Mismatched Teak Toerail Repair Varnish

[MHBsailor]

Before I purchased my CD, it suffered a small amount of teak toerail damage at a dock during a storm. Although the yard did a nice job splicing in a replacement piece, it doesn't match the rest of the teak toe rail despite them always using the same Petit varnish. There s definitely varnish on the lighter piece. The only thing that I can think of that could cause this is that they used a different type of teak and am wondering if teak is this variable in its ability to take varnish from lot-to-lot, or if this application technique related. Of course, I'd like it to match the vast majority of the existing toe rail. Thanks in advance for any thoughts that you might have, especially from prior experience with this issue.

[John Stone]

The varnish is not the cause unless it has some kind of pigment in it. Most spar varnishes are clear. Teak, like all wood, comes in various color and grain patterns. Unless you stain all the wood before you varnish (a bad idea in my book because it conceals the woods real beauty) you are going to initially see some differences. Over time, however, the sun’s UV rays will even it up and at some point it should all blend nicely.

[Frenchy]

The edges of the splotchy area seem to indicate some kind of coating is on the wood- maybe a thin veil of epoxy?
I would try sanding a small area where it abuts the original teak, then wetting it and seeing if the color matches better.
If so, sand the whole area. If there is epoxy or some other kind of contamination, stain won't help. Good luck - Jean

[John Stone]

I saw this last night on my phone. On a closer look, I can’t see the exact edge of the repair. Frenchy may be right, that there is a coating, which could include epoxy under the varnish. Have you talked to the boatyard that made the repair? That seems like the first step. If there is a coating then it will may have to come off to allow the varnish to penetrate the wood. That might be accomplished with a heat gun and scraper. But I can’t be sure without seeing it.

Even so, there will be some discoloration with freshly scraped teak and new varnish. The sun will even it out over the long haul.

I’d be interested to know what the boatyard manager has to say about it. Keep us posted.

[Frenchy]

I'm a dummy - I skipped right over where you said the YARD varnished the rail. That's inexcusable. The
varnisher should have stopped and investigated. They should correct this at no charge. - Jean

[Steve Laume]

It looks like fresh teak and varnish vs old with more coats of varnish. What makes it more noticeable is a rather abrupt transition. Old and new finishes are never going to match when fresh. What would help is if the old varnish was feathered into the repair area. This would require progressive grades of sandpaper on a sanding block to taper the old finish down gradually. The new varnish probably needs a lot more coats to blend in as well. Once again these could be tapered into the old finish so that it more closely matched the surrounding area. Time in the sun is the only thing that will ultimately blend the colors. Having the same type and amount of finish on the repair area is also important. I seriously doubt the yard took the time to build up as many coats as you have on your original bright work, Steve.

[MHBsailor]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I should clarify that the repair was conducted by the yard for the previous owner a couple of years ago, and the boat was in indoor storage for most of the time thereafter, so it probably didn't see a lot of sunlight. I will check with the yard and see if they epoxied the new piece in - that would explain why the wood isn't taking the varnish. To be continued...

[MHBsailor]

So I finally figured out what was going on. As previously mentioned, the yard said they replaced a small section of the port teak toe rail that was damaged and applied varnish (instead of stripping the entire length and re-varnishing). Turns out the varnish in the lighter section over the replaced teak had come up from the substrate. Because at this point I want to get in, I cut out the delaminated section of varnish, sanded, wiped then applied several coats of new varnish (with the first coat suitably thinned). That should do until the fall when I will re-do it properly by removing and re-varnishing the entire port toe rail.