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Exterior grade finish for Teak

10/9/21

Hello everyone. As long as I have been a pro, for 27 years, I rarely have ever used Teak. I have a project where my customer wants me to make a two person glider and two rocking chairs. We are in Chicagoland, so the brutal snow winters are inevitable. I am looking for a finish that will be strong enough to hold up to the Chicago climate. I need something that will allow snow to literally sit on the Teak and not break down/ruin the finish. Is there such an animal? I have reached out to my supplier to find out if I use 2K isolante, along with a 2K acrylic urethane by ilva, will be strong enough to hold up for the long term. (He is going to reach out to the manufacturers rep to see what they suggest.)He is going to reach out to the manufacturers rep to see what they suggest)

I spoke to one other professional recently who suggested tung oil and Naptha (3 coats until it turns out like honey)or mineral spirits as a cut with tung oil. He claimed that combination would do what I am looking for. To me, tung oil has always been an interior finish.

Thoughts? Ty

10/9/21 #2: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

RichC

Any film finish I have used is doomed on exterior wood because of wood movement. The seasonal or daily movement will sooner or latter crack the finish. Then water gets in the crack and the film completely fails then. Don't use any organic oils as they are susceptible to allowing mold and mildew to grow. Sorry, but I don't have a current preference for outdoor. You can caution the customer that oil needs a renewable nearly every year, and film finishes need to be stripped and redone around every 5 years. I can't understand why they won't store it away in the winter. Who sits outside in Chicago in Jan and Feb at the least! Or do they plan on using it to reserve parking places?

10/9/21 #3: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Mike

What are your or anyone�s thoughts on typical teak oil And needing to do that say twice a year.

They live in an area where I don�t believe they have a garage that is going to be big enough to store a double person glider and two rocking chairs. I don�t know what the inside of their home is like, so I don�t know if they would even have room for there either.

10/9/21 #4: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

RichC

The only difference between teak oil and danish oil is that teak oil has more flatting agent in it and dries to a flat sheen. The difficult part of a glider is it is usually made of slats. And there is no more difficult construction to refinish often. Today's teak is not the teak we used decades ago. Plantation teak does not have the rot resistance of old growth teak. I have no experience with teak or danish oil for outdoors. This article may help you.

10/9/21 #5: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Mike

What are your or anyone�s thoughts on typical teak oil And needing to do that say twice a year.

10/9/21 #6: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Adam

Film finishes are useless in a harsh climate. Especially horizontal surfaces where you will have ice, snow, water sitting on it for long periods of time. It doesn�t matter what type of film. Once it gets scratched the water will get under the finish and will delaminate/ discolour. Very high maintenance. Every year or two depending on the damage you will have to �wood� the finish and grind it all back.

The other issue with film finishes is UV protection. I have no idea about the 2K�s you mentioned, but the best marine varnishes need to be recoated annually. Those have the highest UV protection available and still get trashed on boats from the sun.

I would look at using a penatrating finish. Checkout Penofin. It�s used on Ipe decking. Sikkens makes many different products. You need to research them and test some one teak specifically. They look different on all woods. The older versions looked a bit orange on teak. They have better products now.

Tung oil is not rated for exterior use.

No matter what you do it will be an annual maintenance problem. On the real high end houses in CT is common for them to put covers on the nice outdoor furniture.

I�m an architectural woodworking & boat guy. No good solutions for this problem.

10/9/21 #7: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Mike

Thank you Adam. Makes total sense. So, when it comes to putting a finish on teak for a boat, what do you recommend? I also strongly advised the customer to put custom-made slip covers with an exterior material on top of them send it to bring them inside from the elements as possible during the winter

10/9/21 #8: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Mike

Adam, what do u think about teak oil? I know it may need to be coated a few times a year. Will a product like teak oil be OK for the spring/summer and fall rain storms?

10/9/21 #9: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Adam

We still do versions of varnish on boats. They have the typical oil based, poly. and high build epoxy like.

Teak oil is a high maintenance chose. There are numerous products. I�ve never liked the look. It�s for people who don�t know how to or want to spend the time varnishing , or don�t like the glossy look.

Like, I mentioned before look at Penofin or Sikkens. Teak oil is cheap rubbish in my opinion. Any of the penetrating finishing will get you thru your stormy weather. There is also aesthetics. Plus, Once a year should be enough or find another product.

10/9/21 #10: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Mike

K. Could you pls provide me model numbers/names to those you recommend? Ty

10/10/21 #11: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Bob Niemeyer

Member

Website: niemeyerrestoration.com

Mike, We are not far from you(more north) and we do our share of Teak Patio furniture.
I have been finishing for 41 years and so far this is the best I have found so far. Epifanes Teak Oil Sealer. Every type of finish has its pros and cons. Every product will have maintenance.
I Suggest buy a liter and make samples. Epifanes is easy to recoat and works well.

Epifanes Teak Oil Sealer

10/10/21 #12: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Nick

I live in a more mild climate than Chicago & north of there (thank god) and there is no answer to this question only compromises. I agree with the Epiphanies plus a maintainice contract or if that's not what you do suggest it.

10/10/21 #13: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Nick

PS; of course there is a reason teak is used outside in the harshest of climates. It's silica content enables it to do so without damage even without any finish at all. If your clients don't mind it silvering and are willing to move it indoors during winter...no finish might be the best finish.

10/13/21 #14: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

David Sochar

Website: http://www.acornwoodworks.com

Zackly. Teak is used when wood is desired, but endless refinishing is not. The current crop of buyers that want Teak do not want it for its extreme weatherability, but for its quiet cachet of class. Go to England and dit on a 100 yr old Luytens teak bench that has never had a finish, and suggest to them they really should get with the program.

10/19/21 #15: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

John

Member

I'm near Niagara Falls so the weather is fairly similar to Chicago. There are several Pentofin products; the Hardwood Oil one doesn't hold up on Ipe' worth a damn. Nor does Ipe' Oil or Armstrong Clark's product. I'm fairly optimistic a product called One Time is going to work fairly well, but won't know for sure until next Spring.

Covers are your best option if you use a film finish, or any finish actually. Once I started covering my Epifanes Marine Varnish finished black locust bench with one I've done zero additional maintenance. Prior to that it would crack/peal just as Adam described.

John

10/23/21 #16: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Bart

In the early 2000's I helped out my neighbor selling teak furniture on weekends. Over the course of 3yrs I acquired a fair bit teak furniture mostly exterior stuff. Being a "pro finisher" and wanting my teak to look good I used Semco. It's a penetrating solvent sealer. Almost watery. Easy to use and if you catch it before it fails easy to re-seal. Just light power wash, light scrub brush, let it dry real good and re-seal. It has a kind of dead look in the tinted versions but I thought it looked better than weathered gray. But when you got 8 chairs and a10ft table it's still kind a of pain in the rear. About 10yrs ago I finally just let it all fade out and just hit it with some 220gr on wear areas and tabletop once or so a year. I'm over it.

cheers
my2cts

http://www.semcoteakproducts.com/

10/23/21 #17: Exterior grade finish for Teak ...

Bart

BTW, If you do go with any type of finish invest in covers. Not cheap but they will definitely stretch out your maintenance schedule.

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