I have what appears to be teak flooring in my mid 80's Excalibur cockpit flooring, I have been removing the old yellowed varnish and I would like to know if I should oil it or polyurethane it....the least maintenence would be ideal....what should I do?.....other than to carpet it.....It will have a rug in the hi-traffic area's....Fred

Fred call Dave he used some cool stuff on the Sea Ragg!You going on the northern michigan fun run with me? should be a gas!!!

Thats right Don, I saw Crazyhorses Sea-Rag after he did that...I just want to do it once and be done.....that old varnish is a real ***** to sand off....as far as the fun run I am working on what I am doing with all my vacation time now....talk to you west siders soon....Fred

Fred I could run those through the belt sander here at work for you if you like.

The floor is like a tounge and groove oak type floor (only teak)....one big area 8' by 10' ...tonight I will try using paint stripper before sanding....I am using my DA sander now with 80 grit and have used a ton of paper already....it should look great when done....I just need to know if polyurethane is the way to go or teak oil.....Fred

one of the problems with teak is the amount of moisture it absorbs. This causes swelling and cracks the varnish type finnishes. Sure does look nice all shiny but I would just use good quality teak oil once a month if I were you.

I would use oil...it amy be a bit more maint. but in the end it woll look the best, and you won't have to go through what you're going through now to get it back looking good.

I think the oiled teak keeps it's shade of color lighter than the polyurethaned finish does also, is there a certain brand of teak oil that is better than the other?....Fred

Stick with teak oil. You'll be far better off in the long run, with less maintenance, and never having to go through the BS of sanding & refinishing like you are now.

You may need to re-apply the oil a couple/few times per season, but putting on teak oil is a piece of cake----I used to literally just pour it on and spread it around with a clean rag---done!!!

Once a year, I would pressure-wash my entire teak deck. This would bring out the golden glow of the teak--an absolutely gorgeous color, then another coat of oil.

The case to be made against pressure washing is that it tends to "raise" the grain---the hard grain stays high and the softer grain gets worn down a bit. This never bothered me, because the job was so easy, but some may avoid the pressure-washing.

Either way, use oil--you'll be glad you did.

I used a product callad "Armada" on my swim platform. After years of cleaning and bleaching and oiling only have it turn grey in a month , this stuff was great. It is specially formulated for oily teak wood. Strip it first and apply three coats. I had the boat three years after I did it and never touched it again Looked Great