Sceptre Cabin Door - Teak (Wanted)

[strick]

I used to have a redwood deck refinishing business years ago and I can assure you the best way to clean those louvered vents is to do what trident said and spray oxalic acid over the entire door...then take a household pressure washer with a 25 degree tip and CAREFULLY go over the door and vents. Always go with the grain when using a power washer. After everything dries give it a light sanding and treat with what ever you choose. We just re did the teak door on our Tsunami and it came out great.

I've heard people say that the power washer will remove the natural oils from the teak...that's a bunch of BS. It will not remove anymore of the natural oils then when you scrub and clean by hand.

strick

[77SceptreOB]

Great info guys.... a couple of concerns:

1) the Teak louvers a very pited and weathered by the sun. I'm concerned that I would have to sand a lot of material off before I got back to a good quality teak surface.

2) Heavy sanding would remove a lot of material, thus thinning and weakening the louver. One good accidental smack with my knee and I'll have many broken louvers, and wish I never messed w/ it. See the pictures below to show the weathering when I found the boat in July 2009.

[htillman]

Teaks weathers gray as a way to protect itself. I would recommend using something such as Tip Top Teak or Teka to clean and then bleach the wood. Use scotchbrite to clean the louvers with the cleaner. Then sand to remove the "raised hair" and varnish. The first couple of coats will help build the surface. Another product to finish the door instead of varnish is Decks Ole.

[Bushwacker]

That boat really cleaned up nice! You should have shown us the "before" picture before! Bleaching the wood is a good idea and should not hurt it much but I would not use the Tip Top Teak if you're worried about getting the louvers too thin, as it will remove a lot of the soft grain. I've also used Deks Olje #1 & #2. It's not bad but will not hold up like Epifanes.

One tip when you're applying varnish, prop the door up on one end so the louvers are horizontal. That way the varnish will fill in the low spots in the wood. After about 6-7 coats, it'll be pretty smooth. You can wet sand any rough spots between coats with 220, or scuff it with a red 3M pad.

[MasterBaiter]

My transom doors (and the rest of my teak) looked like yours. Being a wood guy I restored all of mine last winter. It took some time but the end result was worth it. I power washed at the end of the season. Took a piece at a time in the garage and sanded and oiled them. I used a name brand profile sander, hand sanded with 60 first. The fast growth is softer but I was oiling the wood so it didn't matter.

The boat spent the summer in the Keys and the Fall in NJ. I oiled twice this year as maintainence. I don't think I'd ever varnish again.

[abl1111]

If and when you find a new door - I will buy your old one...

Just PM me when you're ready...