MILES OF MASKING TAPE

[Bill]

October is the Fall month in our "coat the teak every six months" program. Six months is just long enough to forget how much effort goes into prepping the area for painting. It still amazes me to see the amount of masking tape it takes, even using newspapers. And after all that, it amazes me how I still manage to get some Cetol on the painted the surfaces :mad:

[tcoolidge]

I think it's a function of quantum mechanics. Not all the particles go where you want or expect them to go no matter what you do and sometimes they turn up in places you did not want or expect. It's physics and beyond our control.
Tom

[Scott Galloway]

Ahhhh, the beauty of Semco Teak Sealer is that if you are very careful you can apply it to teak evey six months with no masking...at least I do anyway. Just don't use the gold shade. It's too orange for my taste. The natural shade looks like new unfinished teak and retains that look until it is time to do a light once over with boat soap and water and an abrasive cloth, let dry for a day and refinish with two coats. I apply it with a cheapo one and 1/2 inch wide brush, and use the brush over again the next time.

You have to get back to raw wood first to use this stuff for the first time. A two part teak stripper will do that first stripping job. After that you don't need to strip the wood again unless you let the wood totally go by not reapplying the Semco Teak Sealer on a periodic basis. I apply it every six months.

Washing takes 1/2 hour Applying two coats of Semco Teak Sealer takes one afternoon for coaming boards, hand rails, door and companionway hatch boards, hatch trim and my pin rails. Of course, it doesn't look shiny like varnish or Cetol.

I have been using this product every six months since 2001: Once in the fall and one in the spring. As of the summer of 2007, I still like the stuff, and I wouldn't think of using anything else. I stripped and applied teak oil to teak decks on another boat for a number of years, and on yet another boat, I dealt with varnishing over and over again. The only place that I use teak oil these days is on the cabin sole. Semco Teak sealer is neaither teak oil, nor varinsh. It doesn't look like Cetol, It's a completey different product. Just use the natural shade.

[Bill]

An old BMW - 110 sailor passed on to me the sage advice that varnishing every six months was the key to success with exterior wood trim. No matter what the product.

BTW - with Cetol, all you need do is rinse the boat, wipe the teak and let dry before applying :cool:

[ebb]

I believe it is time for the admiral to post us a photo of his dolled up Ariel!
How about a 'wet' shot? West Coast rains have arrived and come in big.

[commanderpete]

Ah, the joys of brightwork. This Spring I put on another four coats of varnish while my boat was in the water.

I can still remember how good it felt just after the final coat was finished and I pulled the tape off.

Just then the guy in the next slip pulled his boat in and tied up. We chatted for a few minutes, admiring my gleaming handiwork, before I drove home.

I came back the next day and joy turned to despair. The varnish was all messed up--but only on one half of one side of the boat. I sat there trying to figure out what sort of freak atmospheric disturbance could have caused such a calamity.

Then it occured to me--my neighbor had hosed down his boat just after I left, splattering water on my wet varnish.

I can't win.

[Bill]

It's that time again :( Gathered together my paint brushes, old newspapers, 60 yards of masking tape and can of Cetol. Spent the next three days alternately cursing and crying, but the teak is now re coated. Weather was good to great (not too hot - low to upper 70's all three days - and winds were light). Good thing that in six months I will have forgotten all the pain when it's time to re coat the teak, otherwise I might get me some of that SeaBoard stuff :eek:

[CapnK]

6 months - almost that timehere, too. I got some practice-for-pay last week on a boat in the marina, so that was a Good Thing. His was even harder than mine to do - varnish worn to bare old wood on most pieces. Some Oxalic acid for the bare wood, some 100-grit for the still-in-place varnish, a lot of elbow grease, and several curses for the swarming Love Bugs (which find wet varnish to be an irrestistable stimulant on which to do their "thing", apparently...).

Katie's brightwork was done differently - all taken back down to bare wood, 3 coats of clear epoxy (sanded after the last coat had dried), and then the varnish. They still look great, but I plan to stay ahead of the game and give her a winter coat. What woman can resist a free winter coat? :D

[Bill]

The six month fun schedule arrived as usual this spring. The weather, however, was not being cooperative and the Bay Area was getting drowned. Two weeks ago, I went to prepare the boat for our first IntraIsland regatta. When I opened the hatch, what to my amazement did I see? Laid out were the Cetol, brushes, masking tape and etc., but I could not remeber doing it :confused:

Slowly my mind recovered and I recalled spending one day at the boat masking and coating the teak around the entrance hatch and then laying out newspapers on which to coat the hatch boards when I returned. Supposed to have been the next day, but I had an allergic reaction to something, went to the Dr and ended up on prednisone, a steroid. Turns out, one of the little know side effects of the stuff is memory loss. :eek: People who take prednisone for allergies call it "half"heimers as opposed to "Allz" heimers. :rolleyes:

Oh well. Finally, last Wednesday I began the masking - coating routine and completed it all by Friday (removed the masking tape Saturday), except for the four teak pads under the bow pulpit legs. Of course, things did not go as planned. The rains returned, but I managed to get the coating done early enough that any water mars are not visible from three feet away. ;)

Only five months until the next fun session . . .

[commanderpete]

I've tried all kinds of masking tape. 2 week tape, 30 day tape, 60 day tape. THEY LIE. Can be a nightmare getting it off.

Tried electrical tape also. Doesn't stick too well, but comes off easy.

Might try this stuff next

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=2149&familyName=3m+471+-+One+Month+Outoor&history=oac6jsr1%7Cother%7Cengine%7Eadwords%252164 56%5Ematch_type%7E%5EfreeText%7E3m%2B471%2Btape%5E keyword%7E*3m%2B471%2Btape*%5Epage%7EGRID

[Bill]

THEY LIE. Can be a nightmare getting it off. [/url]

Well, it is better than the "cheap stuff" from Ace Hardware. The "cheap stuff" will come off if you don't leave it on for more than a day, although what gets a lot of sun can be a bit of a trial. What the "cheap stuff" does that the expensive "blue stuff" does not do is to leave a sticky residue. The residue comes off with paint thinner, and in some cases a bit of hard rubbing. This is adding another step, but if your time is "no cost," the "cheap stuff" is really cheap, so a little extra time is not a problem. ;)

[c_amos]

......Katie's brightwork was done differently - all taken back down to bare wood, 3 coats of clear epoxy (sanded after the last coat had dried), and then the varnish......

How has that held up Kurt?

I will be breakingout the pig's nostril hair brush myself soon, and wonder about how the epoxy pre-coat thing worked out for you.

FWIW, I tried it on my winch blocks, but used the wrong thinner for the varnish.. it did not last but I know that was due to operator error. :rolleyes:

[Bill]

Finally doing the teak coating that was planned for June. Unlike earlier efforts, I'm adopting a new procedure: instead of one coat every six months, now it will be two coats every 12 months. That's the schedule used by the professionals who are coating the teak with Cetole on a friends power cruiser.

Although two once a year v. one twice a year makes sense, the real reason is to only invest in masking tape once a year instead of twice:D I remember the pain of masking as soon as I begin the process. A year will better dim the memory . . . ;)

[ebb]

Admirable Admiral,
That sounds so good!
We've had nice days befor the wind gets up.
Perfect for popping cans and stroking the boat.

You know that Costco blue tape unrolls pretty easy,
why not roll it back on again after you've used it
and put it right back 6 months from now?
It's all sized right. Saves time. And money.

But yer happy with that whale oil, huh?
__________________________________________________ _____________________________________
Occured to me this morning at 3AM that
like our favorite rigger/writer BrionToss
you'd consider a byline titled
pieces of blue tape too short to save.
:D

[Bill]

You know that Costco blue tape unrolls pretty easy,
why not roll it back on again after you've used it and put it right back 6 months from now? It's all sized right. Saves time. And money.

Now there's a thought. Might need to number the pieces and create a schematic of locations to be sure I got it right. :p

[Bill]

Should confess that, in preping for painting this time, I did not use the really cheap masking tape. :o But I did use the least expensive 3M tape (tan stuff). :rolleyes: Only a bit more expensive than the "off brand," but miles better quality. The 3M tape was still easily removable after two days in sun and fog. Probably could have gone for two or three more days . . .

[mbd]

Bill, all of this hard work surely deserves some pictures! :)

[Bill]

Bill, all of this hard work surely deserves some pictures! :)

Thought about it, but could never remember to take the camera :( Probably too offensive to post how ugly things look covered with tape and newspapers!

[ebb]

Early morning coffee time.
Nosed around on the net Scott Galloway's TIP on Semco Sealer, usually associated with teak, but works just fine on our teak alternative mahogany.

Definitely not a varnish-look alternative. What the effect is, according to the dozens of teak furniture manufacturers who recommed it, is a bare wood look. Haven't actually seen a Semco finished coaming, but I've seen a lot of failing and blotchy varnish jobs.

If it is a careful but simple procedure to reapply the sealer WITHOUT TAPE, as Scott does it, then that convinces me. Tape would not be much help with a runny product - varnish, you could say, is more likely to stay where you lay it on because it has more body. Less likely to get under the tape.

One hand with the 'applicator', the other with an absorbant rag, could be something I could learn to do.

The great thing about Semco (taken from the net) is that it is a family owned business. Has been doing this sealing business for 30 years by word of mouth, without advertising. Pricewise a quart costs the same as a similar product from Interbucks or Sherman Bill or Dow/Dupont or whatever Con Glomerate. Sealer gets more coverage, and you don't have to put 17 coats on!

The little Monk 24' Woodie that was reborn in the yard - that used 3-coat Detco Crystal - it's still going strong waiting for its owner to come get it. Been a year. So there is a 'varnish' job that's lasted...one year for sure... in the California sun.

Too much bad times with the glitz. I'll go with the mom-and-pop Semco to keep the grey away. She'll never know.:rolleyes:


What isn't clear in Scott's post is why he uses OIL on his cabin sole. Why not the S. Sealer? One less can in the locker.:D

[Bill]

It's that time again . . . This, however, is the first year of the "new" teak coating regime: two coats once a year vs. one coat every six months. Actually, I think it ended up being 13 months, which may explain the one spot on the teak where the Cetol was starting to degrade. A little bit of 180 grit sandpaper seems to have cured the problem.

New this year is 2-inch blue (more expensive) masking tape. The cheaper 3M used last year left tape sticky in a couple of places. The blue stuff has a different mastic (so I'm told). But, it still takes miles and miles of the stuff for the relatively small amount of teak on the Ariel's decks.

Day one was scrubbing the teak finish (as directed on the can) with mild detergent and a soft scouring pad. As luck would have it, the day set record low highs for the date! Never got over 50 something in Alameda.

Day two, however (today) was a different story and the temps ramped up to the low 80s. After about five hours, the masking tape was in place. Tomorrow we add the newspaper and (hopefully) the first coat. Here is MAIKA'I with her new blue trim, awaiting the newsprint.

[Tim Mertinooke]

Your boat looks great! I really like the pressure cleats and winch located at the top of the coachroof. It must make raising the main SO NICE. I plan to add a similar setup to mine sometime in the next couple years.