Rough teak surface

[cmedsailor]

The surface of my deck teak is “rough” (especially the swimming platform which is sufferring under the hot Med sun). So, even if I clean it not much will change. Any ideas what to do? Should I scrub it gently with a sandpaper before cleaning it? Scrub across or along the grains? What size sand paper?
Thanks

 

[nigelmercier]

Depends on the thickness of the teak. Mine is about 12mm and I used a belt sander with 60, 120, 240 grit. This was an experiment on the folding seat I had at home. Always with the grain.

Does anyone know of a compact belt sander? I'm sure this would be useful to the OP.

 

[Tranona]

Pretty sure you will find it is a teak veneer about 4mm on ply. You can sand it lightly to flatten the grain, but be aware that you should not take too much off. If it is solid strips then it is less of a problem but still take off the minimum to get a smooth surface. Wash it regularly to stop dirt build up.

 

[martinaskey]

Whatever you do, do it gently !!

I wouldn't expect a teak deck to be silky smooth.
And it rather depends on how you clean it.
Scrubbing with a brush, particularly along the grain, can cause ridges.
I generally avoid cleaning and just throw sea water at it (either with a bucket or, because we're in Scotland, by ploughing through big waves )


To renovate it, I'd suggest a very light sanding - you can't do this very often as, obviously, the deck gets thinner !
But a very careful sand every 4-5 years shouldn't do much harm - the fresh,smooth oily teak is fractions of a mm below the rough grey stuff
I've just recaulked the decks and part of that job was sanding.
My final sanding was 120 grit and that was OK
Go with the grain but use a big block so you don't sand out the softer material first.
"swimming platform" sound modern (my deck is 1966 !) so I imagine it is thin but bonded rather than screwed / plugged - so you won't have to worry about plugs coming out.

martin

 

[cmedsailor]

Pretty sure you will find it is a teak veneer about 4mm on ply. .

Most probably yes.

 

[pvb]

Most probably yes.

If it is just a veneer on ply, don't touch it! Live with the roughness. Certainly don't sand it.

 

[johnalison]

I was talking yesterday to a chap who had done an excellent job in refurbishing an old HR. He was suggesting that is was better to lightly sand rough teak smooth since this would actually slow down the rate of decay by reducing the exposed surface. I think he may have a point, though it would be risky with a thin layer.

 

[SOT]

I was talking yesterday to a chap who had done an excellent job in refurbishing an old HR. He was suggesting that is was better to lightly sand rough teak smooth since this would actually slow down the rate of decay by reducing the exposed surface. I think he may have a point, though it would be risky with a thin layer.

Sounds like rubbish to me !
Teak, naturally has hard and soft areas. The soft areas wear away quicker than the hard areas so you end up with the ridges. If you sand the ridges away the new soft areas will wear and soon you will have ridges again, the only difference being you now have even less teak!