Teak outdoors

[enecosse]

I have 2 raillings and a gate where I have used teak, 2 were finished last year the gate I finished a couple of weeks ago, supplier of teak gave me duff advice, I would like if possible to retain the colour as when installed
as this picture

The balcony railling seems to be taking the brunt of the weather and are going silvery grey, I have already coated with teak oil, I have had to do this after the raillings had only been up for a couple of (summer) months, am I going to have to keep oiling the wood or are their alternatives,
I can remove the wood from the raillings.

 

[Derek Willis.]

This seems to be a problem with Teak outside, it always goes grey, no matter how often it is treated, in my own experience you can do no more than oil with regularity, but I bet it still goes grey.
Best of luck with it.
Derek.

 

[Jake]

You'll have to use an exterior stain to keep a lustrous colour without endless maintenance. The finish has to have a degree of opacity to block UV effectively enough to stop it going grey.

I'm sure Sikkens or Impra or someone like that will do a teak-coloured stain, and the better ones (like those) are fairly subtle and don't obscure the grain too much.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

You might be better asking questions on a boat forum like Practical Boat Owner.

The silver grey aging of teak has nothing to do with UV light, it's the oils in the wood oxidising and leaving it on the surface. It can be sealed to keep the rich orange/brown appearance and I know it's the done thing in the USA so a question on a USA boating forum might yeald better answers than the UK forum. Teak cleaners can be bought in most boat chandlers but it's pricey.

Personally I prefer it to go silver grey, but if you really want that new look it can be scrubbed with soap and water but it must be scrubbed across the grain and not with the grain, but even scrubbing across the grain will lead to removal of wood each time it's done.

 

[Jake]

The silver grey aging of teak has nothing to do with UV light, it's the oils in the wood oxidising and leaving it on the surface. It can be sealed to keep the rich orange/brown appearance

I think you will find that it is largely to do with UV, as with any other wood exposed to sunlight.

I have some in my cellar, which is apparently 50 years old, no finish, still teak-coloured. The difference? Not exposed to bright sunlight (UV).

On a boat, the salt water probably doesn't help.

Those sealers you mention will have UV inhibitors in them, otherwise they wouldn't work and the teak would go grey anyway.

It's not just the oils that degrade, it's the cell structure (rub a silvered piece of teak and you can feel the damage from the texture).

 

[Lord Nibbo]

On a boat, the salt water probably doesn't help.


It's not just the oils that degrade, it's the cell structure (rub a silvered piece of teak and you can feel the damage from the texture).

No salt water preserves teak on a boat it's rain water with acid in it that does the damage.

When you rub or scrub a piece of teak all your doing is rubbing off the oxidisation from the oil that has leached out, it's that loss of oil that degrades teak, thats why you shouldn't really remove it by scrubbing as I said it's better to let it go grey and leave it alone.

 

[wizer]

My honest opinion would be not to try and fight it. You'll be sanding it back each year and re-treating it and it's more trouble than it's worth. I tried to keep a Yellow Balau Deck the beautiful natural colour and failed miserably.

 

[Woodfinish Man]

Agreed Tom, protecting decking is a nightmare. I don't believe there's a product on the market that will prevent annual cleaning and recoating.

For these really nice gates I'd recommend you clean/sand off as much of the teak oil as possible and get yourself some Jotun Butinox 1. This is a translucent finish that offers UV protection. In order to do this it contains transoxide pigments which will change the colour of the wood but subtly, and will allow the grain to come through.

Once you've done this the gates shouldn't need any maintenance for a number of years.

Ian

 

[CNC Paul]

Enecosse,


You could try Osmo UV-Protection Oil Extra 420, this is used to maintain the natural colour
of the the wood and limit the greying process.......Failing that you could rub in a high factor sun cream 8)

 

[Woodfinish Man]

Received a sample of the Osmo UV Protectiion Oil two weeks ago and it's now being tested under the continuos Glasweigan sunshine (ok, torrential rain!). Looking forward to seeing if it's as good as they say. I'll come back with our results.

I must admit we've yet to find a clear exterior finish that contains UV filters and prevents greying, maybe this will prove us wrong.

 

[wizer]

Fine Woodworking did a test on outdoor finishes in this months issue and a product called Epithanes Gloss Marine Varnish came out best. I assume this is some sort of Yacht Varnish?

 

[Shrubby]

Epifanes is good stuff. Flints.co.uk is where I get mine. Good chandlers will have it too
Matt