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Restoring varnished teak platform


malibubarfootr

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Now that my first season with my 'bu is over I have decided to take charge of some necessary adjustments/improvements. The wonderful people that owned my boat before thought it was a good idea to paint the platform with some sort of varnish. They did not even take it apart to do it, so there are drips along the sides of it. Anyways I have started the project by taking it apart, but I do not really know the easiest and best way to get rid of the varnish and restore the wood underneath. Has anyone run into this before/ have an idea where I should start cleaning her up?

Thanks in advance

Edited by malibubarfootr
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Now that my first season with my 'bu is over I have decided to take charge of some necessary adjustments/improvements. The wonderful people that owned my boat before thought it was a good idea to paint the platform with some sort of varnish. They did not even take it apart to do it, so there are drips along the sides of it. Anyways I have started the project by taking it apart, but I do not really know the easiest and best way to get rid of the varnish and restore the wood underneath. Has anyone run into this before/ have an idea where I should start cleaning her up?

Thanks in advance

Welcome

Sounds like a belt sander in order ... not sure what a varnish remover would do to the wood.

Here's a couple of discussion you might peak at for what to use once the varnish is removed. Other things are discussed here to Biggrin.gif

Teak One

Teak Two

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One weekend with a belt sander with 80 grit & some teak oil did wonders for my platform. I only did the top/sides.

I do recoat the platform a few times a summer - when the shine starts to dull, but it only takes about 5 - 10 minutes to do it.

Soak a rag - wipe on, let sit a while, wipe off. The 2 discussions above have other ideas for other products, but I've been pleased with the results.

Before (End of season)

IMG_3018.JPG

After (Late in season - late Aug).

DSC00687.JPG

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Try a pressure washer... Dontknow.gif

BTW, I saw your profile picture. You have been unmasked Barack!!!

Edited by 1FootDan
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Doing a teak restore kit will make a big difference, it will clean the teak and bring out the original color of the wood. Plus then you don't sand off so much material leaving the swim step looking original. With Varnish you have to sand and good luck getting rid of it in all the cracks, it's impossible to get rid of all of it.

TE-KA is the product we use and sell at Bake's http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=800

Hope this helps

-Paul

Edited by Bakes Board & Ski
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When I bought my boat, I had the same problem. Believe me, I cursed anyone who would put varnish on a teak platform.

It's not easy to get off. I didn't want to take my platform completely apart, so used a varnish remover first. It was in an aerosol can. Spray it on, wait 20 minutes, scrape it off with a plastic putty knife. I did this twice - it took a lot of the varnish off. Then I used a belt sander - you have to use a pretty rough grit. The oil in the teak will cause the sawdust to gum up the belt pretty quickly. Try to keep the belt clean. Then I used a dremel with a sanding attachment to get the varnish between the slats. The project took a couple days. It was a real PIA, and there are still little cracks where you can find varnish.

I tried Teak-guard for a while, but I don't like the way it chipped. It sealed nicely at first, but I could never get it looking great after it scuffed up. So, I stripped that off - that was a pain, too.

Now I just use a good teak oil. Let it dry thoroughly between coats. Use a little bronze wool every now and then, and coat it again. It will look great.

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Doing a teak restore kit will make a big difference, it will clean the teak and bring out the original color of the wood. Plus then you don't sand off so much material leaving the swim step looking original. With Varnish you have to sand and good luck getting rid of it in all the cracks, it's impossible to get rid of all of it.

TE-KA is the product we use and sell at Bake's http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=800

Hope this helps

-Paul

Right on. TE-KA is a great product and worked well for me.

Here' my teak refinishing project....

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index....showtopic=18342

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Thanks everyone for your response... what I would like to do is go and find the person that did this and strangle his/her neck. In all seriousness though I think I might try the strip/sand with 80 grit then use a teak oil.

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...what I would like to do is go and find the person that did this and strangle his/her neck. In all seriousness though I think I might try the strip/sand with 80 grit then use a teak oil.

Yeah, that was my sentiment with my boat, as well.

I think you're wise - strip, sand (150 grit works fine), teak oil.

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Try a pressure washer... Dontknow.gif

BTW, I saw your profile picture. You have been unmasked Barack!!!

Don't use a presure washer, it will raise the grain, and can leave the surface uneven... sanding is the way to go

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks to everyone for helping me figure out what to do. I ended up tearing the whole platform down and feeding each board through a planer. After that I touched up the sides with a medium grit on the orbital sander. I wrapped it all up with a fine grit and oiled her up! I also painted the brackets for a finishing touch. Thumbup.gif Also in this link are some pictures of my sub box for under the observers seat(not totally finished with it yet.)

Platform and Sub-box pictures

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Thanks to everyone for helping me figure out what to do. I ended up tearing the whole platform down and feeding each board through a planer. After that I touched up the sides with a medium grit on the orbital sander. I wrapped it all up with a fine grit and oiled her up! I also painted the brackets for a finishing touch. Thumbup.gif Also in this link are some pictures of my sub box for under the observers seat(not totally finished with it yet.)

Platform and Sub-box pictures

Good job! Looks like it turned out well. I did the same with the brackets. I had them powder coated black while I had them off. I figured if I'm going to do it, do it right! Thumbup.gif

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As others have said, start with the belt sander and after you have it stripped follow the directions in the link and you platform will look like a piece of fime funiture.

Thanks Harold for the tutorial! Teak tutorial

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