Wood coating

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steveh

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Hi

I am looking to do some tidying up of our woodwork in the next few weeks. I am not sure what to use. I have tried Le Tonko?? before and found it easy to apply but difficult to store. it also went rather a funny yellow colour. I have also used two pack polyurethane which was very expensive. Due to time restraints I don't think I will be able to apply six or so coats of normal yacht varnish. Does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative?
 
What woodwork, or rather what wood?
I ask because if it's outside and you're taking it back to bare wood, then coelan might be worth it.
 
I have had my best results on external woodwork using using Deks Olje - this is a 2 part treatment using a penetrating oil dressing and then a sealer coat. I posted a similar query to yours and at that time the majority vote was for Deks
 
Le Tonkinois is funny stuff, I've not used it much. The advice I was given was to decant what you need into a container, because air makes it skin over. You can break the skin and use what's beneath the next time but dipping the brush into it introduces air into the body and causes lumps to form.

I tried 2-pack and found it was good while it lasted, but a bit brittle which means it lets water in once cracked.

The bits that I want glossy, have had Epiphanes varnish in the past, which is very good. Now they have Epiphanes' microporous coating (can't remember it's proper name) which I'd hoped would tolerate my damp coamings. It hasn't done much better than polyurethane varnish, but it does store well and is the first varnish I've had that never skinned over or formed lumps and was used up to the last drop.

The other coating I've used is Danish oil, which I like. There are several makes but avoid the really cheap ones. This is more of a waxy finish, which can be polished to a certain extent and feeds the wood. You could varnish over it in later years if you wanted to. I think of it as doing what you probably thought teak oil was suupposed to do. It rubs off easily in areas of high wear or chafe, is easy to apply and sticks to everything. If time's short I'd go for this, but it will look better if you strip back to bare wood first.
 
I am not troubled by a great deal of brightwork but I do like to make an effort with the grabrails. Last winter I applied 2 coats of Sikkins Cetol Novatech HLS and it has done very well. It is a woodstain, like the yucci stuff you put on the shed, but is a low build, water based, formulation, and is far more varnish like. I intend to stick with it (and I have tried everything over the years) but will apply 3 coats next time.
 
Yes, it is is outside wood and I will have to sand it back to bare. I am looking for gloss varnish type finish.
 
I've tried Burgess Aquaseal this year and am reasonably impressed. 4 or 6 coats no rub down then coat with 2 -3 coats of Burgess Topgloss. All done in a day.
 
Yep ! if it's speed you want and a gloss Burgess is by far the product to use. I have used Burgess for about 3 years and last year put LeTonks on.

With all the time it took I have to say that I could have stayed with Burgess. If you do choose Burgess only apply with foam brushes and you will not get a decent finish until you have three coats on.

It dries in about 1/2 hr and then you can recoat, it is very easy to recoat if it does get damaged!

http://www.woodsealer.co.uk/

Tom
 
I would use coelan, you can put it on in reasonably dampish weather, not rain!! As it is moisture curing, follow the instructions. If you put it on and it rains next day, no worries, no need to flat, it can be overcoated up to 17 days after the last coat!! Which makes it ideal for crappy UK weather, follow the instructions for sealing the cans as well, heat gun inside the tin, then seal. It is very very good stuff, not cheap, but good and can last up to ten years.
 
Epoxy, then two coats of a good yacht varnish with UV absorber. Works great for me. Tried Deks Olje. Wears off in 6 months and is a dull finish (useful in places, but not if you want shiny).
 
I think I will try the coelan - sounds like I should get a good finish without worrying about the damp weather.
 
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