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Old 08-29-2017, 03:29 PM   #13
DHeckrotte
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City: Philadelphia, PA
Vessel Name: Revel
Vessel Model: 1984 Fu Hwa 39
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,024
Wood changes color with sun exposure; which direction depends upon the species. Usually darker, usually browner; Teak gets lighter and yellower. True even under finishes.

Finishes change color with sun exposure; how depends upon the finish. Often 'mellow' or 'yellow', sometimes simply darker.

Give it some time in sunlight; I'd bet that the differences disappear.

Besides sunlight and UV degradation, finishes fail at points of water intrusion: cracks, joints, bedded edges. No surface treatments will stop that problem. Were you to remove and totally coat out the wood pieces with epoxy then water will be much less likely to get into the wood. Ditto coating out the wood with other finishes before installation/bedding etc. Reason is that epoxy is far less permeable than most finishes. However, epoxy has poor resistance to UV and must be coated with UV resistant finish.

I've taken to filling holes in wood with epoxy thickened with wood-based fillers. (Ex: West System resin and hardener with their 'Filleting Blend' filler.) I noticed that, on our previous boat, holes so filled survived under finishes. I reasoned that the filler impeded the UV from penetrating into the epoxy. A PO of our current boat filled some bung holes in our Teak decking with a similar substance. That filler now 'stands proud' of the rest of the wearing Teak. Similarly, I've taken to using the same filled epoxy for bonding wood on various parts of the boat with the expectation that the very narrow glueline will survive exposure.

I'm stripping the remains of failed finishes from all exterior Teak and we like the lovely grey.
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