I dedicated this weekend to varnishing the teak rub rails. As always, more work than I planned! During the week I started on locating the route for my electrical wiring. This entailed drilling holes and other slots to accommodate the wiring. The more I get into it, the more I realize that I want to do all the painting and such on the inside before I start to actually lay out the wire.
I started Saturday morning with removing the tape on the inside of the rub rail that was used to protect it from painting the deck. UGHH.. the exposed wood below the tape absorbed the paint up behind the tape. Took half the day just to sand the paint off. After I while I quit being so meticulous and just left some of the paint.. I plan on caulking between the deck and the rub rail, so hopefully it will hide some of it. Used 220 grit to finish off the sanding.
Picking my battles at this point!
Saturday night I wiped on some Barkeepers Friend, which contains Oxalic acid, to bleach the wood a bit.
This morning, I wiped the rub rail with some denatured alcohol to combat the oil in the teak. Then applied my first coat of Epifanes varnish.
I cut the first coat with 25% mineral spirits to thin out the varnish so that it would absorb in the wood better. This is a shot after a few minutes. You can see that it is splotchy, which is to be expected. Showing areas where the varnish was absorbed by the wood.
I am using Epifanes Wood Finish Gloss, which is formulated so that sanding is not required between coats. My goal is to apply 1 coat every day for the next 5 days. (or more). I will then use Epifanes Clear Gloss Finish for the final coat.
Just a shot to show the before.
and after first coat of varnish.
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