Swim Platform Materials

[chriscraft254]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Hell, where you live, just come up on a weekend and I'll help to get her restored. Come early enough, you just might get a boat ride.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Hell, where you live, just come up on a weekend and I'll help to get her restored. Come early enough, you just might get a boat ride.

... on the floatin' glow stick!?! That's a trip worth takin'!

I've got another few weeks of crazy at the office (make hay when the sun's shinin', right?), so we'll see how much I get done before the cold hits. Once I get a few bits and pieces sorted out, I might just take you up on that offer ... boat ride or not.

Thanks!

 

[southkogs]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Thought I'd revisit and update this a little. I did take the deck apart over the winter and I had some time to start working on it today. I'm going to try to finish the sanding up this week and start the varnish. I'm planning on being on the water in April, but I have a bunch of traveling coming up in the next 45 days so going may be a bit slow:

Good news is that the metal will mostly clean up nice. These two plates are part of the bottom of the deck. I didn't do much to the top one at all and it looks much better, so a little elbow grease and most of it should be fine:


This is the middle section of the deck before and after sanding. I've found a couple of small pieces of teak to add in to the spaces that are blank:


A little more sanding and things will start cleaning up nice.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Glad you decided to stick with the teak. Your sanding will be done once all the gray is gone and it is smooth. When you are done sanding run a damp rag all over it and the grain will rise a little. When it is dry, it'll just take a few minutes, lightly sand down the raised grain.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Once sanded, coat it well with Teak Oil or Tung Oil. If you wipe it down after each outing it'll last a while. You could also seal it with Marine Varnish but that can make it kinda slick

 

[southkogs]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

^^^ Leaning toward the varnish. I'm thinking that might be a little more protective of the wood long(er) term, and the Retriever likes jumpin' off the back.

 

[bigdirty]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Yup, teak is always easy to 'bring back' with a bit of sanding. This was my last boat, 23' formula, and the original platform looked about like what yours does/did. I felt it was way to narrow as well, so i extended it before sanding and refinishing. Got some teak from an old hatch cover from a scrap boat, ripped to the thickness and width of the original, and just made up all the little pieces in between to match.. (I was missing a few here and there like yours is, you couldn't tell after tho) you can see in the second pic how different the extended part looked before sanding.. Turned out pretty good in the end, the last pic is about what it looked like on the boat, the teak oil darkened it slightly, but it did last a whole season with nothing else done to it.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

This might be of interest as well...How to Clean, Restore, and Seal Teak Wood on Your Boat

 

[southkogs]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Cool - thanks guys, for the link too Woodonglass. I'll be sanding another evening or two this week. Looking at the center section yesterday, I may dismantle that a little more and hit with some glue and fasteners before I finish it out.

... my job keeps getting in the way, tho.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

^^^ Leaning toward the varnish. I'm thinking that might be a little more protective of the wood long(er) term, and the Retriever likes jumpin' off the back.

I think you're going to be into the same amount of maintenance, in the long run. Teak oil needs to be applied once or twice a year and is a never ending process. A sealing finish will look great for several years (3-5, maybe longer?), but once it starts failing it's going to be a major PITA to refinish.

Plus, as WOG mentioned the clear finish will be slick unless you add anti-skid. Believe me, you don't want a slick swim platform, (from personal experience :facepalm... Raw teak is naturally anti-skid, so that's a bonus for the teak oil.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

I refinished my swim platform a year ago. After sanding I put a generous coat of teak oil on it every day for a week. Then once a week for a month. Then once a month for 6 months. Haven't touched it since Nov and it still looks like it did a year ago. I do keep the boat and platform covered all the time unless I am working on the boat or it's on the water.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

LOL ... okay, so now the wind is swaying the other way. I'm too fickle.

I gotta' get the sanding done anyway, so keep the pushes coming guys. I'm not the brightest tool in the chest when it comes to woodworking so, I be an easy sway.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

IF, BIG IF, you don't mind staying on top of it and doing the Oil treatment faithfully, it really is the best method for taking care of Teak. The UV from the sun is a Killer along with the the water and chemicals.

 

[jimmy wise]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

I know thread jack......how far off the transom should you go with a platform and how do you set the height? I/o mercruiser. ill build mine just need some help jimmy

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

JImmy, you should be able to make a good "Guess-ti-mate" from this pic...http://forums.iboats.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=224319&d=1371831445

 

[southkogs]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Well to update: I've got things mostly done.



A buncha' sanding (but no where near as bad as I was thinking). I had some repairs to do, and did wind up getting hold of some teak pieces pretty cheap and easy. I've treated it 3 times with teak oil over two weeks and now I'm installing it back on the boat.

The center section is going to take me just a bit as I'll have to readjust it's arc for when it folds outta' up and over. I re-used the same brackets and supports, but replaced almost all of the hardware otherwise.

Thanks for pushing me into re-finishing it. It's not perfect, but I learned quite a bit and enjoyed doing the work. It looks fine and will serve us well. Not to mention, it was pretty cheap to pull off.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Looks good! Keep it clean and out of the blazing sun and it will stay that way a long time.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Outstanding!!!!!

 

[southkogs]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Thanks y'all ... even kinda' makes the ole' Stringer look a little more distinguished

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Swim Platform Materials

Oh Yeah! That came out real nice.

even kinda' makes the ole' Stringer look a little more distinguished

Or, draws people's attention away from the ol' stringer :lol::boink::behindsofa:

(Like I have any room to talk, I have an old M1 drive ...)