DIY: How To Refinish Household Teak - Remodelista
Furniture designer and antique restoration expert Caitlin Long has enviable remodeling skills. Photographs by Caitlin Long. “I get restless if I don’t always have a project in the works,” she says. In Long’s master bath, the sink and bathtub have teak surrounds. After Long’s refinishing efforts, the teak looks as good as new. Like the wood on a boat, teak surrounds need to be stripped and resealed periodically. Because the sink was used daily, its surround was in worse shape than the tub surround. Where the exposure to water was the most frequent, some of the finish was completely gone, leading to water stains and dents in the wood. Long was able to completely remove the sink’s fixtures, which made the refinishing process easier. Wood naturally darkens when exposed to UV light. “It’s pretty effective but obviously you can only do this if you don’t have a finish on it and if the dent isn’t a massive crater.” Long typically conducts this process in stages: “Steam and let dry completely; sand, steam again, and then sand.” For detailed instructions on steaming a dent, see Long’s video. After the steaming, the dent was improved considerably but not completely gone. Long prefers tinted epoxy over wood filler for repairing dents in furniture. “I use a two-part, quick-setting epoxy (10 minutes is good), so I have enough time to mix and fill without being crazed (but I also don’t have to wait like 25 minutes for it to set),” says Long. Epoxy filled, sanded, and varnished, the dent is imperceptible. “I chose a satin finish spar varnish to seal the teak. It’s slightly less shiny than the previous finish so I like it better,” says Long. The refinished teak sink surround is set against green/gray Silver Crest walls in an eggshell finish by Benjamin Moore. As with the sink, Long taped and sealed off the porcelain tub with a plastic bag, but here had to work around the fixtures. To neutralize the wood in order to ensure that the new varnish would adhere, Long needed to strip the existing varnish. Prior to varnishing, Long sanded the surface lightly (up to 200 grit) and then wiped it down with a tack cloth to get rid of all of the dust and tiny particulates that can show in a varnished finish. Scrapings of debris from the old varnish. Thanks to Long’s efforts, the bathtub looks as good as new. If you do all of the steps properly and never rush the process, it shows in the results,” she says.”This means: keep a clean work area, tape things off, use the right type of brush... ...don’t rush the layers of varnish, wipe down all surfaces meticulously prior to finishing, and apply many thin coats rather than a thick one.” And if you’re working with varnish, she has this advice: “Varnish ages in the can once it’s been opened and exposed to air.