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Old 09-01-2012, 11:33   #1
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How to Refinish Teak Swim Platform

Can anyone tell me how I can refinish my teak swim platform? It has rubber around the teak strips so it cannot be sanded with a disk sander. Want to get rid of the grey. And then what would be the best product to apply after?
Also I need to give my teak cockpit a good cleaning and get the black spots off of it. Can anyone recommend a good cleaner for that as well.
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Old 09-01-2012, 11:41   #2
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

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Can anyone tell me how I can refinish my teak swim platform? It has rubber around the teak strips so it cannot be sanded with a disk sander. Want to get rid of the grey. And then what would be the best product to apply after?
Also I need to give my teak cockpit a good cleaning and get the black spots off of it. Can anyone recommend a good cleaner for that as well.
To do it right you'll have to take the rubber off, then put it (or new rubber) back on afterwards. I was looking at my cabin ladder the other day and thinking the same thing.

I wouldn't use a disc sander on teak anyway. A flat (or palm) one would be better, or better still a chemical stripper followed by hand sanding.
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Old 09-01-2012, 12:47   #3
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

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To do it right you'll have to take the rubber off, then put it (or new rubber) back on afterwards. I was looking at my cabin ladder the other day and thinking the same thing.

I wouldn't use a disc sander on teak anyway. A flat (or palm) one would be better, or better still a chemical stripper followed by hand sanding.

Teak decks are sanded with the polysulfide in all the time. If it has swelled out and is high, you can "shave" it before sanding to save some effort. If you don't want to sand, use a product like Teka. Be careful, the runoff can stain gelcoat badly. Try a spot first.
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Old 09-01-2012, 13:12   #4
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

A teak deck is grey. And will remain for a number of years at that. If you want to give your teakscoop a "well cared for" look, the insiders will immediately recognise the amateur' s requirement for a better look.
Any product will not lengthen the life of teak, but only remove the advantages and that only for the looks. Pretty hopeless. Try to understand the properties of teak.
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Old 09-01-2012, 14:42   #5
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

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A teak deck is grey. And will remain for a number of years at that. If you want to give your teakscoop a "well cared for" look, the insiders will immediately recognise the amateur' s requirement for a better look.
Any product will not lengthen the life of teak, but only remove the advantages and that only for the looks. Pretty hopeless. Try to understand the properties of teak.
I see unprotected teak in the marina on boats of a similar age, and it's often badly weathered, cracking, splitting, and has clearly lost much of it's strength. In contrast, my varnished teak of the same age looks like new. So to me it's clear that the varnish has extended the useful life of the wood, and made it look good at the same time.
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Old 09-01-2012, 15:16   #6
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

My treatment for teak is to scrape off damaged and peeling varnish, a sharp edged plate or blade held vertical to the wood works well but requires glasses or goggles.
When clean and dry apply a very thin coat of varnish - 10% varnish the rest thinners. This is to soak right into the wood and especially any cracks, crevises and screw holes that might leak water in deep. Next coat, while still wet ideally, is 30% thinners, repeated until the top face all dries to a smooth sealed finish.
Finally a couple of coats of 10% thinners to put a top dressing on.
This is actually quite quick to do, the scraping is the hard bit but it also prepares the wood face for the wet coat to soak into the surface.
Certainly in my old boat, which was bare cracked wood in many trim places, this approach survived intact for the two years I had her, and showed no degradation.
Those wet coats are the important one, getting a gloss is for show boating.
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Old 09-01-2012, 15:32   #7
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

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Those wet coats are the important one, getting a gloss is for show boating.

The gloss is half the point. More gloss means more UV gets reflected. This is one of the reasons a proper varnish job which has completely filled the grain and then had a number of coats stacked on top of it for depth will last much longer than the half a dozen coats most people limit themselves to.
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Old 09-01-2012, 15:55   #8
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

Cape Ann teak cleaner a wonderful, gentle, one part cleaner.
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Old 09-01-2012, 18:34   #9
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

My steering wheel has some layers of Asian hardwood (difficult to tell if it is teak or not) the same could be the case with the particular wood of your scoop, teak of good quality doesn' t split or age that badly. I use Benar-oil, takes ages to dry but the result stay for a long period.
Nobody in our hemisphere would treat teak - it might be different in the America' s where the climate is much more agressive (on any material).
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Old 10-01-2012, 05:02   #10
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Re: How to refinish teak swim platform

Some great answers here. Thanks
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