teak table finish recommendations?

I've got a couple of foldable teak tables. I'm debating putting a finish on them to help ward-off staining/discoloring. I've varnished other items in the past and I'm not eager to inflict that ordeal upon myself again. Especially not with a grate patterned table.

Leaving it to go gray is not what I'm after.

Any suggestions or warnings of what to avoid?

We have two teak tables that I finished with a polyurethane. Could not be happier. The finish has stood up better than any varnish I’ve used through the years. You can spray it or brush it.

With a table which does not spend it's life in the weather you can't beat polyurethane. It's just a matter of how much work you want to put into it. For a really great, deep finish I put a light coat on and sand it off with 320, then do it again. Then up to 10 coats, maybe sand it down once or twice somewhere in the 10 coats. Then finish it of by sanding down to about 1200 or 1500 then finally rottenstone with water, by hand. Lots of work but mostly time involved.

It will look professional !!

pete

Pete Meisinger said:

With a table which does not spend it's life in the weather you can't beat polyurethane. It's just a matter of how much work you want to put into it. For a really great, deep finish I put a light coat on and sand it off with 320, then do it again. Then up to 10 coats, maybe sand it down once or twice somewhere in the 10 coats. Then finish it of by sanding down to about 1200 or 1500 then finally rottenstone with water, by hand. Lots of work but mostly time involved.

It will look professional !!

pete

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Yes, poly. Multiple coats with some sanding. But finish with buffer and compound, as if doing the hull. Much faster than sanding and glass- like results.

If the table is a grate, you’ll go nuts trying to apply a shiny varnish like finish.
I’d oil it. Watco Teak Oil would be my choice.

That’s assuming the tables are not left continuously in the sun. The oil finish won’t last long in the sun but should last for years if the tables are stored in shade.

I think oiled teak is prettier than varnished teak anyway.

Semco sealer is really easy to use and quick to recoat if needed. It won’t give much of a shine but keeps the wood from going gray.

Here is a photo of our teak deck with Semco sealer.

wkearney99 said:

I've got a couple of foldable teak tables. I'm debating putting a finish on them to help ward-off staining/discoloring. I've varnished other items in the past and I'm not eager to inflict that ordeal upon myself again. Especially not with a grate patterned table.

Leaving it to go gray is not what I'm after.

Click to expand...

Our folding teak grate-table is usually on the bridge, covered with hardtop but exposed to sunlight from sides, etc. I haven't done anything to it over about 3 years, and it still looks like original, i.e., only slightly weathered.

We also have two semi-matching teak grate-trays, one used only as a tray to schlepp stuff from galley to wherever, and I fitted the other with a Magma rod-holder attachment thingy... so I can place it in one of a couple movable rod holders that I've installed just to give myself a couple more (one at a time) flat areas for drinks and snacks and so forth.

The rod-holder table version is often in direct sunlight, at least for a while on many days. Anyway, both of those look pretty much as new, also over about a 3-year period.

Not seeing any gray.

-Chris