Swim platform refinishing and anti-slip / skid

[ryno1234]

I have a swim deck that looks worn. I want to refinish it during the offseason.

In looking at the swim deck closely, it appears that it was coated with some sort of shiny, thicker material. I'm not sure if that's epoxy, polyurethane, some or lacquer or what exactly. It's thick enough to where you can see a side profile of its thickness when some of it chips off.

I'm intending to sand the entire thing down and then refinish it.

I have questions, however:

1. Should I teak oil it and call it good or should I apply a coating to it like it has now? It seems a coating would likely last a lot longer, but perhaps more difficult to apply. The deck is ~20 years old and still is largely protected by whatever that material is.
2. If I apply the coating, would I *also* teak oil the deck before coating it?
3. The anti-slip / anti-skid would need to be redone as well. In looking into this, these seems to be so many products, its difficult to understand what would be the correct one of this type of application. It appears that whatever is on there now is a mix of the main coating with grit mixed into it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Scott Danforth]

your non-skid is simply something like this. https://fgci.com/product/non-skid-pumice-additive/

added to varnish or epoxy

 

[zool]

You should not oil the deck before coating it, sand it clean, oil it or coat it with a clear. An oil coating will inhibit the clear from bonding.

If u decide to sand it down and oil it, you can brighten and destain the wood with oxalic acid or a teak cleaner/brightener product before oil.

No need for non skid if oil is used.

 

[ryno1234]

You should not oil the deck before coating it, sand it clean, oil it or coat it with a clear. An oil coating will inhibit the clear from bonding.

If u decide to sand it down and oil it, you can brighten and destain the wood with oxalic acid or a teak cleaner/brightener product before oil.

No need for non skid if oil is used.

The color clearly is different where the coating is vs. where it is not. Is that due to the wood losing color because it's exposed or is that because the clear has some sort of pigment in it?

I'd like to maintain the rich color.

Any tips on how to coat it or what products one would use?

 

[flashback]

Those almost looks like some kind of non skid tape. My last boat had a teak swim platform I just cleaned and oiled it once a year and it kept the nice warm brown color and was not slippery. No nonskid anywhere..

 

[88 Capri (2022 SOTY)]

Those almost looks like some kind of non skid tape. My last boat had a teak swim platform I just cleaned and oiled it once a year and it kept the nice warm brown color and was not slippery. No nonskid anywhere..

I totally agree on the non-skid tape, I've seen a similar look after years on wooden stairs. It almost looks like they may have been coated with stain at some point to blend them in as the wood wore.

 

[zool]

The color clearly is different where the coating is vs. where it is not. Is that due to the wood losing color because it's exposed or is that because the clear has some sort of pigment in it?

I'd like to maintain the rich color.

Any tips on how to coat it or what products one would use?

The reason you would use a cleaner/brightener or oxalic is that will get you to a uniform substrate. For color you can use a stain, leave as is and clear, or use a tinted clear in teak tone.

I would avoid epoxy due to its limited UV protection. A spar varnish is typical to use over teak, or a poly brightwork coating like Awlbright or the like. Spar varnish will require alot of coats with sanding between them, so any non skid could be added in one of the final coats.

IMO. teak is an oily wood by nature, which is why it works so well in the marine environment, but also tends to peel varnish over time, requiring periodic refinishing. , so I would tend to clean it and oil it with no varnish.

 

[tpenfield]

Just to add to what the others have responded . . .

• Should I teak oil it and call it good or should I apply a coating to it like it has now? It seems a coating would likely last a lot longer, but perhaps more difficult to apply. The deck is ~20 years old and still is largely protected by whatever that material is.

Could be polyurethane or clear epoxy. I would not just rely on teak oil . . . you will be re-doing every month or so. Epoxy will typically last the longest.

• If I apply the coating, would I *also* teak oil the deck before coating it?

No , else nothing will stick to it for the next umpteen years

• The anti-slip / anti-skid would need to be redone as well. In looking into this, these seems to be so many products, its difficult to understand what would be the correct one of this type of application. It appears that whatever is on there now is a mix of the main coating with grit mixed into it.

Looks like non-skid tape that you get at the hardware store. Maybe something along those lines and then a light coat of epoxy to seal the edges.

 

[ryno1234]

I took a razor blade to the corner of the anti-skid. A piece came off - it's translucent and embedded in whatever it is they used to coat the whole platform - not tape.

So, I'd like to redo it similarly.

Any suggestions on how to remove 90in x 5 rows of aggregate material embedded in varnish / epoxy / whatever? Sanding seems daunting since the item being sanded is essentially sandpaper itself.

Alternatively, I could also leave the anti-skid as is and varnish over the top since the anti-skid is in good condition.

 

[tpenfield]

There is such a thing as 'clear' non-skid tape. Wondering if it is that type of material.

 

[ryno1234]

Turns out it is in fact aggregate material embedded in varnish.

I've started the work of using a heat gun with a dulled putty knife to heat the varnish / anti-skid and scrape the material off. It's taking a while to get through it (about 20-30 minutes per plank) and that's really only focusing on the anti-skid portion of the plank. I've attached a photo where the top plank is complete and I just started on the one below it.

What's going to be difficult and I haven't quite figured out how to do yet is the small wooden pieces that connect each of the planks. They're beveled and butted right up against their neighboring planks and have some varnish on them. I'm thinking it's not reasonable to get 100% of the varnish off, so I'm anticipating just doing as much as I reasonably can, ruffing up and stuck varnish in the crevasses with sandpaper and just varnishing over the top of it.

 

[flashback]

Try a chemical stripper and then sandpaper. I wouldn't go back with varnish or the nonskid, just teak oil.

 

[garbageguy]

your swim deck looks similar to the one on our 1991 Mastercraft ski boat, and we have sanded and "re-teaked (oiled) it"

regarding non-skid material additive - I think it depends what you want to do on your swinm platform - if lots of sitting, swimming, using it to get in and out of the boat (w/o add'l ladder), you may want to remove as much old material as you can, and re-oil it as needed.

the pic below is not ours, and ours is much darker (aged, etc) What did yours look like attached to your boat? to

 

[ryno1234]

What did yours look like attached to your boat?

I looked through my photos and these are the best images / videos that I have of it.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Teak is great if you like to oil every year or sand and re-varnish every 2 years.