Wood – what is the best way to restore teak outdoor furniture

deckoutdoorpatiowooden-furniture

What is the best way to restore outdoor teak furniture to the original or better looking color? Teak is so beautiful when it has not been weathered. But after a few years in the rain and sun, it just turns grey and gets very rough. The wood is still in very good shape, not damaged at all, just weathered in color and texture. You can see in the second picture on the base of the table, the original color as it is not exposed to the elements.

I suppose the best thing to do is sand it all down, and then apply teak oil to it. But that would be very time consuming to sand between each piece of wood for the style we have. Do you think power washing it would give it a light sand? What about staining it to just get it to a nice color, even if it is not the natural color? Anything other than this ugly grey would be good.

Basically, I am trying to balance the time and energy it would take with what it will take to make it look a little better. Any other options to make it look and feel a little better?

In hind sight, i would never buy teak again. We spent all this money to have basically maintenance free composite decking, and now we have to deal with!

UPDATE: After the answer below and some other research, I have come to the realization that short of a good sanding, you can't get it back to the original color. Rather than restoring it to the original looks, could we stain (and then seal it) to a dark color to make it look better? Would I just use a typical deck stain, or something special for harder woods?

teak chair
teak table with original color

Best Answer

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no magic solution you can spray on and restore the original beauty. As an owner or an older Carver with lots of teak, the only solution is to sand it down. We solved the every year restoral ritual by using Seatrol medium sealer by Sikens. (found in marine stores) Couple of coats of this stuff and your teak will look good for years.