the real work begins.

I would like to say it's fun. But after 40 years of doing the wood, it's no longer something I enjoy. Those panels in the doors are just thin veneer. So use the sandpaper sparingly and apply multiple coats of whatever product you choose or they will delaminate.

Also avoid using acid teak cleaners, it really damages the wood grain and you end up with grooves in the surface.

Looks good, have fun.

I`ve never seen anyone look so happy as you do at the joy of oiling wood. Long may it last!
The oil I use(Deks Olje) requires saturating the wood in the first application, multiple applications until the wood says "no more". Then it`s a maintenance coat, as required, maybe 3 monthly. Deks Olje has an optional gloss coat too.
The good thing about oiling is not having to sand back to bare wood, time after time.

OMG - I feel so guilty... Spent decades on boats doing wood refinishes after refinishes. Then I purchased FG boats with no exterior wood at all! I feel so guilty - NOT! LOL


But, must say your wood looks good!

Have no plans to buy "teak cleaners"... if I've learned one thing from the automotive world, it's that specialty cleaners really aren't that special, are generally WAYYY over priced, and normally cause more damage in the hopes of a quick trick.

Those door panels are ALL destroyed. So much prior neglect is causing severe delamination....oh well, I can always cover, replace, or strip/seal/paint (a red door means you own your home, right?).

What I do need help with is stripping all the yellow, nasty, hard as nails epoxy/varnish combo that's on a majority of the pieces we didn't get sanded and oiled already. Any recommendations for removing the old stuff?

FryQ said:

Those door panels are ALL destroyed. So much prior neglect is causing severe delamination....oh well, I can always cover, replace, or strip/seal/paint (a red door means you own your home, right?).

What I do need help with is stripping all the yellow, nasty, hard as nails epoxy/varnish combo that's on a majority of the pieces we didn't get sanded and oiled already. Any recommendations for removing the old stuff?

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I had a local woodworker disassemble my exterior doors and replace the panel. Wasn't all that expensive and the seams around the glass were leaking when it rained anyway. So needed to be done.

I was working on my wood today too. Mainly just the annual touch-up and one good re-coat before winter. The railing around the top of the aft cabin is another story and will be a complete tare-down and start over. It's not as good a quality of teak for some reason and doesn't hold up very well.

So they used something other than oil or Cetol on your wood? Without using a chemical remover, your best bet is sanding. Sometimes I use a dull paint scrapper (not the razor blade type) first if the finish is blistered and standing up and follow up with block sanding. You do have to be careful you don't get into the wood with the scrapper blade.

FryQ said:

...What I do need help with is stripping all the yellow, nasty, hard as nails epoxy/varnish combo that's on a majority of the pieces we didn't get sanded and oiled already. Any recommendations for removing the old stuff?

Click to expand...

Do NOT sand it off. Get a heat gun, not expensive, and good metal scraper, one of those 3 surface ones that do curves as well as flats. Use the heat gun to blister and soften the varnish, then use the scraper at the right angle to remove the varnish.Work in small sections. You`ll soon get the hang of it. Try it on something else that doesn`t matter, even a painted surface,anywhere, at home, Mother in Laws front door, etc.
You will have to sand at the end of the process before refinishing, but not too much. Overcomes the cost and dangers of strippers, easy and quick once you get it working.

Hi, thank you for sharing your boat projekt TF.

You have a good recipe (beer and pizza) to get the enthusiasm to work with good attitudes. Can you say what stuffed pizza to get the same energy as you do:lol:?

Everything good for you for refurbishment and boating.


NBs

I agree the heat gun and scraper worked well for me. I found using a drywall putty knife of appropriate size worked well for me. Usually takes it back to fresh clean wood. It does not take long at all to get the feel for it. It goes fairly quickly.

Haven't had a lot of time lately. But did get a decent amount of brightwork cleaned and rough sanded, ready for fine sand and oil this week. Going to follow the sage advice and purchase a heat gun soon to hit the coatings that still exist.

Also had the new propellers installed on Wednesday last, and all zincs inspected.

Looking really good. But it's a lot of work.
I'm in the process of countersinking the exposed screws in the teak trim below the rail cap and plugging them. I got about half done before the weather changed here. Just enough wood to pull it off.
Wow, those props . . . That's amazing.

Edelweiss said:

Looking really good. But it's a lot of work.
I'm in the process of countersinking the exposed screws in the teak trim below the rail cap and plugging them. I got about half done before the weather changed here. Just enough wood to pull it off.
Wow, those props . . . That's amazing.

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After being up close and personal with my teak for the last two days...i feel I could go broke just trying to countersink, plug, apply seal, and repair the metal edging on it. I applaud you sir for attempting it!

Yeah, those props...lol

FryQ said:

After being up close and personal with my teak for the last two days...i feel I could go broke just trying to countersink, plug, apply seal, and repair the metal edging on it. I applaud you sir for attempting it!

Yeah, those props...lol

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Is that metal edging on the gunwale cap? I wonder if PO added it, Never seen it before on an LRC.

The countersinking is pretty quick. setting and trimming the teak plugs takes a little more time. I bought a cheap high speed drill, 3/8" countersink and cordless drill/driver from Harbor Freight for the boat and they work great for that purpose. So many exposed screws holding trim on these boats. Especially good for lifting the rail stanchions to oil the railing under them and anything else around water. My Dewalt tools go nowhere near the boat, ever.

Edelweiss said:

Is that metal edging on the gunwale cap? I wonder if PO added it, Never seen it before on an LRC.

The countersinking is pretty quick. setting and trimming the teak plugs takes a little more time. I bought a cheap high speed drill, 3/8" countersink and cordless drill/driver from Harbor Freight for the boat and they work great for that purpose. So many exposed screws holding trim on these boats. Especially good for lifting the rail stanchions to oil the railing under them and anything else around water. My Dewalt tools go nowhere near the boat, ever.

Click to expand...

Chicken! :lol:

It is metal edging, and now that I know it probably want original I won't feel as bag for removing it! Haven't decided yet if I will, but it's good to know it's an option.

All of my power tools are automotive and in a storage unit in Maine...therefore everything I buy HAS to be for the boat and bought knowing they are going to get destroyed...

What do you gentlemen do about sealing the edges between the trim and the hull itself? Any special sealant or will any sealant do ?

Yeah, pretty sure it's aftermarket. PO was probably attempting to protect the teak cap edge from piling rubs. The stern is pretty much the widest point of the boat and does get the occasional creosote rub while docking at older docks.

For screws and stanchions, A sail boater neighbor put me onto Black, GE silicon II and I've used it ever since. According to him, has to be black (I don't know if it matters) and I do like the look where it's visible. And of course, not everybody carries "Black". Ace Hardware here does, but not Lowes and Home Depot.

Some people don't like silicon, I've had excellent success with it. But you do have to use masking tape and mask a line, if the edge is going to be visible to get a neat look. For screws, just inject it into the hole and run the screw back in.

Sorry, silicone is crap. Not for boats... cue RT...

I have found silicone to bring about mold and hold it. It also has a habit of peeling off on some woods that have natural oils or sap. This is from experience. I'm sure there are some other pitfalls. I don't think there is a 100% solution. Just have to try things until you find what you like and can deal with.

Does anyone happen to have any information on chocks?

I'm used to the style we have on these vessels as being called Panama Chocks...but can only find websites with way huge sizes and made of metals. My Google fu is failing me, but I don't know what else to call them besides 'Panama Chocks'...

Try 'closed chocks'

Once you put silicone on fiberglass, it is almost impossible to completely remove it. Then you have a problem getting something else to stick to the glass. I am currently replacing the portholes in my boat and the original ports were put on with silicone. We have scraped, tried acetone, MEK and everything else we could think of, we finally used sandpaper to remove the last bit of the silicone. Since we are getting ready to paint the hull, sanding isn't too bad. But if you are not going to paint, you probably don't want to sand your gel coat...