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Mark Borgerson Mark Borgerson is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Oct 2006
Posts: 171
Default Swim Platform Project

In article ,
says...
In article m,
says...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...

One of the joys of owning a boat with a lot of exterior wood trim is
the maintenance work. With 29 years in the sun and salt air, the
teak in our swim platorm was getting thin, brittle and badly worn.
After several years of patchwork repairs it finally seemed time to do
the job right and rebuild the entire thing. No problem. In
exchange of about a boat buck for freshly milled teak strips and a few
new tools, the job is well underway.

Here's a picture of a new strip being sprung into place with clamps
and spacers:

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/921/swimplatformconstructio.jpg

Notice the reflections in that fine looking transom. :-)

The strips are 15 feet long, 1 1/2 iches wide and about 7/8ths thick,
approximately 25 board feet before milling.

Any suggestions for how to finish the teak when it is finished?

---------

Looks great Wayne!
Lot's of knowledgeable guys on another group report success with sealing
exterior teak with West epoxy and varnishing or painting over that. Haven't
tried it myself but it sounds good.


What I have done with great success it use a warm thin coat of epoxy as
a sanding sealer (not really cost effective unless you are buying your
epoxy in bulk as I was) and then using a good UV protective Spar Varnish
over it..

For a swim platform that will actually be used, will you need non-skid
on top of a smooth finish? IIRC, unfinished teak isn't too slippery,
even when wet.

Mark Borgerson