Louvred Teak Doors

[danbetta]

I had to rebuild some exterior teak doors for one of my clients. I stripped the varnish off the old doors, rinsed them w/ water, and left them outside for the day to dry...

Unfortunately, it must have been 90% humidity and the teak molded in less than 8 hours. Nothing it tried would remove the mold: detergent, 2 part (acid then bleach), some bleach/detergent crystals, nada.

I tried sanding the rails just to see if that would work and it didn't. Even if it had, I had all the louvers to sand and it would have taken the better part of a lifetime.

Not being a finish woodworker, I dithered on the project all summer. I finally found a video on how to make a jig by the Norm the Carpenter (this old house) in Japanese...

They came out pretty good!

Pieces all cut, holes drilled for dowels/glue (no screws used, dowels were not drilled through.


Slots routed in side rails for louvers.


Jig for routing slots.


Glued up and drying.


After 4 or 5 coats of varnish (10 total).

 

[danbetta]

Teak Boarding Steps

Some teak boarding steps in need of a little TLC

Before:


Before:


Nothing that a little 80 grit won't take care of. Followed w/ 120 then 180.


Couple of coats of Cetol later just needing a few non-skid strips of tape (lasts a lot longer than varnish and a lot easier to maintain. Great for non "bright work" but I wouldn't use it on showy stuff.)

 

[danbetta]

Strip / Re-finish on 26' motor boat

This boat had been totally neglected. A good reason why I caution people to stay away from varnish - if you can't do it yourself (time/skill) then be prepared to pay for it as it needs to be maintained regularly.

Before:






After 8 or so coats w/ a few more to finish it off.