Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Can you paint teak furniture

I know this may seem like a no no to many, but mine is by a pool and looks yucky grey. I would like it to be a nice crisp white. Can you paint teak?

Welcome to the diy forums!

You can paint most anything if you use the right prep and coatings.

Have you tried cleaning up the wood? maybe use a wood brightner and then refinishing.

I've never painted any teak and don't believe I've heard of any one doing so. You will need to sand and then prime it. An oil base exterior wood primer would probably be best. When dry you can top coat it with latex or oil base.

Marksr, I do not have time to do the refinishing myself, nor do I want to pay to add to the substantial amount I paid for the set. I want it functional for our family to eat at and eye appealing so paint seems to be the only answer I have.

If you can get the color of the wood back thru sanding and cleaning, you should be able to refinish it with spar urathane. Helmsmen [by minwax] is about $12 a quart.

Mix a bleach/water solution [40-50% bleach] and wash a portion of the wood - it may bring back the color - be sure to rinse well! If you can refinish them without having to strip off the old finish, it would be less work than prime and paint.

Pinting is not a good idea for any outdoor furniture, you will have to sand and repaint every year. Try giving it a power wash with a wood restore product, usually sold at DIY stores for decks. After it is good and dry rub in good coat of Teak Oil.

the spar urathane is in alternative of painting and clorox is pre-painting?

Thanks for all your help, when you answer I'm on the way to Home Depot. Glad to know about this site.

Cleaning with bleach or wood brightner is part of the prep process.

I seldom use any rubbing oils but the teak oil might be a better way to go. Whether you use oil or spar poly, both will need to be redone as needed.

Our teak deck furniture info said teak can be cleaned and restored with products specifically designed for teak. Weathered teak will look grey, but restored teak has a nice beige finish. As someone else mentioned, painting the stuff once will mean you will have to paint it over and over again...

If you don't like the look of the wood, would a nice slipcover suit your needs?

The natural oil content of the teak wood will cause constant problems with adherence to the teak. That's why teak wood always has a penetrating type oil used to preserve it and protect it.

It is best, as it's been said, to use a high pressure washer to clean the gray off. Allowing it to dry for 24 hours makes it easy to sand and get rid of any of the little "fuzzes". An application of teak wood oil will protect the wood all summer long. Teak wood furnishings should definitely be taken in for the wintry season.

Paint teak...please don't!!

CD