Teak finishes -- SEMCO questions

[MFC]

G'morning CD'ers-

I've been reading brightwork threads for days now and each time I think I have hope for a way to deal with my brightwork -- it is crushed by the next contradictory post!

My exterior teak is all silvered and rough. I really want to begin cleaning it up but I can't decide on a finish. I know varnish is not my speed -- I am very hesitant to use any hard topcoat which might require a major removal effort upon failure. So, my immediate goal is to clean up the teak I have and find a way to preserve it in that state without committing to a topcoat.

The two products which I am thinking about at this point are SEMCO or oil.

Oil seems easy enough to clean up and remove if I change course (a little scrub and some acetone). SEMCO appears to offer much better longevity (and I like the looks of it). I don't know how easy it would be to remove it in order to apply varnish, cetol or some other topcoat.

For those of you who have experience with SEMCO teak sealers:

How easy or difficult is it to completely remove the sealer from the teak if you decide to use a different treatment for the teak (i.e., varnish or cetol or honey teak)?

How easy is it to restore a nice appearance if you don't recoat quite soon enough?

Do you need to tape off before using SEMCO? In other words, does it stain gel coat?

Thanks!
Matt

[bhartley]

I switched from teak oil to Semco Natural after getting frustrated with the rapid return of mold in the oil. I was very disappointed in the Semco. I chose natural and applied it to both brand new teak (at the end of the cockpit adjacent to the outboard and to the toe/rub rails and coamings which had previously been oiled and cleaned with a two part cleaner and sanded to prep.

The teak appeared washed out with the Semco and it became more pronounced as the season progressed in the Georgia sun. It didn't get moldy which was good, but it always looked like my teak was pine! Maybe it was because we chose Natural, but I was disappointed. After about 6 months it needed to be reapplied (started to get spotty), but we chose not to. It came off with a two part cleaner the next season with no problem.

<img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_bfbacvRXBD0/S8CMW ... CF0120.JPG" /></a>

[dsholler]

I have had quite the opposite experience. I use Semco every year, and it has been great. I have heard other people complain about the Semco natural (which has no pigments) vs. the pigmented ones..

Originally, I stripped and cleaned the teak with a 2 part teak cleaner, and then painted it with the semco Honey Gold color (originally it took 4 coats to get it all covered so that water beaded quickly.. but for my typhoon I can do all of the exterior wood in one hour.. so I can get in at least 2 coats on a warm day.. )

Each year, I have put 2-3 coats on it.

The stuff does break down over the course of the summer, and by fall it is looking a little duller than it was in the spring. Also it does not stand up to abrasion at all (spot where one of my docklines rubs aganst a bit of the toerail has to be touched up.

The good thing about it is that it is very easy to do , and very easy to clean. If you spill it on porous gel coat, you can rub it off with some mineral spirits. If you let it dry, it takes a bit of work to get out, and there is some stuff where I got it on the gelcoat and did not realize it, that has been there for years, and which I will probably have to compound off. However, I do the entire boat without masking at all, other than putting a few paper towels under vertical pieces (hatchboard coamings) to catch the drips.

I have been doing this for 15 years, and it was only in the past year or two that I have noticed a pronounced darkening of the teak in some areas. This makes the finish a bit less than uniform if you look close up, Up close,even when new, it does not look that nice.. basically like brown paint, but the 30ft view is fantastic.. mimics the color of clean oiled teak pretty well, and I get plenty of compliments.

It is relatively cheap, easy to apply, takes very little time, and looks good from normal viewing distance, is perfect in my book.

(Also, the finish is pretty resistant to chemicals.. I use it on the cockpit coamings, and get sunscreen and other stuff all over it, and that does not take it off. It seems to be sunlight that really breaks it down. I suppose I could improve it by stripping and cleaning the teak again to removed the weathered areas, but this spring's project is to paint the interior, so that will have to wait. )

[Duncan]

Oil is just not a good option for your exterior teak, because it will blacken it. The black is from the bacteria that will feed on the oil, and the more you feed them oil, the worse your teak will look.

If you want a low-maintenance finish, then natural is the way to go. That's why teak started being used originally: it's hard and oily and stands up well to exposure. An occasional bleaching with diluted oxalic acid can keep it looking well-tended.

It's all a matter of personal preferences from there. For every coating, there is always someone who says it's wonderful, and someone who says it's awful. My personal preference is varnish, because it's easy and it works and it looks beautiful.

I don't know why people say varnish is difficult, unless it's because they think it has to be perfect. A decent varnishing job doesn't need to be museum-quality, and it still looks good and lasts well.

[Cathy Monaghan]

"....I have heard other people complain about the Semco natural (which has no pigments) vs. the pigmented ones.. ..."

We have been using Semco for 15 years, and we've been using the "Natural" color the entire time. It DOES contain pigment, but it is a light golden color. Semco is considered both a teak oil and sealer.

As mentioned in one of the above-postings, it's only good for few months before it needs recoating. And for those of us in the Notheast, that's pretty much the entire sailing season, but it's VERY easy to apply. That's why we use it. We want to spend more time sailing and less time fussing with the wood. We always get compliments on how nice our boat looks, especially the teak. Most think there is nothing on it and want to know how we keep it so nice and prevent it from turning gray.

We usually apply 2 or 3 coats (go for 3) in the Spring -- for us that's June. It lightens up and needs recoating by early September. But like I mentioned, it's really easy to apply.

If you prefer the darker amber color of varnished teak (like the color of your interior teak), then go with Semco Goldtone rather than Natural. It won't be shiny like varnished teak. If that's what you're looking for, this is not the product for you. Anyway, it comes in 5 different colors.

Here are a few photos of Realization's teak with Semco Natural. They were snapped in late August 2009 and you can see it's almost time for another coating:

<a href="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c349/ ... G_1463.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c349/ ... 3.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c349/ ... G_1441.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c349/ ... 1.jpg"></a>

Hope this helps,
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[dsholler]

Cathy is correct, I misspoke about some of the colors. I did have a friend who used the unpigmented SEMCO sealer (I believe it is labeled "clear") on some exterior teak, and it did not last long at all (6 weeks or so)
And the color I use is "goldtone"

I am about to go out and wash the teak on my typhoon, hopefully I can get a coat on it today or tomorrow.

[tartansailor]

G'morning CD'ers-

I've been reading brightwork threads for days now and each time I think I have hope for a way to deal with my brightwork -- it is crushed by the next contradictory post!

Thanks!
Matt

Welcome to the Cape Dory Board

[eshanabrook]

I’ll put in another plug for Semco. We’ve been mixing half and half the natural and honey for a less “pigmented lookâ€

[Cathy Monaghan]

Cathy is correct, I misspoke about some of the colors. I did have a friend who used the unpigmented SEMCO sealer (I believe it is labeled "clear") on some exterior teak, and it did not last long at all (6 weeks or so)
And the color I use is "goldtone"

I am about to go out and wash the teak on my typhoon, hopefully I can get a coat on it today or tomorrow.

I think the Semco "Clear" is meant to be used as a topcoat, but I don't really see a need for one. Anyway, the following is quoted from Semco's own web site regarding the "Clear":

<center>"#1
Cleartone
Contains no pigment, looks like oil; not as weather resistant."</center>

So the Clear really isn't the best choice when it comes to using Semco.

Hope this helps,
Cathy

[Sally Perreten]

We've used it first on our 27 and now on our Typhoon and we haven't found a better solution for the teak issue. About 15 years. It's not the perfect answer, but it's the best we can find. We don't want some coating that is hard to remove or looks fakey.

Sally