Teak Swimstep Problem

I have been trying to get my swimstep cleaned up and looking nice for summer and am not having the best of luck. I've tried the teak cleaner, scrub with a brush and apply a few coats of oil. I've tried sanding it, cleaning it and then oil. It seems that it's gotten really smooth and some parts of the wood don't take the oil as well as others. I have attached a couple pictures and would like to get the whole swimstep looking like the darker portions of wood.

Any help from you pros out there would be greatly appreciated.

This should help you.....

http://www.tmcowners.com/teamtalk/showpost.php?p=150097&postcount=28

electric palm sander and medium grit. works wonders!

After sanding look into Amazon Products. The have a cleaner, teak prep, and teak oil(blend 55. use that 120 grit to get the pours open and then use the products and u will see a big change. remember to reapply maybe two or three times over the summer.

http://www.boatdocs1.com/teak.html
These guys seem useful but I have not tried their products yet myself

There are lots of ways to care for teak, so there is not "just one" method that is best. I have had good results with SEMCO 2-part Cleaner, and it is a minimal amount of labor. Get it at West Marine.

Part 1 is a spray on acid. It is stout; wear rubber gloves and you don't want to catch a wiff of it either. It really lifts out the dirt and the old oil. Part 2 is a neutralizer. It the teak is really bad you may want to do this whole procedure twice. Read directions carefully.

The trick with the oil is to put on a full coat and then let it fully cure in the sun. Then put on another coat and do the same thing. The sun kind of bakes it in. If you put on a coat of teak oil then head to the lake, you will not get good results.

I think that maybe my problem is the sanding part. Are you guys using a sander or doing it by hand? I used a small black & decker w/100 grit and it just got all smooth on me...

Sand the snot out of it. The sandpaper will gum up fairly quickly due to the oils in the wood. So, have a shop vac close by and continually suck the gummed up stuff off of the sandpaper. Hand sand the grooves and edges.

After that, apply this:



Awesome stuff that only needs to be applied twice a year. Make sure you get the "natural light" version. Say goodbye to PITA teak oil.

I just did mine this weekend. Palm sander and plenty of paper. Don't try to clean the sandpaper. Just start with a fresh sheet. I use 1 sheet per board until I've got fresh wood everywhere I can get the sander. Then do the corners and grooves by hand and then give it a good once over with the sander again. Oil to taste.

tuneman- I haven't seen that product yet. Two years ago I tried the Penifin route. Bullet proof stuff and I only needed to apply it two-three times per year. Problem was that it was so tuff that it would only wear in high traffic areas. When I re-applied the Penifin, the older stuff that was still on, would get covered by the new coat. Towards the end of last year, it was apparent that I was going to have another winter project as the older Penifin was turning white under the new stuff. What a bitch to get off. I thought I'd go the chemical route, but to no avail. So I'm back to sanding it down to raw wood and oiling it up. How long have you been using that stuff?

Nick, I've been using the Star Brite stuff for two years now with great success. It's actually teak oil with a bit of sealer in it. It's not a varnish like Penifin and others. So it doesn't chip, build up, turn your teak orange or make your teak slippery. It just wears naturally like regular teak oil does, but holds up a LOT longer.

I'm very particular about the condition of my teak. After many years of constant oiling and seeing oil getting tracked onto the vinyl, I went on the search for something better.

I'm not kidding at all when I say this stuff is the absolute best. It makes your teak look beautiful and it's soooo easy to use. Just try it.

Can you apply it over existing teak oil or do you need to start from bare wood?

Tuneman, do you have any pics of your swimstep? I'd definitely like to see how it looks. I've heard good things about the Starbrite Teak Sealer. Thanks for all the great advice...

You can apply it over existing teak oil, but you should sand the teak for sure so that you get all the gunk out first.

Joe, I don't have a pic right now but it looks very similar to an oiled teak. It's just not quite as glossy.

I guarantee that you'll love it. You can shoot me if I'm wrong.

BTW, you only need to buy the small 16oz can. That'll last you several years. I still have half a can left.

I wipe it on with a paper towel and just make sure it's spread evenly. Very easy to apply.

Thanks Tuneman...I'll give it a try. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I used to do my teak platform with a belt sander (Dog claw marks) then finish it off with a 1/4 sheet palm sander. Applied teak oil twice and the job was done.

I used a 1/4 sheet palm sander to clean mine up to bare wood then I got a product from a friend of mine who has a house boat company. He uses it on all of teak surfaces on his rental fleet. Not that there is a tone of teak on a house boat but more on the ski boat rentals. It is call Cetol Marine. It isn't an oil more of a varnish type finish. I put it on at the start of last season and I do not have to do it again any time soon. And I put about 150 hrs on my boat last summer and it is still looking good even after boards being on it and my girlfriend's dog. I will can take some pics of it and send them if you would like as well just shoot me an email.

Tuneman, Where did you get it?

I used the technique Rich talked about, but I finished with several coats of Starbrite teak oil/sealer. When it gets a little wear, I put on a fresh coat and it looks as good as new......



(Message edited by lionel on March 06, 2007)

Jon, I picked it up locally at West Marine (www.westmarine.com)

tuneman, do you sand down completely twice a year now or only when you first started using the starbrite? I used the stuff before storing the boat but have not gotten it in the water yet.