Sanding my Teak Decks, Advice, Hints, Tips, Photo's

xeitosaphil said:
These may also be a contender, and possibly cheaper?

https://www.seascrew.com/browse.cfm...E-HEAD-SCREW-A2-STAINLESS-BS4174&l=0000000584

Great Web site by the way, and lovely photos and video's :encouragement:
Click to expand...

They also look the part, the site says they are A2 Stainless I would have though they should be A4 (316). The HR site doesn't say what grade of stainless they are.
I guess it wont really matter, they are going to be buried out the way and should never really come into contact with salt water.
 
pvb said:
That looks rather aggressive!
Click to expand...

I did have a look at those, thought they may be useful for around the deck hatches and areas my other sanders don't fit. But decided against it, it would be very easy to create an uneven surface

The sanders I'm using are:-

DeWalt D26410-GB 240V awesome bit of kit.
Fein Multimaster with small triangular sanding attachment, it reaches all the areas the Dewalt wont. Every boat owner should have one.
Anything that cant be done with those I'm doing by hand.
 
I used a very lightweight Bosch belt sander on my deck, with a triangular detail sander for awkward bits. The belt sander gave a good finish with minimal marks.

teakdeck2002.jpg
 
pvb said:
That looks rather aggressive!
Click to expand...

Agreed and it's a bit pricy at the moment. I've not tried it but with 5mm wide flapwheels and variable speed it could be useful for cleaning out joints. Horses for courses, I have used a palm router with guide pins in the base plate in the past.
 
To cut the grouve use a biscuit jointer. The blade is about 3-4mm th , can be adjusted for depth can run to a fence but could be used freehand with practice
I have an Elu which was used commercially for years but makita etc make them.
 
LMc, just another thought. I have the same problem as you, 30 yr old teak decks with plenty of teak left but thin plugs over dome!! headed screws I'm putting off the full job at the moment but in the knowledge that almost none of my fixing screws go fully though the 12mm thick fibreglass deck and finding that the adhesive alone still holds the teak down well. I have experimented with the following:

Remove the plug (if necessary!) and screw.
Drill out the teak until and just until you get to fibreglass. (I have ground a flat bit drill to the correct dia and with a very short lead spike)
Drill 5 to 10 mm into the fibreglass trying not to go right through (the risky bit!)
Epoxy in a long teak plug so that it bonds the teak decking to the fibre glass decking.
Cut and sand off as usual.

I have done a very small, 0.25m2, area like this and am monitoring it, so far it is ok after 12months. It is tediously slow and I am trying to dream up ways of "mechanising" the process but it gets rid of the tyranny of those bloody screws.
 
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Yep and for getting the caulking out (depending on what it is) they are good. But if you want to deepen the groove you need to think out of the box. Fact is, that you could spend a fortune on power tools to do this job, all depends on the particular circumstances, abilities, time, materials, working conditions / constraints, all sorts.
 
Hadenough said:
LMc, just another thought. I have the same problem as you, 30 yr old teak decks with plenty of teak left but thin plugs over dome!! headed screws I'm putting off the full job at the moment but in the knowledge that almost none of my fixing screws go fully though the 12mm thick fibreglass deck and finding that the adhesive alone still holds the teak down well. I have experimented with the following:

Remove the plug (if necessary!) and screw.
Drill out the teak until and just until you get to fibreglass. (I have ground a flat bit drill to the correct dia and with a very short lead spike)
Drill 5 to 10 mm into the fibreglass trying not to go right through (the risky bit!)
Epoxy in a long teak plug so that it bonds the teak decking to the fibre glass decking.
Cut and sand off as usual.

I have done a very small, 0.25m2, area like this and am monitoring it, so far it is ok after 12months. It is tediously slow and I am trying to dream up ways of "mechanising" the process but it gets rid of the tyranny of those bloody screws.
Click to expand...

So far I reckon about 30% of the screw heads are showing, so remove them, re-drill, screw and plug.
One of the local professionals in this game thinks I wont need to re-screw, just drill and plug the hole, the deck are stuck down so well that he doubts the screws will do any good now.
I removed a lot of teak deck from around my gas lockers, which are being replaced, and he is correct, I removed all the screws and it took most of a day to lift the small area of teak decking, 100% sealed to deck.
 
Update sanding decks

Almost finished the initial sanding, its going really well and looking good, though must admit I'll be glad to move onto plug and screw replacement, getting bored with sanding now.

 
Re: Update sanding decks

Though i'd post a wee update on how my decks are coming along.

All the sanding is complete & all the exposed screws have been removed, the holes re-drilled, new screws fitted and re-plugged.

Here is the latest video, pt 4.


Currently removing all the old caulk and re-routing the grooves.... I'm really surprised at how well the decks are looking, most of the stress and worry about under taking this job at the beginning has now gone, and I'm really enjoying myself now.
 
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