Refurbish or Replace? (Another Swim Deck Post)

Well done! That looks awesome.

Any pics of how your deck looks after the teak oil?

I am trying to convince my self to do this for my CC. I have scrub brushed it and it looks great as soon as it hits the water. But would like the looks of a brand new looking deck.

An update on my progress with our '94 SN swim platform: I ordered some small pieces of teak from Teak World (thanks Robin) as well as some pre-cut bungs. I carefully replaced approximately 15 screws, the ones with the protruding heads (or those that soon would be), with larger diameter and slightly short SS hardware, when necessary. I repaired the broken corner on the platform and elected to add some custom bungs (I cut the ones down that I received from Teak World using my Dremel tool—I pounded them in, broke them off once they settled, and sanded/brushed them smooth—in order to fill in the largest holes. I have continued using a brass brush, off-and-on with water, and am ready for a final round of Star Brite teak cleaner and then the brightener. I plan to then continue with the oil, dry, sand protocol, oil again ... etc., etc.

The first image shows the two largest holes that were filled nicely with the custom bungs (can't see them now):

i used 5200 on mine a few weeks ago. Took some time to dry though. Glad i wasn't in a hurry.

Hello - Question - After removing the brackets from my 88SN I filled the holes in the boat with Epoxy to firm them up. What does everyone use for a sealer when re-attaching the platform?   

wire brush and water, go with the grain only, open up the grain, that will get it clean

So ... a few days have passed since I started my swim platform restoration and here is an update. First, after clearing it with the experts at CCF, I removed the brackets:



Second, I "experimented" and tried Roy's (aka Roym) (see the FAQs, third installment) suggestions of using Oxi(y) Clean, Dawn, hot water, and 20 minutes of time. The before and after are posted below (note that I used both a small brass brush AND a nylon equivalent during each of these steps):

Cooking up the Oxi Clean brew, before ...



After the Oxi treatment (used only a garden hose to rinse):



Next, the Star Brite "kit" ... Step 1:



With nothing to lose, next stop the pressure washer (wide spray ... about 3 minutes total time at the local auto-wash stop) ... I took it to the edge and, even with relatively close contact, no damage ... the pre-pressure wash, post-Star Brite "Cleaner: Step 1" is shown below:



Will let this deck dry out in the Colorado sun and take another picture ... I think I will be grabbing the oscillating sander and begin working my way up from about 80-120 grit before heading to Star Brite Step 2, "brightener."

I suggest replacing only a couple screws at one time so you don't loosing the shape. The brackets can come off without any worries.

If you don't like the looks of the holes, try making some bungs. They have bung cutters. The trick will be matching the color. Personally I'd just leave them.

It really doesn't matter what course of action you take because it is not a safety issue. So it boils down to how you would like your boat to look.

I myself like the refurb look. We did it once 5 years ago & it has held up.

escmanaze wrote: Madcap wrote: Teak, ultimately, should be left alone. We should all be running around with grey platforms if our goal is longevity and structural integrity. However, grey doesn't look all that appealing, so we offer the world of commerce our money to have our things look nice, and easily buy the notion that a golden honey platform is a good platform. Nothing wrong with that either, but it does start a cycle of constant upkeep, and continued abrasion. We shorten the life of our teak the more we touch it. I'm very curious to hear more about this concept in particular. Are there more people who share this opinion? Does anybody know of any supporting documentation to this statement? I'm the laziest guy you've ever met, and if leaving something alone is good for it, then believe me, I'll have no problem in the world leaving it alone. Ugly? Who cares? Function over fashion is my middle name.

Count me in this camp.

Although the OP's platform appears to have had something put on it at some time to make it look pretty like furniture...Im betting it was not teak oil of any type. So some drastic action might be needed.

Me? I leave mine gray, it looks fantastic when it's wet.
It is not slippery from oil and/or being sanded smooth. I do have a screw head poking through and maybe it's even given my drysuit a leak in the knee...I'm still leaving it alone. I'm far too busy skiing.

I think with my nearly 40 years of doing this I have never had a unsightly hole in a platform after re-furbishing! But you go on and do things your way and I will continue making boaters happy!
Pete in your 100 years or so have you seen unsightly holes after one of your re-furbs? LOL!!!!


These young bucks think they can find all the answers in life through Wikipedia!!

Madcap wrote: Teak, ultimately, should be left alone. We should all be running around with grey platforms if our goal is longevity and structural integrity. However, grey doesn't look all that appealing, so we offer the world of commerce our money to have our things look nice, and easily buy the notion that a golden honey platform is a good platform. Nothing wrong with that either, but it does start a cycle of constant upkeep, and continued abrasion. We shorten the life of our teak the more we touch it.

I'm very curious to hear more about this concept in particular. Are there more people who share this opinion? Does anybody know of any supporting documentation to this statement? I'm the laziest guy you've ever met, and if leaving something alone is good for it, then believe me, I'll have no problem in the world leaving it alone. Ugly? Who cares? Function over fashion is my middle name.

Jake,
I'm struggling to figure out why you are against going with shorter screws of a larger diameter. Yes, the existing screws have seated in the wood but a larger diameter will find new wood. I've re canvased and re fastened several double plank hull bottoms in my years and the common procedure is to re fasten with the next larger screw size. This is why #7 and #9 silicon bronze wood screws are made. Since the platform is held together with SS flat head sheet metal screws, there will not be a problem going larger due to the more aggressive threads on a sheet metal screw. The larger screws with the proper pilot hole size will hold it together.

Hitting the tips of the old screws with the Dremel would be a very tricky job to avoid making a bunch of divots in the top surface.

8122pbrainard wrote: Jake, Thanks for your advice. I need to learn more about wood since I've never really worked with it.

Sometimes hard to tell what is sincerity vs. sarcasm. Is this meant to be sarcastic Pete?