I’m looking for suggestions for a treatment for the teak veneer that is on the inside of the cabin. The bronze portlights sweat at times wetting this wood and causing black stains to appear. I don’t want to paint this surface. Has any one tried a teak sealer? Any ideas are appreciated.
I have 6 coats of Flagship, gloss varnish on mine. Somewhat of a pain to do but looks terrific…overnight moisture wipes right off…seems to brighten the cabin with the light bounce off the cabin…don’t reckon I’ll have to re-do it in my lifetime…Tom
There is a similar-sounding problem under the varnish at the bottom of a couple of Itchen’s portlights even though the varnish itself is in great shape with plenty of thickness. I think it is caused by moisture getting into the end grain of the wood there and afffecting the finish from underneath. Source of the moisture is probably some combination of condensation, sea spray and rain wicking down between the flange and into the underlying wood.
I plan to pull the portlight flange and if that is indeed the problem, probably seal the endgrain with epoxy after making sure it is thoroughly dried-out. As for dealing with the discoloration, some combination of oxalic acid solutuion followed by stain is one classic approach but that will have to wait until the problem is better identified, and only after some cautious testing. The varnish over and next to the discolored area would first have to be scraped and sanded down to bare wood so it’s not a simple job. At this point the problem is not very visible so my first priority is to stop the moisture from getting into the wood under the varnish.
Scott
Sound like you are on the right track. We have seen similar stains where exposed end-grain wicked seawater or condensation from ports where the bedding has failed. We have been using Sikaflex on sealed wood to bed ports and have yet of have stains reappear.
We found when staining wood, we first used a sealer coat of varnish and stained over the sealer to prevent stain saturation and getting a blotchy appearance.
Marty
BCC Forums bccforums@samlmorse.com wrote:
Author: Itchen
Username: Itchen
Subject: Re: Portlights
Forum: BCC Forum
Link: http://www.samlmorse.com/forum/read.php?5,4155,4160#msg-4160
There is a similar-sounding problem under the varnish at the bottom of a couple of Itchen’s portlights even though the varnish itself is in great shape with plenty of thickness. I think it is caused by moisture getting into the end grain of the wood there and afffecting the finish from underneath. Source of the moisture is probably some combination of condensation, sea spray and rain wicking down between the flange and into the underlying wood.
I plan to pull the portlight flange and if that is indeed the problem, probably seal the endgrain with epoxy after making sure it is thoroughly dried-out. As for dealing with the discoloration, some combination of oxalic acid solutuion followed by stain is one classic approach but that will have to wait until the problem is better identified, and only after some cautious testing. The varnish over and next to the discolored area would first have to be scraped and sanded down to bare wood so it’s not a simple job. At this point the problem is not very visible so my first priority is to stop the moisture from getting into the wood under the varnish.
Scott
Thanks for all of the comments. Turns out I had some time (1 day) waiting for a haul out. With some intrepedation, I took out the ports. Turned out not to be as big a deal as I thought. Stripper took off the varnish and oxalic acid removed the discoloration. The ports are not bedded from the inside which made removal easier. The secret maybe to get sealer or exterior varnish under the bronze in the inside. We tried a sealer/teak oil and it looks great - like new. Hopefully having the wood finished and sealed under the bronze will stop the creeping stains. It was probably also beneficial to rebed the ports as well. An added benefit was that the ports were also polished.
Wayne
BCC Odyssey
Did you polish the ports yourself or have them professionally polished?
I recall when I first acquired by BCC six years ago spending an enormous amount of effort to polish the cowl vents, only to have them return to their patina state in less than 1 week.
Our Dorades were a mottled brown when we got them. I fully expected them to patina back to brown but wanted a uniform color when they turned. I polished them with a 3M gray scrubber pad and 3M Finesse-it fiberglass and paint polish, knocks the oxidation quick. I then used Prism polish we got at the boat show, 4 months later, darned if they are still bright and highly polished; it seams Prism has a sealer which the manufacturer says will last up to 6 months.
For stainless steel we use the same trick, works through minor corrosion and its quick.
Marty Chin
BCC Forums bccforums@samlmorse.com wrote:
Author: Dioscouri
Username: Dioscouri
Subject: Re: Portlights
Forum: BCC Forum
Link: http://www.samlmorse.com/forum/read.php?5,4155,4172#msg-4172
Did you polish the ports yourself or have them professionally polished?
I recall when I first acquired by BCC six years ago spending an enormous amount of effort to polish the cowl vents, only to have them return to their patina state in less than 1 week.
My wife spent the better part of the day polishing them. The main thing was to get off small bits of varnish that was along the edges. I expect that the shine will soon fade, but don’t really mind that as long as it is constant over the entire surface and edges which gives a clean appearance.
Wayne