Teak restoration testing - TeakGuard

My Cheoy Lee has lots of teak trim around the outside of the boat, with varying levels of finish decay. I've been researching what to do with that. Some prefer not to apply any treatment to the teak and let it gray naturally. That is certainly the easiest in some cases; however, on my boat that still requires a lot of sanding to remove old finishes to make it look consistent. I also personally prefer the rich brown color that teak presents when finished, so I've been looking for a good way to make it stay looking like that. One method that I've been experimenting with is called TeakGuard, which leaves a natural brown finish with a slight sheen (not glossy and smooth like varnish). For testing purposes, I applied TeakGuard on a small section of my swim platform a year ago, and it still looks good today (see photo below). With TeakGuard, you sand the wood, use a teak cleaner, clean with water and then apply several coats of TeakGuard starting after the surface is dry. I found this process fairly easy. They say it may be necessary to apply another coat each season (which is all you need to do for maintenance), but based on the results of my swim platform test (which was subject to sun, rain and Mississippi heat), it may go a bit longer before needing a maintenance coat. Based on these results and talking to others who've used it, I'm planning to apply TeakGuard on all the outside teak.

Jim Geier
Cheoy Lee Trawler 55