Cetol - Does it lift or peel??

I stripped ALL the varnish off my exterior teak last year because it was lifting and peeling/looked like crap.
I never want to do that again.
We applied Semco on everything to keep it nice, and we'll have to put on a new coat every year. Now, reading a couple of the threads out there on Cetol, it seems that it would be the same amount of work to do a Cetol coat as it would be to do a Semco coat - with much prettier results.

I don't mind putting a coat of something on the teak each year, but I don't want to have to strip ever again.

My question is, is Cetol a product that will lift at the seams like varnish? How long will it last if I maintain it with the annual coat?

If you just ignore it without proper care yes it will peel. If you maintain it properly it will be fine (new coat when needed and/or repair any area that would show some blemish).

Also do not forget that cetol is a 2 part product, cetol without cetol gloss will be less resistant. Cetol gloss is more like a varnish with UV inhibitor that will protect cetol (and wood) below.

L

Lou_tribal said:

If you just ignore it without proper care yes it will peel. If you maintain it properly it will be fine (new coat when needed and/or repair any area that would show some blemish).

L

Click to expand...

If that's the case, it seems that areas adjacent to stanchions will inevitably peel at some point... Is that true?

I have been using Cetol for many years.
I only use Cetol light. I don't put gloss over it. I just do 2 coats initially.
Some areas last a couple of years without recoating.
Some areas need touch up every year. Light sanding, quick acetone wipe, re coat.
I usually recoat the swim platform every other year. I use sand mixed in and it is not slippery.
This is in Ct.

It’s time to re-finish our hand and toe rails. I bought some Smiths penetrating epoxy and Epiphanes, but am now re-considering Cetol . . . the main concern being the amount of time needed each year to maintain a nice finish.

My frame of reference for Cetol is the orange stuff we had on our sailboat and which is currently on our toe rail (the hand rails are failing varnish). I have the same question as the OP—along with: how satisfied are current users with the appearance Cetol, which I understand can be much a more natural wood look now?

I don't mind putting a coat of something on the teak each year, but I don't want to have to strip ever again.

My question is, is Cetol a product that will lift at the seams like varnish? How long will it last if I maintain it with the annual coat?[/QUOTE]




Cetol ? Stay away from this stuff ! been there / worked my ass off / done that !




https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/varmain.html


There are Canadian and US distributors of it, can't say enough good stuff about this product ..... fb

Westiculo said:

...My question is, is Cetol a product that will lift at the seams like varnish? How long will it last if I maintain it with the annual coat?

Click to expand...

Yes and no. If there’s movement or a caulking failure where water can under the finish and it will lift. Those are the only failures we’ve had and we’re getting ready for repairs this spring vs full removal. Stanchions haven’t been a problem for us. The last time we stripped the cap rail was 2012 while in Trinidad. She’s never been north of Georgia so there’s no real winter rest from the uv. Here are a few pictures I just took. You can see the failures.

At some point we’ll strip it again. The only other product we’re considering is Awlwood but the juries still out.

Angus99, Cetol Marine Natural Teak is much improved over the old Cetol that had the orange tint for UV protection.

I used cetol on my sailboat years ago . I installed all new teak on the caprails and coaming boards. It looked good for a couple years but then started to peel. When I put new teak on William we went with Epifanes. I think cetol has come a long long way since I first used it and would consider using it now . It’s all about preparation, temperature and humidity when applying any kind of finish and always go by mfg instructions.

angus99 said:

It’s time to re-finish our hand and toe rails. I bought some Smiths penetrating epoxy and Epiphanes, but am now re-considering Cetol . . . the main concern being the amount of time needed each year to maintain a nice finish.

My frame of reference for Cetol is the orange stuff we had on our sailboat and which is currently on our toe rail (the hand rails are failing varnish). I have the same question as the OP—along with: how satisfied are current users with the appearance Cetol, which I understand can be much a more natural wood look now?

Click to expand...

Cetol Natuarl Teak (Not Cetol light) is the closest to the amber varnish color......less orange. 3 coats Natural Teak and 2 coats gloss will get you a nice finish for 3 years.
I have a lot of nice Captains Varnish on my Grand Banks. It looks beautiful and is in good shape. However the maintenance is too much in my opinion. I will keep it up as long as I can. When it’s time to refinish it will be Cetol. My past boat (pictures) had lots of teak. I used Cetol 3 and 2 as stated above. 85 percent as nice as varnish and 50 percent or less of the work. My opinion.

As a reference the boarding ladder in the picture is old Cetol. Not nearly as nice as the Newer stuff. Again my opinion.

Larry M said:

Yes and no. If there’s movement or a caulking failure where water can under the finish and it will lift. Those are the only failures we’ve had and we’re getting ready for repairs this spring vs full removal. Stanchions haven’t been a problem for us. The last time we stripped the cap rail was 2012 while in Trinidad. She’s never been north of Georgia so there’s no real winter rest from the uv. Here are a few pictures I just took. You can see the failures.

At some point we’ll strip it again. The only other product we’re considering is Awlwood but the juries still out.

Click to expand...

Larry, did you remove the stanchions to get under the bases or mask them?

Thanks for the tips guys. Seems like Cetol is a product that at some point will require stripping and starting fresh again.

Westiculo said:

I stripped ALL the varnish off my exterior teak last year because it was lifting and peeling/looked like crap.
I never want to do that again.
We applied Semco on everything to keep it nice, and we'll have to put on a new coat every year. Now, reading a couple of the threads out there on Cetol, it seems that it would be the same amount of work to do a Cetol coat as it would be to do a Semco coat - with much prettier results.

I don't mind putting a coat of something on the teak each year, but I don't want to have to strip ever again.

My question is, is Cetol a product that will lift at the seams like varnish? How long will it last if I maintain it with the annual coat?

Click to expand...

Can last 5-6 years then entire coating will lift

I'm happy with Cetol, of course my boat has very little teak on it. One advantage also is that Cetol can be removed fairly easy with a heat gun and scraper as opposed to varnish in my opinion. I put a coat or two every season, surprised how well it does on swim platform that gets a lot of splash.

angus99 said:

Larry, did you remove the stanchions to get under the bases or mask them?

Click to expand...

Lena masks them.

Westiculo said:

Thanks for the tips guys. Seems like Cetol is a product that at some point will require stripping and starting fresh again.

Click to expand...

Yes

Appreciate everyone’s answers — and thank you, Westiculo, for allowing me to piggyback on your thread.

So between Epiphanes-over-epoxy and Cetol—assuming both are applied properly and maintained annually—which is likely the longest-lasting before needing to strip down to bare wood again?

Yes, Cetol lifts and peels if you ignore it.

Any coating will lift and peel if water vaporizes under it. Teak has oils that also vaporize. clear coatings allow sun to create a greenhouse under them and the resulting vapor has a surprising high pressure that lifts the coating.

Many cap rails and trim pieces are not sealed well underneath or at ends and fittings so water can be absorbed by the teak. Sun and clear coats do the rest.


IMO all coatings will fail. The better attention to sealing the entire board not just the visible surface the longer it will last.

There are breathable stains that don't lift but they don't look as good as well varnished teak. My solution was to make sure my next boat had no exterior teak.

Cetol and varnish are both a pain to strip, equal. Both need yearly topcoats, equal. Both last about the same length of time, assuming a diligent topcoat and repair routine.

Cetol requires about half the build coats that Varnish does and is more forgiving when the build coats are not quite there. Three coats of nice looking Varnish will happily lift in short time when the first rains come. So with Varnish, you really need to get that initial build on within a few weeks or you may very well get to do the whole job again. Cetol is sometimes easier to get to the next coat in a shorter period of time and sometimes with less sanding between coats, so the all important build phase can be less work. Some varnish systems allow quick recoats without sanding though.

Cetol will never look as good as Varnish. It’s really the investment of time in getting Varnish on that is the difference. The biggest effort is in the finish is the labor intensive stripping, where Cetol offers zero advantage. But if your running out of time and won’t follow through in getting those Varnish build coats on, Varnish won’t care and will promptly require you to do some significant patching all the way to simply starting over.

Thus I’ve been sewing rail canvas all winter to help protect my investment of 200 feet of varnished rail and gunnel.

Ex Sailor said:

I don't mind putting a coat of something on the teak each year, but I don't want to have to strip ever again.

My question is, is Cetol a product that will lift at the seams like varnish? How long will it last if I maintain it with the annual coat?

Click to expand...

Cetol ? Stay away from this stuff ! been there / worked my ass off / done that !




https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/varmain.html


There are Canadian and US distributors of it, can't say enough good stuff about this product ..... fb[/QUOTE]


Impressive stuff!! This will be number one on my list as I get closer to work on the Trojan this spring/early summer...

Any links to those US distributors you mentioned...?

Thanks!

Cetol is a finish like all the others, although they brag that since it will breathe, it won’t lift as readily. That might be true. However, finish failures start where UV exposure is worse and more importantly, where water penetrates or is trapped.

So, all of us with older woodwork have checks/cracks, failing or receding sealant lines, or failing glue joints. No finish will cope with those problems.

I swoon over the appearance of beautiful boats with glossy brightwork. But, I cannot cope with wooding, finishing, and premature failure. And I cannot cope with removing and rebedding as a prerequisite for success.

Silvery, grey Teak is lovely, too!

What about “ le tonkinois “. - Anyone have experience with that ?

following.

We went from varnish to Cetol years ago for all our outside teak. It may not be as pretty as a really good varnish job, but it is sure a hell of a lot easier, and pretty enough for us!

DHeckrotte said:

Cetol is a finish like all the others, although they brag that since it will breathe, it won’t lift as readily. That might be true. However, finish failures start where UV exposure is worse and more importantly, where water penetrates or is trapped.

So, all of us with older woodwork have checks/cracks, failing or receding sealant lines, or failing glue joints. No finish will cope with those problems.

I swoon over the appearance of beautiful boats with glossy brightwork. But, I cannot cope with wooding, finishing, and premature failure. And I cannot cope with removing and rebedding as a prerequisite for success.

Silvery, grey Teak is lovely, too!

Click to expand...

Agreed. I don't have much wood on my current boat but it's left unfinished with a good scrubbing every couple of months. Works for me.

I had a sailboat 25 years ago that had a lot of teak, and I hired out the refinishing to a guy who used a blend of Semco and Cetol. He swore by it, but I wasn't super excited by the results... It held up well for a couple of years until I sold the boat, but in hindsight I wished I had just used traditional teak oil with regular applications.

2 years ago I took our teak toe rails down to wood. Did the 3 coats per the directions. Keep in mind that we are in Michigan, not exactly the UV hotspot of the US, and that our boat is stored indoors 6 months a year. Given that about 1/2 way through our 2nd summer the Cetol was gone in many places. Not peeling just gone. I am now going to go the painted route with our teak since I don’t want to go through another product and have it fail in short order.

IMO Cetol works really well if you do as you said the three coats BUT I apply two more coats of Gloss Cetol. I followup later (years) by scuffing with a 3M green pad and apply another coat of gloss.

Comodave.

consider a couple of sloppy coats of varnish before you paint. that way if you ever want to go back the paint will be easier to remove

By the time I would ever want to get rid of the paint, I will be done boating and the boat will be in my estate. The next owner can deal with it if they don’t like the paint.