Matt,

I plan on doing the same thing later this year. I heard an approach using
epoxy that sounded pretty good (although I have not yet tried it). They
suggested sanding down to bare wood and then putting on a coat of
penetrating epoxy (like System Three Epoxy's clear coat) before applying a
2-3 coats of polyurethane paint. One part polyurethane works but I hear 2
part (like Awlgrip) holds up better even though it costs 3 -4 times as much
and is harder to apply). The penetrating epoxy supposedly creates a better
bond to teak than paint by itself would.

Good luck,
Mike
Halftime
Herndon, VA

-----Original Message-----

Though the boat was a real trooper cruising along the Coast, it has too
much exterior teak trim to keep up with for a guy with 2 young children.
I'm considering painting much of it, except the handrails and toerails, to
decrease the amount of maintenance.  Does anyone have experience with this
and are there strong arguments for and against doing so?  I know the new
look wouldn't appeal as much to traditionalists.

I've heard Awlgrip paint would be a good product for this.  Any others?
Should I take the teak down to the bare wood or can I paint over sanded
varnish?  How many coats are recommended?

Painting exterior teakAfter beating ourselves up trying to varnish our 34' Choey Lee pilot house for several years we decided to paint the teak. The problem with painted teak is the natural oil that stays in teak almost forever. If you don't seal it in it will ultimagely lift the paint. I don't know how well the other sealers on the market work so I'll let someone else speak to that. We chose epoxy and I called the epoxy manufacturer for directions and assurance that we were applying it right. The downside is that the original application (after sanding) of epoxy (three coats) , primer (one coat) and paint (two coats) was as labor intensive as a good varnish finish. Ep;oxy is prone to the same demons as varnish in the application, heat and moisture. The upside is that the paint is still on the teak after two years and that we anticipate repainting to be much easier than revarnish when the time comes. IVe been told, but haven't any firsthand knowledge, that varnish over epoxy is also a longer lasting finish than just varnish. Expoxy, by the way, is not cheap but once you start using it you'll find you do everything but cook with it. Humm, Epoxy Empanadas. Luck,
Jeff
----- Original Message -----
From: Wiegold, Mike
To: 'DaddyMatt' ; to post msg. TWL
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 3:46 AM
Subject: TWL: RE: Painting exterior teak

Matt,

I plan on doing the same thing later this year. I heard an approach using epoxy that sounded pretty good (although I have not yet tried it). They suggested sanding down to bare wood and then putting on a coat of penetrating epoxy (like System Three Epoxy's clear coat) before applying a 2-3 coats of polyurethane paint. One part polyurethane works but I hear 2 part (like Awlgrip) holds up better even though it costs 3 -4 times as much and is harder to apply). The penetrating epoxy supposedly creates a better bond to teak than paint by itself would.

Good luck,
Mike
Halftime
Herndon, VA

-----Original Message-----

Though the boat was a real trooper cruising along the Coast, it has too much exterior teak trim to keep up with for a guy with 2 young children.  I'm considering painting much of it, except the handrails and toerails, to decrease the amount of maintenance.  Does anyone have experience with this and are there strong arguments for and against doing so?  I know the new look wouldn't appeal as much to traditionalists.

I've heard Awlgrip paint would be a good product for this.  Any others?  Should I take the teak down to the bare wood or can I paint over sanded varnish?  How many coats are recommended?