Done with Teak Oil

Sure nothing beats the look of freshly oiled teak, but reality is that it only looks that way for a minority of the time which is for a couple of weeks once or twice a year. I thought TeakGuard would last longer, but it only looks good a little longer the teak oil. I know what has to be done to keep teak loooking good, but to be honest I would rather spend my time on other things so this winter I want to convert it to a maintenance free platform. I know that some will think that covering up teak ranks right up there with spray painting grafiti on the vatican doors, but after years, know myself well enough that I will not spend the time to keep it looking like it should. I have read posts about rhino and line-x but not sure I want that rough or a surface and am trying to consider other options.

My first impulse would be to use some deck stain. That would preserve a 'teak look' and my decks look pretty good for at least a year with a fresh coat of stain on them, but not sure how that will tanslate to teak on a swim platform. Anyone have experience?

Another thought, Non-Skid Top Coat paint? See links. I have seen these used on sailboats and they look good, but not sure how they would hold up as a coat for a swim platform. Color Suggestions if I head that route? Boat is a naked Centurion that is off-white and Kawi green bottom. See profile.

Other options?

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...d+Deck+Coating

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com...vercoat+Marine

I had a fiberglass platform years ago and I too thought perhaps teak should be on the outs. Then the other day someone made the point that the nice thing about teak was that it didn't beat the crap out of your equipment and it could be bumped and bruised without making it look awful. It reminded my of my old fiberglass platform and thinking back it is a valid point. Teak is also not slippery.

Maybe some glue down rubber, foam or shag carpet would combine the best of both worlds.

My stained deck looks awful after a while and it doesn't re-stain well. I'm not sure a paint material would fair so well even minor abuse. Most things with non-skid are hell on your skin. Maybe someone makes a sticky flexible epoxy.

I have to take my platform off anyway for my boat to fit under the carport. I store it inside the garage so it stays nice looking. Have you been storing it outdoors? Can you pull it off and store it inside?

Others have talked about using outdoor deck stain on their teak platforms for a longer lasting finish. I think anything will come off eventually because from that I've read coatings don't like to stick to teak very well because it's an oily wood. Add the constant wetting and drying to that and it's probably not going to last for more than a season or two.

Have you tried sanding yours down to smooth, fresh wood before applying the oil? If you get it to the fresh, non grayed wood and then oil it it will look a lot better and won't go back to the weathered look if maintained every few months with oil.

Rhino lining can be sprayed on with different nozzles and be a pretty fine grit if you ask for it.

I would agree on the durability though. If you scratch an oiled teak platform it barely shows and can be sanded off if you desire. Put a contrasting color paint or coating on there and scratch that and it will stand out. I bumped mine into a concrete piling the other day and it didn't even leave a mark. If I had a fiberglass platform on the back I would have had a small ding.

Also, a coating that wears may need less frequent maintenance but might require much more work once it's beat up and weathered. You might have to strip, sand and recoat whereas with oil you could do a light sanding and a coat of oil once or twice a season.

Deck stains tend to be very slippery when wet because they keep water on the surface and leave the surface smoother.
What about making a new deck out of 1/2" stainless steel. Think how nice the surfing would be with that extra weight and smooth bottom on the deck. You could even round the corners to stop it from cutting into the wake. Then you just cover the top with Gator Grip or SeaDeck.
The teak you can keep to be a piece of beautiful art on your garage wall.

Originally Posted by rallyart

The teak you can keep to be a piece of beautiful art on your garage wall.

Make a coffee table out of it

AtTheLake, do yourself a favor and go pick up a can of StarBrite teak oil sealer in the natural light color. Try it out. You'll need to apply it only one to two times a year. If it still doesn't work for you, you're only out a few dollars. However, I have yet to find someone that doesn't love it.

Jeff, I prepped with the teak prep products, sanded to clean wood, and used oil and then switched to teak guard. Looks great when I treat it right but I keep the boat on a covered lift so it gets partial exposure to sun and rain and taking it off is no small chore so I need something that can take some exposure to the elements. I can't seem to get more than 3 or 4 weeks of it looking nice with oil or teak guard.

If I stain it with a clear deck stain, how stuck am I with that? The slippery factor worries me and wonder how easy it would be to go back or go to some non-skid type of product.

Tuneman - do you put the sealer over teak oil, or just prep and put the sealer straight on? How long will it hold up if you keep it outside?

The best stuff I've used is Teak Guard, http://www.teak-guard.com/

It is an awesome product and I've gotten an entire season out of my swim step with it.

Tom - Used it and it is better than straight teak oil, but do not get close to a full season out of it.

I tried Cabot Australian Timber Oil early this month and have so far loved the results. Its only been a couple weeks but it looks exactly as it did the day I applied it. They use a few different oils in the formulation and offer UV protection too. Its not at all slick and seems to be very durable. Time will tell.

From their site:

Containing a precise blend of superb-grade
linseed oil for maximum penetration, long-oil
alkyds for durability and pure South
American tung oil for color depth and water
repellency, Australian Timber Oil delivers
three-way oil protection. In addition, complex
translucent iron oxide pigments are added to
ensure a lasting U.V.-absorbing surface rich
with color and dimension.

Here is a picture right after application, it dried a little darker and less shiny of course.

The best thing about teak is that when it's wet it looks brand new. Just lower that boat from the lift, let the water splash a bit and "presto!"

Originally Posted by bmartin

Tom - Used it and it is better than straight teak oil, but do not get close to a full season out of it.

Is your swimstep covered if left outside? Ours had a full cover over the entire boat including the swimstep. I sanded the swimstep clean, washed it, dried it, then applied teak guard using 3 coats.

I find the three coat method lasts longer on the deck . Only have to treat it twice a year.

I see your boat is stored outside on a lift. My boat stays in a covered shelter. I wipe my teak platform down with teak oil each time I put the boat away
and after 4 years it still looks like a cofee table. Literally takes me less than 2 minutes and done. I have only sanded it once and that was because it was a little slick and people were slipping on it. I roughed it up a bit and re-oiled it and it has been fine since. Have you thought about picking up a cover for your platform
from someone like screamin sacs or speaker sox? If my boat lived outside that's what I would do.

don't use deck stain or paint. paint won't stick so well because of the high oil content in the teak and stain or sealer will make it slippery and eventually peel and look worse than it does now. if yours' is looking bad shortly after refinishing, I would suspect you are not getting it clean enough. it needs to be scrubbed with a nylon brush or brass wool and teak cleaner to get all the mold and dirt out...mainly the mold. maybe try a synthetic teak oil as the mold will feed off the organic teak oil. bed liner coating...half aced easy way out imho and probably won't stick so well because of the high oil content.
a properly cleaned and oiled teak platform should look good the whole season.

Just another thought, but Corey at Evolution Covers makes swim platform covers that would protect it from the sun when stored on the lift.

make a custom swim platform out of alum or wood... either way you can make it look good... there are a couple of topics on this in the surf section because the big factory platforms cut into the wave some

I just don't understand when people say they are too much work. Wipe it with some oil soaked rags after every few runs and I think you'd be just fine. Doesn't take more than 2 minutes to hit the top and edges.

I do mine about once every other year. I keep mine in a garage though, no sun except on the lake. I have never sanded mine either. It still has the nice shiny well oiled look to it and I haven't touched it since the end of summer 2008. I'll redo it again this year before she goes to storage--but I could easily get away with waiting.

..and you're wrong, coating a teak deck is not as bad as graffiti on the Vatican doors. IT'S WORSE!!! lol, j/k

I personally don't like fresh oil on mine. Sticks to your feet then you move it into the boat.

I am getting ready to make a platform out of mahogany for my boat($5 per sq ft vs $22) and I was going to try this stuff out:
http://www.penofin.com/products_marine.shtml

Has anyone tried it? Is it any good or is it junk?

One big issue I see with my teak deck are all the scratches from the bottoms of the boards. Fins, spines, etc all seem to scrape and scratch away any teak related product. You guys with all these super nice looking teak decks... do you let people put the board on their feet and stand on the deck while in the board? IMO, this is why my deck always looks bad.

-Uj

i always do and my deck looks fine after 4 years and over 400 hours of riding time.^^^^

I've had pretty good luck with this product from Starbrite and following the procedure recommended over on the Mstercraft forums:


http://www.starbrite.com/productdeta...Cat=Teak%20Oil

I dont like the fresh oil on it either.

If you want to make your teak gleam with little effort try Snappy Teak. There are two solutions you scrub with then oil.

Try a product called SIKKENS. Once you do you will never go back to oil again. Available at any West Marine or boat store. When you get it get some silica grip to throw on between coats and it will give you traction as well. IT comes in three different "teak" colors. I used the Natural Teak color.


It lasts a season and half usually, but I am anal and try to keep it ding free. If you don't mind a couple you may be able to make it 2 full seasosns. Always shines.

For you guys getting a season or more out of your teak care products, are you keeping the teak under cover or stored when not in use? I have used the 3 step process with Starbrite, the two part process with brass wool, orbital sanding, and teak guard, and except for some really tight nooks and crannies get the all the mold and grey wood off before the application of the final product resulting in a good looking platform, but do not get anywhere close to a season out of it on my lift.

i use my boat every weekend from april to october and two full weeks during the summer. i have a deck cover that came with the boat. it's a tige. i also keep it in a shed covered also.

I used Daly's brand SeaFin Teak oil. Used once a season and also used a sunbrella swimstep cover since the boat was stored outside. The SeaFin is a poly type coat not really teak oil and lasts a long time.

Mine stays in a covered shelter and I never let people stand on the platform with the board on. I am sure that's why my teak still
looks new. We always sit on the platform and put the board on, with the board being in the water. The one time I let a guy sit on the sunpad and put the board on while using the platform, he smacked it into the transom a couple of times, leaving a nice ding for me to have to buff out. No more of that for me, thanks. I also noticed a scuff on my sunpad vinyl after our last trip out, so I have decided no more wakeboards on the sunpad either. Someone (could have been me) dragged a board across when picking it up and the a fin must have scuffed it. I hate being a boat nazi but I am making the payments and this boat is most likely gonna have to last me a long time! (unless I hit the lotto! just have to remember to buy a damn ticket)