Restoring a 24 year old teak swim deck

[Pra4sno]

The thread about teak oil reminded me that I wanted to share a project I've been working on to restore my '93 Echelon's deck.  The previous owner appears to have at some point late in his 24 years of ownership put a coat of poly on the swim deck, and while he obviously wasn't much of a woodworker, he also attempted to fix a crack in one piece of the deck that I assume either came as a result of the poly drying out the teak, or bumping a dock.  I am by no means a fine woodworker, but figured I could create a much longer lasting repair than the P.O.'s wood glue and decking screws.  The goal wasn't to have a brand new swimdeck, but to set this one up for another 10+ years of work.  Pardon the messy garage in the background - lots of boat stuff from winterization is still finding its home.  

Materials used: 

- Orbital palm sander.  I need a new one, the governing circuit appears to be shot so it runs away on me now and then.  Makes for a good forearm workout. 

- Handheld electric impact driver for removal of hardware.  Electric driver tested on scrap and clutch set to prevent stripping.  

- 60 grit followed with 120 grit.  I have used finer grits to finish on other swim decks in the past and wasn't satisfied with traction.  

- All new stainless steel hardware.  I don't have sizes handy, but home depot had everything I needed in exact replacement sizing at a fraction of the local Marina.  Some of the bolts were slightly stripped by P.O. so I replaced them all.

- 1/4" stainless steel bolts, nylock nuts and stainless washers for crack repair.  

- Watco Teak Oil 

- 2x Foam brushes (2") 

- Amazon boxes to protect my garage floor!  

 

Original images (with platform brackets already removed):

 

Pulled apart:

 

LOTS of sanding (some example shots to show difference between sanded/unsanded) 

 

Teak oil going on!  I used 1x2's to keep everything elevated so it would soak.  I did 4 total coats.  After the teak oil soaked for a day I would put it in the sun for a few hours and apply another coat.  This seemed to help the oil to get to a light enough viscosity to soak in deeply.  It has been cool here in Colorado, and my garage was staying under 50* at night so by letting the teak heat up much less oil residue was left on the surface.  It failed to soak in the last coat, so that's when I stopped applying it.  

 

Reassembled with new hardware.  I don't have pictures of this, but you can see where the previous owner had used decking screws and wood glue to shore up a crack.  I removed all of that and drilled a 1/4" hole through the board lengthwise.  I countersunk the ends so the whole bolt is recessed, cut the bolt down to fit, put teak oil in and then the hardware.  Torqued to 3ft/lbs to provide enough pressure to prevent further separation of the board, but not enough that it cannot expand and contract naturally.  Wish I had taken more photos of this process, but I didn't.  This process was recommended by a fine woodworking friend.  No more screw heads visible (although the pilot holes are).  I'm hoping to find a stainless steel Malibu plate to cover those holes with over the winter.  

 

 

What I would do differently: 

- Use a teak brightening agent to see if I could get some of the more stained pieces to pop. 

- I would use a rag to apply the final coats of teak oil once I could tell it wasn't just drinking it up.  

- Apply teak oil to the screw holes a day before I try to back the deck screws out to make sure the teak isn't dried out, lessening the likelihood of cracking.  

- Use a 3/8" drill bit to clean up the expanded teak in the screw holes before backing the screws out.  One or two of them caused splitting when I backed it out.  

- Flip over a 5gal bucket to sit on instead of hunching over or kneeling on the concrete while sanding.  It was a fun project once I started being smart about it.  

- Take my time.  I would give the teak more time in between coats and stretch the project out more.  

 

Final Notes:  

I have sanded and oiled a few decks like this before, but this was the most rewarding simply due to the previous condition of the teak.  I am blown away by the quality of the original teak, the design, and the overall build quality by Malibu.  This 24 year old boat continues to impress...

Edited November 20, 2017 by Pra4sno

[John I.]

Looks great!

[Pra4sno]

3 hours ago, John I. said:

Looks great!

Thank you!  

[Woodski]

@Pra4sno:  Nice work, looks great.  One suggestion - a ski bumper.  Find a narrow piece of teak and make a rib that you can attach to the upper surface so that when a ski / board slides forward, it contacts that rather than the transom.  The piece on the underside (upper piece in your bottom view picture) is a good example of what I did.  I found some teak at a local Bu dealer that had a few old platforms laying around.

To your comment, I agree, the Echelon is an extremely well built tournament ski boat.  Classic & timeless design, well deserving of its 'ski boat of the year' awards back in the day.