Re: Teak Coatings
I ran a painting business for 15 years and I was certified as a “Master Painter” by the Master Painter’s Institute. The bottom to all that is to say I have above average knowledge about paints, coatings and problem solving, but admittedly I am going to give you structural advice for a marine application. Other than salt water I don’t believe boats are subject to any weather condition that stained decks don’t also have to withstand. If your boat is covered or sheltered from the sun during storage there’s a chance that a deck will see more UV light than your boat.
Around the year 2000 Consumer Reports concluded a 5 year test of about 40 deck stains. Two sets of test panels were created. One was sent to Northern US and the other to Southern US. Both were subjected to very different temperature and ambient extremes. Most of the popular name brands did not make it into the third year of the test. Only one product called Sikkens far surpassed all others. Although I have never used them Sikkens does make Marine and Teak coatings. Check out Sikkens’ parent company’s website:
http://www.akzonobel.com/aboutus/index.aspx They are the largest manufacturer of specialty coating products in the world.
I have used other Sikkens products on many different applications and hands down there is nothing else on the market that compares in appearance and durability. The best example I can give you is a home I painted that was built by a company called “Deckhouse”. Check out their site here:
http://www.deckhouse.com They used solid Mahogany for all interior and exterior wood trim, doors and siding. They are the ones who turned me on to this product. Sikkens leaves a finish that looks like furniture and in direct sunlight conditions I have seen the finish go 5 years without needing a touch up coat. Sikkens is a system of two products. One is the stain and the other is the sealer. It is very expensive. To the best of my recollection you could easily spend $40 per quart on each of the Sikkens system parts, but I am confident you will not be sorry. Before you buy anything, look into this product!
