Refinishin wood swim platform

It does have an orangish tint, I will admit that, but then when it was varnished, it had an orange tint too... The flaking is worrisome, so I will have to watch for that. When I wet it down to wet sand, it definitely beaded up. We'll have to see how it turns out.

Your Dad is 100% correct!

I've been on a few scary slick platforms, kind of kills the purpose of the thing. An oiled look that still feels like wood is best but what you're all saying fades the quickest? I've never oiled a platform, mine is almost as white as Pete's hair but sure looks great in the water!

Oil it and figure out a way to keep it from baking in the sun. You just may spend less time and money doing that then stripping/sanding/sealing the thing over and over again.

I used some home made concoction that worked great. I can't remember what it was. I thought I got the recipe from CCF.com, but can't find it. I am thinking it was some BLEACH, and LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP and scrub with STEEL WOOL, rinse and repeat. Then some Watco teak oil from Home Depot. It really soaked that up. Anyone know recipe, did I miss an ingredient? I want to help a buddy with his deck. It is a MC...so I could tell him to sand the crap out of it, then paint it with some latex, but that would be mean. Everything turned out great last fall. The proof will come when I drop her in the water.
Before

During

After (should have taken the shot outside in daylight)

A little shinny (probably soaked it up this winter), but you can still see the texture of the grain

Started the process today using a boat armour unique teak kit i mentioned earlier I found on craigslist. I first removed the platform with my nifty makita litium hammer driver. Here is a pic as I started with the first product. It is an acid wash, very little scrubbing. When I put it on the gray all turned black. After about ten minutes of sitting the black turned a deep brown.



After rinsing from the first step.



Second step is a brightner, applied with a sponge and then brushed,re-applied brushed...for about 15 minutes, till the color was realativly uniform. This is after rinsing, and my guess of what it will look like when done.



The kit does not mention sanding, I may hit it with 80 grit when it is dry, Then I will start coating with as many coats as it will take of the teak oil provided in the kit.




How did that get in there, Easter is coming soon. How did an ugly old guy like me have two such beautiful daughters, must be my wifes gene pool.

Here it is dry and guickly sanded with 80 grit.


and after 2 coats of oil. I could barely see a difference after it dried from the first coat.

I am up to five coats 1 day apart, the fourth soaked in but I felt like I was just pushing the 5th around on the surface, I am going to let it sit a week and try one more. I really like the color, even the one wierd blond board in the middle.

I guess while I am doing other stuff to my boat I might as well redo the teak deck. When you take the deck off is it best to remove the deck with brakets from boat first? It looks like there is only 6 bolts(if i remember right) holding it on.

malcolm2 wrote: I could add alittle silicone to the screw holes as I put the brackets back on the boat.

Uh oh, wait til Pete sees this!

The problem with removing brackets from the boat is that the top fasteners are not screws, theyre bolts with backing nuts, so its a 2 person job to remove them. They also need to be sealed properly upon reinstallation, using 5200, 4200, Life Boat caulk, etc. Silicone is NOT a proper sealant. This is not a very fun job. If you dont have any leaks in the transom from the brackets now, then I would highly recommend leaving them alone.

Depending on how badly your platform needs refinishing, you might want to remove the brackets from the teak anyways. Its just a few screws either way (no sealant neccessary) so not a big deal.

TRBenj wrote: malcolm2 wrote: I could add alittle silicone to the screw holes as I put the brackets back on the boat. Uh oh, wait til Pete sees this! The problem with removing brackets from the boat is that the top fasteners are not screws, theyre bolts with backing nuts, so its a 2 person job to remove them. They also need to be sealed properly upon reinstallation, using 5200, 4200, Life Boat caulk, etc. Silicone is NOT a proper sealant. This is not a very fun job. If you dont have any leaks in the transom from the brackets now, then I would highly recommend leaving them alone. Depending on how badly your platform needs refinishing, you might want to remove the brackets from the teak anyways. Its just a few screws either way (no sealant neccessary) so not a big deal.

This is what I thought and why did not try to take the brakets off the boat. Thank you for this post.

Both my 82 and 83 had lags in the top and wood screw in the bottom.

My 80 has lags on the top and wood screws on bottom

Silicone does not belong below the waterline.

3M Marine Adhesives and Sealants

4 Coats of Star Brite teak oil and 3 coats of Watco teak oil.

8122pbrainard wrote:     malcolm2 wrote: OK, I am here to learn, so tell me the problem with silicone, and the benefits of the other stuff you suggested. Again, I have lags and screws, so it will not be difficult to "fix" my screw up...Unless I get the word that I need to replace the lags with nuts and bolts. Let the teaching begin. Hollywood wrote: Silicone does not belong below the waterline. 3M Marine Adhesives and Sealants Malcolm, Have you ever been able to literally peel silicone off a surface? Silicone bathtub caulking is a good example but it holds true with any of the silicones. It's adhesion is poor! The only place it's good for is when it's between two surfaces/flanges like a subsitute for a gasket and even then I'd suggest something like Permatex! Yes, you can say the platform brackets against the transom are two surfaces but the bolts and their holes are not. If there was a silicone under the brackets originally, I'd say most of it you were able to peel off. Try to get 5200 or 4200 off and you'll see the difference. I hate silicone!!!

There are some types i dont mind