Teak Spray Rails

[brice]

I have spent the past hour searching all of the forums on this so if I missed this topic being posted already, I apologize in advance.

I have a 1972 20' SeaCraft and I am in the home stretch of my restoration project. Question - what do I do with the Teak Spray Rails? Do I sand and put Teak oil on them or can I paint them the same color as the boot stripe (Black). A friend of mine said I couldn't paint them because the paint would never stay on.

Thoughts?

[Caymanboy]

Paint should stay on fine, long as they are properly prepared, primed and painted with a polyurhethane, such as Awlgrip, Sterling or Alexseal, just make sure they are primed really, really well, to seal all the wood, lots of sanding and a good prime.

[BigLew]

Teak can be painted, but must be properly prepared before applying the primer coat. The challenge is that teak has a high level of oils in it and that must be removed from the surface before painting. You should check what to use, but I think it is acetone.

Wipe done the areas to be painted to remove the oil, allow to dry and then apply the paint paint, varnish, etc. I would substantially thin the first coat in order to get as much penetration as possible so that the physical bonding of the paint is maximized, in addition to the adhesive qualities of the paint. The oils in the teak will migrate to the paint and tend to weaken the adhesive nature of the bond.

There are more detailed instructions out there. Just do a search. Good luck.

[NoBones]

Why would you want to cover Teak with paint
Those rails are unique, keep the natural look..
Just my 2 cents worth..


See ya, Ken

[McGillicuddy]

I'm with No Bone's on the natural Teak look. Search Joey's teak posts. I'm sold on his finishing process. Sand. 3 coats of epoxy. 6-10 coats of clear Awl Grip. I think even he would say its overkill... I've only seen his work in fotos but it looks like a million bucks! No reason why the process wouldn't work with pigment...

[gofastsandman]

There is a product called teak wonder which in not an oil , but a sealer. Sand, 5 coats, and recoat every 6 mos. Mix really well. It doesn`t require a brightener or the removal of soft grain. I used it on my forward teak which gets banged around and not a good candidate for varnish.
GFS

Oil will get dark and ugly.

[BigLew]

FWIW, My money is on clear but tough, spray rails take a beating!

Is teak oil considered an enviromental hazard should some come off in the water? For a trailered boat it would not be a HUGE deal; moored or slipped it would be a PIA.

[joey]

Thanks McGillicuddy...I like teak! It can be a pain to keep up,but it looks good.

I would think that if the spray rails on this boat are as old as the boat that most of the natural oils are gone.Anyway,it certainly could be sanded,epoxied and painted.I would hesitate on using AwlGrip or Alexseal only because 2/3's of the spray rail will be under water on a 20.I made rails out of fir on a 20 I did last year and bottom painted the boat including the spray rails and it looked pretty good.

[scrapper]

is this a worht while addition ? will this cut down on the water my 23 throws up ?? the ride is great,but,it get a little moist,if ya know what i mean

[joey]

I am a big fan of spray rails..... sray rails and trim tabs,don't leave home without them!