Varnishing washboards:?Epoxy.

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biscuit

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My nice traditional teak ply washboards seem to need stripping and revarnishing every season: The varnish lifts, and they become water stained. (I'm not keen on perspex washboards). I wonder if giving them a coat or two of clear epoxy before varnishing would work, or would it be too inflexible and eventually crack or craze? Anyone tried this?
 
strip them back to wood and give three coats of West Systems epoxy, the 3 coats can go on in the same day, then 3 coats of varnish to protect against UV. My washboards were done this way and still look like they've just been done. Just sand the varnish every other season and give a top-up coat.
 
Made my cabin doors some years ago, doing just what Mikecontessa26 suggests, and they have been brilliant.

In my case my boat is permanantly moored North/south with all day sunshine on the doors, so a light fabric cover is needed to prevent u/v damage to the epoxy, which does occur despite the varnish topcoats.
 
Don't bother with epoxy, just take them home and let the Epithane varnish dry thoroughly indoors with a couple of days between coats(6). I have found that this gives a long lasting finish.
 
I did mine with Epifanes Varnish, after stripping them down to bare wood, three seasons ago. I did 6 coats, 1 a day with a wet and dry sand between each coat. The finish hasn't deteriorated one bit.
 
My epoxy fell off with UV damage & I switched to Epifanes. Never regretted it.

Whatever your coating, wash the wood down with acetone before applying to reduce the oilyness of the teak. That has been the solution for me.
 
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I did mine with Epifanes Varnish, after stripping them down to bare wood, three seasons ago. I did 6 coats, 1 a day with a wet and dry sand between each coat. The finish hasn't deteriorated one bit.

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If you do your varnishing in the winter, in the garage, you can do at least ten coats in a week - one before you go to work, and one when you get back...
 
I'd go for one coat of Sikkens HLS Plus (pine) & two coats of Sikkens Filter 7 (pine). I use lighter stain than the actual wood IMO it looks better.

Worked fine so far!

IanC
 
If you strip back to bare wood, apply a coat of clear moisture cured urethane rather than epoxy. You will get superb adhesion to the wood and an excellent base for the varnish.
International have one called Universal Clear Primer. Blakes is called Clear Wood Sealer I think.
 
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