Need help with redoing teak swim platform

[J10]

The previous owner before me put polyurethane on it, so now its flaking, etc. What do I need to do to strip that off?? Sand it or some kind of stripper? I have the 3 step teak once I get that poly off. I don't want to damage it. Please help

[s_kelley2000]

I know Brichter14 had stain/poly on his and was able to get it off by sanding. There is some info on pages 8 and 9 of his build thread:

http://www.planetnautique.com/vb3/sh...f-Photos/page7

Be careful you don't sand too aggressively because I have heard of people exposing the screw tips that hold the platform together.

[azeus17]

I will preface this by saying I have no idea if this is the best route, but it worked for me. I was in the same situation last year. I ended up using a stripper to remove the poly. I then lightly sanded and then lastly used a wire brush with the grain to try to open some of the pores. Mine turned out better than I had hoped. I need to reapply some oil this spring, but I think that is fairly routine for teak.

[azeus17]

Be careful you don't sand too aggressively because I have heard of people exposing the screw tips that hold the platform together.

Yes, I experianced this. The end of the screws are very close to the surface of the platform!

[jonsquatch]

Chemical strippers can make a mess and you have to be careful not to let drips through the gaps get on things you don't want them on. I would probably use a hand stripper (scraper) and a heat gun to get most of it off and then sand since its already flaking. If you try to sand through the whole finish with bare wood spots exposed its easy to take of more wood than you want to from the bare wood spots.

[BrennanK]

My boats previous owner did something like this. I opted to hand sand the whole platform down. I did it during winter and sanded a bit each day. It took a long time, but it was labor of love. I put 2 coats of oil on and it was done. I don't like to oil the platform a ton as I put my skis on it a lot and I don't like the oil on my ski.

Result:

[Brichter14]

If you sand it like i did make sure you use a dremel tool with the pointed sanding bit to get in the cracks.

Mine came out nice and im leaving it without oil for now