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Old     (RPM_DLX)      Join Date: Jul 2010       02-08-2016, 1:21 PM Reply   
I am thinking its time to re-surface the teak platform and I have seen some people sand first, while others just clean first. Any recommendations on cleaner? Oil? The boat has been garaged its entire life but I don't think the previous owner ever did any teak care. I have a power Dewalt sander so I can sand first but I don't want to hurt the wood. I have included a picture of what it currently looks like.

The stuff a dealer recommended:

http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Tex-RM3...+oil%2Fcleaner





Old     (stanfield)      Join Date: Mar 2004       02-08-2016, 2:00 PM Reply   
Most expensive "teak oils" are mostly just linseed oil. Just sand and rub down with some linseed oil from HD/Lowes.
Old     (WheelerWake)      Join Date: Mar 2013       02-08-2016, 2:58 PM Reply   
When I did mine, I didn't use a power sander, just block sanded by hand for 5 or 10 minutes. I looked at tung or linseed oil, but ended up with Meguiars teak oil, it was about the same price.
Old     (RPM_DLX)      Join Date: Jul 2010       02-08-2016, 3:32 PM Reply   
What grit size did you use? What about the Teak cleaner? Do you only use that if you aren't sanding?
Old     (WheelerWake)      Join Date: Mar 2013       02-08-2016, 4:26 PM Reply   
Don't need to clean if you're sanding. I used sand paper I had laying around, maybe 220.
Old     (fence_sence)      Join Date: Jul 2008       02-08-2016, 4:38 PM Reply   
If you want the finish to last a long time, you're going to have to put the work in. If you want to oil it every other time you take it out, you can just clean it and oil it. I rebuilt my platform a few years while re-profiling it to keep it out of the surf wake. I've only needed to oil it once at the begging of each season since.

Here is what I did-

A good thing to check is the length of your screws. Pull the deepest one out to check its length. To do this, I recommend hogging out the screw hole just a bit before you pull it. The wood will have swelled around the top of the screw head and when you go to pull it out, it'll rip a nice chunk out of the wood. Opening up the hole will prevent this. Figure out how much wood you have to work with. This will keep you from sanding down to the screws.

First up was sanding it. I pulled the platform brackets off in order to completely refinish the bottom as well. I took it down to bare wood with 80grit. Teak is very soft and when combined with the old oil or whatever may have been used before, it'll load up the paper really fast. Once loaded up, all you'll be doing is polishing the wood. Don't do that. Get lots of paper and keep fresh paper on your sander. Do not grind on the wood with the sander. Keep it flat and let the paper do the work. Once it's all down to bare wood, switch to either 100 or 120 and give it good once or twice over. Anything finer and your platform will be really slippery once oiled. Once you've got it cleaned up with 120, clean up all the edges with a small block wrapped in 120. I use a 1 1/2"x3"x3/4". You can do all the edges with a router but, I prefer to hand cut all my edges with the block. No chance of blowing anything out with that. I hand cut 1/4" bevels all the way around with light edge breaks. My personal philosophy on sanding is that it's not done until I'm comfortable with dragging my penis across every single inch of the wood. Not that I would but, it's just a mind set that will make sure you don't leave any splinters or snags.

Now the hard part, oil-

Obviously it seems like the easy part but, having the patience to really oil it up is the hard part. I use StarBright but any decent teak oil is fine. I recommend doing this over a couple of weeks. Every day, heat up the platform. Since its cold around here, I would stick it in the sunlight in the closed garage with a heater under it. This will open up the grain in the wood. Oil the crap out of it and let it soak in. Get it nice and even and heavy. After an hour or so, wipe it down. Do this every day for two weeks and the finished product will look awesome and it will last a long time.
Old     (jonblarc7)      Join Date: Jul 2006       02-08-2016, 5:12 PM Reply   
When I had my super sport and I sanded it real good with to fine of a grit it got way to slick. The best way I found to take care of it was to sand it with 120 at the most then use a copper grill brush to ruff it up and oil it. This would allow me to only oil it a couple times a year but still looked really good but not be super slick. Also I'm really picky with the way wood looks because I design furniture for a living and I was totally fine with the way it turned out with just roughing it up with a brush.
Old     (jonblarc7)      Join Date: Jul 2006       02-08-2016, 5:15 PM Reply   
I heard some people would use a copper pad instead of a brush too. DONT use steel wool it will leave behind little pieces of steel in the wood.
Old     (camassanger)      Join Date: Oct 2009       02-08-2016, 7:41 PM Reply   
We have the same boat and same step.
I bought the starbrite kit - 3 stages. no sanding
Works great. It will make it look brand new.
http://www.amazon.com/Starbrite-Teak.../dp/B016071OAQ
Old     (markj)      Join Date: Apr 2005       02-09-2016, 7:36 AM Reply   
X2 on the Starbright kit. I used to substitute their oil with linseed oil though. I also used to wait for the platform to dry and then knock down the swollen wood grain with 100 grit on an orbital sander before oiling it.
Old     (bftskir)      Join Date: Jan 2004       02-09-2016, 8:42 AM Reply   
Really dont need to sand it. As mentioned it makes them slick. A slick platform is no bueno. Those screw tips are just below the surface...dont sand.
Old     (Orange)      Join Date: Jun 2012       02-09-2016, 8:45 AM Reply   
Teak oil and linseed oil are not the same. Teak oils nearly always contain some varnish in them. Linseed oil is much cheaper, but will dry more slowly and would need to be replaced more often. You can make something that will behave much like a teak oil but much cheaper with roughly 1/3 each boiled linseed oil, varnish, and paint thinner/mineral spirits. If you want to be easy on yourself, just get whatever teak oil you can find cheapest at the hardware store.

There are two styles of finishing you can think about for your teak swim platform: Looks and pure function. If you want it to look awesome, make multiple passes with a sander starting at maybe 60 or 80 grit and finish with something like 220 grit (I know people who go much finer than this), then apply multiple coats of teak oil. Doing this you can get an almost furniture quality finish that looks awesome. The downside is that the deck can be extremely slippery when wet and it takes more effort to get these gorgeous finishes. If you just want pure function, you can save yourself some time and stop at a rough grit paper - certainly no finer than 120 grit and preferrably more like 80 grit - and only sand enough to take out scratches and prepare the wood. Then put 1-2 coats of teak oil or even the cheap homemade variety. This takes much less time and you won't have to wear ice skates on your deck. Especially when the deck is wet, it's difficult to distinguish between a really well finished deck and a "performance" deck anyway. If you're going to sell the boat, maybe then you put a little more effort in and sand it smoother.
Old     (denverd1)      Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tyler       02-09-2016, 9:44 AM Reply   
what will NOT SLIP. I've been boating for a decade and busted my ass getting in the water last year. With a jacked up back, I don't need any slippling and bouncing my ass off the step into water. I'm all about a good looking step but threatened to put something textured on my step after that little ordeal. I'm not quite to the point of spraying textured bedliner on it, but I'm pretty close.
Old     (Orange)      Join Date: Jun 2012       02-09-2016, 10:02 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by denverd1 View Post
what will NOT SLIP. I've been boating for a decade and busted my ass getting in the water last year. With a jacked up back, I don't need any slippling and bouncing my ass off the step into water. I'm all about a good looking step but threatened to put something textured on my step after that little ordeal. I'm not quite to the point of spraying textured bedliner on it, but I'm pretty close.
Try experimenting with 60 or 80 grit for sanding. While I'm sure its not as slip-free as rubberized decks, it's fully functional (nobody has ever slipped on mine since changing to rough grit only sanding) and most people can't tell by looking that it's not the more typical, high maintenance version of teak deck finishing. For my purposes 80 grit works just fine, but if you have back problems and want to be even more careful I'd try 60 grit.
Old     (rallyart)      Join Date: Nov 2006       02-11-2016, 10:21 AM Reply   
Using Bronze wool or a brass BBQ brush will clean really well. Don't use anything that is steel or iron. Teak cleaners are fine. If you sand, never use less than an 80 grit. This is a wet floor and not a sculpture or dining surface.
The thing about teak that makes it so good is that it is really loaded with natural oils. A teak log will sink when it is cut so they cut down the trees and leave them lying in the forest for up to two years if they plan on floating them down to be milled. Using lots of teak oil or tung oil and letting it soak in every off season is very effective at keeping the wood in great shape.

RPM, your platform looks to be in good shape. It should come out really nice with normal maintenance.
Old     (markj)      Join Date: Apr 2005       02-12-2016, 12:25 AM Reply   
Man, there are some seriously staunch opinions here. Pretty funny..... It's like everyone is vying for the top position on how to defeat ISIS. Lol
Old     (WheelerWake)      Join Date: Mar 2013       02-12-2016, 4:33 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orange View Post
Teak oils nearly always contain some varnish in them.
This could be true. I used WATCO teak oil and it made my deck very slick. Had to sand it off. Switched to Meguiars teak oil a couple years ago and it's much better.
Old     (RPM_DLX)      Join Date: Jul 2010       02-12-2016, 7:33 AM Reply   
Thanks for all the great replies. I am thinking I may just try a cleaner and oil first to see how it comes out since I have several other projects for the boat before spring. That starbright kit looked good. I may give that a try since its cheaper than the Te-ka kit.
Old     (mikea)      Join Date: Mar 2005       02-14-2016, 7:00 AM Reply   
When I have cleaned my teak in the past I have used "star brite" 3 step package and have been happy.
I normally clean the teak with water/teak cleaner and a nylon brush first. then let the teak dry and inspect before using an abrasive like bronze wool or sanding.


The one thing I have found that works for me is to do the cleaning and oiling on a sunny day and to work in a spot that will allow for sun to be on the teak all day.
( for ME it seems that the direct sunlight helps the wood absorb the oil. ?)
Old     (Orange)      Join Date: Jun 2012       02-14-2016, 9:38 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikea View Post
When I have cleaned my teak in the past I have used "star brite" 3 step package and have been happy.
I normally clean the teak with water/teak cleaner and a nylon brush first. then let the teak dry and inspect before using an abrasive like bronze wool or sanding.


The one thing I have found that works for me is to do the cleaning and oiling on a sunny day and to work in a spot that will allow for sun to be on the teak all day.
( for ME it seems that the direct sunlight helps the wood absorb the oil. ?)
If you are sanding, cleaning your teak is most likely a waste of time and money.

Teak oils and the like are a mixture of evaporating solvents and solids. What you're probably noticing on sunny or warm days is not the oil soaking in better, but instead the evaporative liquids drying out.
Old     (denverd1)      Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tyler       02-18-2016, 9:26 AM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by Orange View Post
Try experimenting with 60 or 80 grit for sanding. While I'm sure its not as slip-free as rubberized decks, it's fully functional (nobody has ever slipped on mine since changing to rough grit only sanding) and most people can't tell by looking that it's not the more typical, high maintenance version of teak deck finishing. For my purposes 80 grit works just fine, but if you have back problems and want to be even more careful I'd try 60 grit.
Thanks Orange

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