Re-Finishing my Teak Platform

[scoke]

Method I have used for great success.

I cut/paste the following from another website. Follow the directions closely... this works very well.People have asked me what my secret is for achieving great looking teakwood, so I thought I would share my secret with all my MC friends. Be careful with these household chemicals. This is for outside use. I hold no responsibility to injury or loss resulting from misuse . . . well, you know the rest. Like it or not, making your teak look "showroom new" takes a little bit of time and work. The re's no quick way of getting the mildew stains out of teakwood. I've used lots of products on the market, mostly chemical bleaching agents but none have worked as well as the formula I got from an "old-time house painting" friend of mine.

The Formula: (secret #1) 1 cup of Tri-Sodium Phosphate substitute. (available at most hardware & paint stores) If you can get real TSP, it's the best but TSP substitute works Okay. 2 Cups HOT water. (not boiling but hot) 1/2 Gallon of Clorox (or equiv.) Bleach. A good Teak Oil. *see note Equipment Needed: Old clothes (you'll ruin them with bleach stains!) Eye protection (protect your eyes!) Heavy rubber gloves (these household chemicals are corrosive to skin) Common household bucket (holds about 2 gals.) Plastic "medium bristle" scrub brush Garden hose without a nozzle attached (for rinse) A soft 2" paint brush Restoring "Perfect Teak" (the hard part) Do the following OUTSIDE. Ventilation is A MUST!
Pour 2 cups HOT water into a household bucket. SLOWLY mix 1 cup of TSP in the bucket. Be careful NOT to inhale the fumes. (These fumes can cause permanent lung damage!) After the mix is solvent (a few minutes) pour in 1/2 gallon of bleach. Mix while you pour. You now have the formula to clean your teak. This formula will not harm plastics but may discolor your nibral prop or rudder. Protect with a plastic bag if this is of concern. Protect your (and anyone around) eyes from splash. Apply the mix with the plastic scrub brush to your teakwood. The mix (cleaner) will penetrate your wood over a 10-minute period.
After 10 minutes, apply another coat and scrub firmly to help loosen dirt and debris. Do NOT rinse. Teak that has been neglected for some time will take several applications (using 10-minute intervals) before the black stains disappear. It is not unusual for this process to take up to 1.5 hours. Warning: Do NOT soak your small teakwood pieces in the bucket of teak cleaner.
After the cleaning process, rinse the teakwood THOROUGHLY with cold running water from your garden hose. Use the scrub brush and scrub during rinsing. The teak cleaning solution MUST be removed completely before drying.

Drying time will take about a day. (Less if you have a good hot sunny day) The teakwood must be completely dry before applying any oils. Towel drying will speed up the process. Applying teak oil on wet teakwood will likely cause mildew.
After drying, lightly sand the teakwood using 240-grit sandpaper. This will remove the "fur" that appears after cleaning. After light sanding, use a soft paintbrush to clean the dust out of the grooves of the teakwood before applying the oil.
*Applying a good Teak Oil: (secret #2) Choose an oil that has little or no Silicones and no wax. Silicones give your teak a "slimy" feel and wax additives make your teak look "frosty" in a few weeks. These additives are intended to repel water but I find they spoil the natural look and feel of teak a lot sooner. I have 2 good recommendations for Teak Oil if you ask, but a good quality Golden Teak Oil will do the job. Stay away from blends that contain silicones or wax. Teak Oil is best applied to dry teakwood in the hot sun. Several coats (8 or more!) applied 30 minutes apart while the hot sun "bakes" the oil deep into the teakwood is recommended. Apply liberally using a 2" soft paintbrush stroking with the grain of the wood. After 8 or more coats, let the wood "dry" overnight. After "drying" period, wipe with a soft dry towel. Your award-winning teakwood should now look better than "showroom new".

[Socbum]

I love the look of teak, but hate the maintenance.

The first year I purchased my boat I sanded my platform using a series of course (100) to super fine (1000) grit sandpaper. I spent about 12 hours on the platform to get it to a super shine. The platform looked fantastic and felt great on the feet.

But, after one season the platform was looking a bit aged.

Instead of sanding and applying the teak oil I decided to try the Cetol product. I used the original cetol color and applied as directed. The end results was a deck that was very shiny and clean but the color was just a bit off, to much orange for my taste. After one season I started seeing small chips appear in the finish but did not do anything during the offseason. By the end of the 2nd season the small chips turned into larger chips and I ended up needed to perform some maintenance again.

To fix the chips the platform was going to require another sanding and I figured if this was going to be required I might as well go back to the teak color that I liked. A couple months back I stripped the Cetol and sanded the deck the same as before. adn I'm now back to the natural teack color.

If you are going to use the Cetol I would recommend that you try it on the bottom first to look at the color. The chips that ended up on the platform were from normal use while boarding, I think they were from the fins.

This was just my experience and 2 cents.

[wake_fun]

That's weird, my 6 year old Cetol deck is still perfect. No chipping. I applied about 4 coats on the deck letting it dry 24 hours between coats. Before putting on each coat I lightly scuffed up the surface with a scotch pad.

[Chexi]

Because I am a dumb ***, I forgot to put the memory card back in my camera before I took several pictures of the first coat after drying. My camera does not scream at me when I do this. At any rate, the result is that I have no pictures of the first coat dry. Here are some of the 2nd coat just after application. I will try not to be a dumb *** in the future.

I agree about the color of the Cetol Marine. It is not for everyone. Although now they have 3 colors, with 1 being lighter and the last being almost clear called "natural teak." I think the color will look great on my boat, but my boat's primary color is blue, and blue and this yellowish orange should look very nice together. Might not be great with reds.

I also think a large part of it is the actual teak. Wake_fun's color turned out a lot different than mine. Same Cetol Marine color. Thus, the difference must be due to the actual wood. If anyone is in the DFW area and wants a small amount to test or to see mine in person, PM me.

[wake_fun]

I think it's the wood that makes it different. Here is mine.

[Chexi]

I think CC might be slipping in santos mahogany (cabreuva)(Myroxylon balsamum) instead of teak on some of these platforms. Santos mahogany can have that beautiful reddish color. Wake_fun, your swim step looks a lot like the floor I had put in my old house.

[CradGen2]

Not an expert on oiling up the PF, but doesn't the oil track into the boat?

[Chexi]

The oil really soaks into the teak. It is possible to over oil it. I think you can wipe off the excess and let it stand for a few days. I would not want to oil it and put it in the water without at least a few days to really dry. In such a case, I guess it would be possible to have some oil stick to your feet and get on the interior, but in general I think that is pretty unlikely.

[Socbum]

Wakefun -- I agree with you-weird.

One of the reasons I tried the Cetol was based on your experience. My one assumption would be improper preperation. The final outcome of any stain, oil or paint job is really based on the prep work. Maybe I didn't get all of the oil off the deck before I applied the Cetol.

Yours looks great and the color is different from mine.

[wake_fun]

Wakefun -- I agree with you-weird.

One of the reasons I tried the Cetol was based on your experience. My one assumption would be improper preperation. The final outcome of any stain, oil or paint job is really based on the prep work. Maybe I didn't get all of the oil off the deck before I applied the Cetol.

Yours looks great and the color is different from mine.

I used a DA and sanded on mine a lot with two different grits, down to fresh wood. I never hit any screws. I also used the edge of folded up sandpaper to do the cracks between the wood. Here are the pics after the sanding........

[Teleman]

Any thoughts on Watco Teak oil finish?

[Chexi]

Wake_fun, I can see the reddish tint in the pictures of the sanded wood. Your teak has a natural reddish tint. Lucky bastard!

[Christopher-W.-Becker]

All,

I have an earlier post in this (I LOVE MY TEAK). Teak is an open grain wood which retains its natural oil. So you have to be careful not to remove the oil. If the wood was sealed with a varnish or similar, use a cabinet scraper to remove the finish (see http://www.woodzone.com/articles/scrapers/index.htm). Then clean the wood with the cleaner or techinqu of your choice but DO NOT USE A PRESSURE WASHER. The pressure washer removes the softer material that makes up the grain of the material and opens it up for future damage. It is wood, not concrete. Then use a fine cabinet scraper to give the wood a nice smooth surface where the grain is pulled to the surface. Then oil, oil, oil. I apply till the wood will not take anymore and wipe off excess.

From then on, I apply before putting the boat in the water each time (sufficiently ahead of time for the oil to dry) and buff off the excess when I get to the lake. The oil can actually be a little sticky (not tacky as in coming off) so it is not like glass when the boat is in the water. Wake boards and people get on and off without transfer.

SUN is the biggest killer as it drives off the natural oil (which the oil you apply helps keep in NOT replace) and lets it turn gray and the water penetrate the grain to get the "mildew" look. So keeping the protectant on is important. I accutally apply with an old tooth brush so I can work it into the cracks and edges BUT BE CAREFULL of overspray on the boat (best done before you put the deck on the boat at home).

Sorry guys on lifts, but if you want to minimize the amount of work, get a cover for the deck and keep covered. If oiled properly you will not get rot or mildew (the benefits of natural oil).

If the deck has grayed, the question is, how much of the surface do you have to remove to get to the wood which still has the natural order. Check a corner with a knife.

There are pictures of my deck on at least two threads here.

Oh yeah. Dont forget the bottom of the deck (just because you cannot see it, does not mean it does not need to be protected.

NOTE: Sail boat owners know way more about teak than we will EVER know. Check out there discussion groups and recommendations.

IF you want to see a really beautiful teak platform. Check out the mighty MO (USS Missouri BB - 63) at the alpha and omega memorial in Pearl Harbor. That is a teak deck that deserves respect next to the most moving memorial I have ever been to.

[NautiqueJared]

Have any of y'all used the Cetol Natural Teak Wood. I was wondering if the coloration on this blend is a little less orange. I thought that I also read that you don't have to use the Cetol High Gloss to get a good shine from the Cetol Natural Teak Wood finish.....is this correct? Want to thank everyone for their suggestions....I've got great information on how to clean the teak and now I'm at the crossroad of whether to oil or Cetol the thing.

[Chexi]

You do not need to use the Cetol High Gloss. Mine is very glossy without it. I wish I could help you on the other colors.

If you follow this link, it will take you somewhere that might help. http://www.yachtpaint.com/USA/hotlin...kens_guide.pdf