Swim platform care

[rudydog]

does anyone ever condition their swim platform with teak oil during the off season? is it something you would recommend?

[swc5150]

My '06 had a teak platform, and I used the winter to refinish it. I would put about 2 coats of tongue oil on it per week, and wet sand in between. It worked great...

[DanielC]

I have found that when you are not using your boat, and if the teak platform is out of the weather, after about the third time you put oil on it, there is not much to be gained by oiling it more.

[IMPACT-EV1]

I have found that when you are not using your boat, and if the teak platform is out of the weather, after about the third time you put oil on it, there is not much to be gained by oiling it more.

if the wood is still soaking up the oil then yes there is a gain to adding more coats and that is a longer interval before you will need to do it again. You should be appling a heavy coat allow it to soak in and apply another coat untill it doesn;t soak in to the wood any more.

[NigelC]

does anyone ever condition their swim platform with teak oil during the off season? is it something you would recommend?

Teak is a natural hardwood that is high in natural oils. If left without reconditioning it will take on a natural silver / grey colour. On my previous boat, I used to find that annual maintenance was usually all that was required to maintain the original finish.

Every winter, I would treat the platform with Starbrite teak cleaner, agitate it with a stiff brush, let it soak for a while and then pressure wash it clean. This would be done a couple of times. Let the wood dry and then apply several layers of good quality teak oil.

There is mixed opinion about sanding teak. On several occasions I was advised the sawdust blocks the natural pores of the wood which prevents the oil from effectively soaking in.

[swc5150]

I would apply oil to both sides of my platform, to ensure it soaked to the center of the wood as much as possible. My method was probably overkill, but you can't argue with the result.

[wake_fun]

Here is some info I posted:
http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79854

There are posts that I did on this site also, you will have to search for them.

[east tx skier]

A light sanding and two coats of oil with about a week long drying period between coats is usually plenty to get me through the season. The platform will have a scuff or two on it from skiers putting their skis on on it, but there is no graying.

Just reinstalled mine after my once per year maintenance.

[muzz88]

I've just re-finished my platform.

The previous owner put some sort of varnish on it and it looked terrible. So after many hours of sanding, i used boiled linseed oil mixed 50/50 with mineral turps. It has come up like new!

Definately worth the effort.