Interior Teak Finish - 1988 Ocean Alexander

[ender]

I'm living aboard a 1988 Ocean Alexander 38. The entire interior is teak. There are several corners in the interior where people have placed their hands for decades, and the finish doesn't have the same look or feel as the rest of the interior. There are also a couple of flat surfaces in aft saloon corners where prior leaks had damaged the veneer. I have no idea what kind of surface treatment was used, but I'd like very much to make it look as good as it can. I'm not at all interested in refinishing the entire saloon, so matching the existing finish is my goal. Does anybody know what OA was using back in the late 1980's? Thanks in advance!



Thanks,
Andy

 

[Comodave]

No idea, but go to the hardware store and buy some stains that look close. You may have to mix two together. It may be that the OEM stain is no longer even available. But if you color match it fairly close it will probably look fine. Then just figure out what they put on for varnish.

 

[BruceK]

I`ve had success diluting the stain well with the specified product, and applying lighter multiple coats using a cloth (and rubber gloves!) until achieving the level of color. Allow that the varnish will make it darker. You might need to sand with very fine sandpaper first. Usually a satin gloss varnish matches. You might have to do whole panels, but try just doing the damaged areas first. It`s a bit trial and error, less of the latter if possible.

 

[Datenight]

I`ve had success diluting the stain well with the specified product, and applying lighter multiple coats using a cloth (and rubber gloves!) until achieving the level of color. Allow that the varnish will make it darker. You might need to sand with very fine sandpaper first. Usually a satin gloss varnish matches. You might have to do whole panels, but try just doing the damaged areas first. It`s a bit trial and error, less of the latter if possible.

If doing multiple coats of stain be aware that many manufactures have specific time windows after which the stain will not make a difference.

As BruceK says, after the repair is done you will have to re coat the entire panel (with your varnish or urethane of choice) to match and blend the repair.

Rob

 

[mvweebles]

I've color matched stain quite a few times over the years which means I have a shelf of cans. Stuff lasts a long time (at least the oil based stains do). Once you know your formula, consider mixing a quart so you have plenty for future projects. This may go without saying, but oil based stains are the only appropriate ones here - water based stains have a different appearance.

For a top coat, getting the right sheen is helpful. I end up using Epifanes Rubbed Effect a lot as a base. It's very low luster which seems to match a lot of older wood finishes.

Good luck - pictures are always helpful to get a sense of your coloration (honey hew or deeper colors).

Peter

 

[garbler]

Peter as a rule teak and many of the high resin/oil tropical woods don’t take to conventional oil stains very well. Same problem with highly resinous long leave or hard pines. These species won’t allow pigmented oil stains from penetrating as well as other species. The resin is the reason these woods are rot resistant and hold up so well. Typically color changes and blending is done with tinting varnish or varnish with color added. Oil stains on teak will muddy from the teak oil clouding the grain and appearance. So it depends on what you’re looking for. Varnish stains can look good on some applications and interior work may be fine

Rick

 

[mvweebles]

Peter as a rule teak and many of the high resin/oil tropical woods don’t take to conventional oil stains very well. Same problem with highly resinous long leave or hard pines. These species won’t allow pigmented oil stains from penetrating as well as other species. The resin is the reason these woods are rot resistant and hold up so well. Typically color changes and blending is done with tinting varnish or varnish with color added. Oil stains on teak will muddy from the teak oil clouding the grain and appearance. So it depends on what you’re looking for. Varnish stains can look good on some applications and interior work may be fine

Rick

Sounds good in theory. Good thing no one told the guys who just sanded/stained/varnished my teak parquet floor this week. They didn't know better and just did what they intended and it worked out fine.

As a matter of fact, my very first color-match with stain was 30+ years ago when I had to replace a teak panel in the aft cabin of my Uniflite 42 ACMY - a screw pierced the fiberglass exhaust and the spray rotted-out a teak panel. I installed a new and color-matched to the old. Worked out fine.

All woods take stain differently which is why you have to experiment a bit to get the right color/saturation. Dense hardwoods take more intensity than softwoods, of course. Fortunately, color-matching to aged wood usually doesn't take much stain to get the desired effect.

Peter

 

[garbler]

Sounds good in theory. Good thing no one told the guys who just sanded/stained/varnished my teak parquet floor this week. They didn't know better and just did what they intended and it worked out fine.

As a matter of fact, my very first color-match with stain was 30+ years ago when I had to replace a teak panel in the aft cabin of my Uniflite 42 ACMY - a screw pierced the fiberglass exhaust and the spray rotted-out a teak panel. I installed a new and color-matched to the old. Worked out fine.

All woods take stain differently which is why you have to experiment a bit to get the right color/saturation. Dense hardwoods take more intensity than softwoods, of course. Fortunately, color-matching to aged wood usually doesn't take much stain to get the desired effect.

Peter

Well it’s all about what’s acceptable just like paint jobs, joinerwork etc.

Merry Christmas

 

[Cigatoo]

Before trying any stain or varnish start with a good furniture polish. It really helped the consistency of the color on the teak panels in our boat. A couple of applications over the course of a summer brought things back.

 

[koliver]

There are several corners in the interior where people have placed their hands for decades, and the finish doesn't have the same look or feel as the rest of the interior. Thanks,
Andy

When these places are cleaned right down to the original surface, they will again look great. It should be all about removing those decades of oils and dirt that have built up in frequently grabbed places.
I refinished the interior of my own boat over the first 5 years that I owned it, and since then I have had to clean layers of oils and dirt that I personally deposited there over the next 20 years. It al comes off, mostly without too much effort. There are many cleaners that work well, so start in unimportant places and see what works for you.
If you are ever starting from bare, sanded teak, using a stain will only get you grief down the road, as that newly finished area will change colour just as much as its neighbouring areas have over the years and will only match that older finish for a relatively short time. Unstained, the changes will quickly blend the new area into the old. You will be surprised only by how quickly that will happen.

 

[Choices]

The more you sand teak the darker it will get.

 

[BruceK]

Before trying any stain or varnish start with a good furniture polish. It really helped the consistency of the color on the teak panels in our boat. A couple of applications over the course of a summer brought things back.

Good tip. The wax polish mfr brand "Black Bison" (no idea why it`s called that,I doubt any bison suffered in the manufacture) made wax polishes in a range of colors including clear.

 

[Datenight]

Waxing will make it very difficult to varnish in the future if wanted. I think waxing should be a last resort.

Rob

 

[Datenight]

The more you sand teak the darker it will get.

Choices,

I have never seen wood get darker from sanding. Could you explain?

Rob

 

[sean9c]

Teak fades when exposed to UV. You're sanding off the faded part.

Choices,

I have never seen wood get darker from sanding. Could you explain?

Rob

 

[garbler]

There are several types of teak on the market today since Burma/Myanmar and Thailand restricts export of logs. The true Burma teak was the real thing and it’s grain appearance is much different than the plantation hybrid teak sold today. Plantation teak is all you can buy and it’s grown throughout Maylasia, Indonesia, Mexico and parts of Central America even Trinidad. The color of most plantation teak is very bright but it lacks the dark speck and streaks found in the Burma teak. It also has less natural oils and therefore those disturbing looking oil pockets found when you rip the real stuff. The only teak I’ve found that stays fairly dark is Indian teak but I don’t think they export logs either. The color, grain characteristics and oil content are the result of soils and minerals in the soil.

For centuries the British Admiralty and later English timber brokers had almost complete control of the Thai and Burmese teak forests. They placed Teak Wallas who were men who actually lived and surveyed well defined allotments in the forests in movable camps. These Wallas managed the trees from marking, girdling ( cutting a band of bark and sap wood to kill trees ). Once girdled the tree was left standing a couple of years before felling, dragging out of the mountains with trained elephants to rivers where they were rafted and floated down to the saw mills on the coast. It often took four to six years to get a log on the ground and to the mills. Sometimes longer so this was a big investment in time and manpower as many Wallas were overcome from malaria, snake bites and whacked out elephants. Tough hot job.

Most teak turns grey exposed to sunlight and UV’s. Old time yachtsman’s appreciated this look and therefore thought little of varnish or coating schemes outside the cabins. When grey teak is sanded it does change color dramatically but not sure it’s darker, just golden. However oxalic acid or BarKeepers will pretty much do the same thing if not badly stained. Perhaps with some plantation hybrid teaks that have less oils you could stain but otherwise it really doesn’t work and if you stain darker then you defeat the beauty of teak and trying to stain to make lighter well that is odd

Rick

 

[Datenight]

Teak fades when exposed to UV. You're sanding off the faded part.

Still have only seen it get lighter from sanding. Not arguing, just my experience.

Rob

 

[timb7734]

I used Cetol on a painted door that gets UV all day. Instructions said don’t use over paint, don’t thin, and it was a satin finish. I thought it was too thick to use without thinning, so I cut it with thinner about 20 %, and applied it over paint. It filled any cracks, as well flowed to a striking gloss finish. I am planning to add a gloss coat last, but I couldn’t be happier.