Swim deck and Sikkens

[JeffN]

Has anyone refinished their teak swim deck with Sikkens? If so how did it hold up? I have been refinishing the cabin wood, trim around the helm, and am going to do the cockpit. I like the finish and was thinking about trying it on the swim deck. I know people have used it on their cockpit teak with good results but I was curious about the swim deck. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[LI Grady]

I had used Sikkens for years on the teak deck of my Pacemaker.

The good:
Fast and easy to put on
Completely sealed and waterproofed the teak (deck hatches stopped swelling and sticking)
Long lasting

The bad:
the color (even the "light" has an orange tint)
each coat made the color more orange
after a few years it did start to peel in spots
having to sand it off in order to get back to the original color/tint

Last year I gave the Starbrite sealer a shot. Looked better (IMHO), just as easy to use and wears off in time so I avoid the sanding part

 

[Fishermanbb]

I would NOT recommend it....Don't get me wrong...It's a great product....But it only works really well if you coat all sides of the wood perfectly AND the wood has a low moisture content prior to the application. If not, it will fade and peel quickly.....

 

[JeffN]

Thanks guys - I like the look of the wood I have done so far for the cabin, around the helm area, and am going to do the cockpit with the Sikkens. If the Sikkens doesn't hold up on the cockpit stuff I am just going to replace it with starboard or something but I'll try this first. I'll take your advise about the swim deck and not use the Sikkens. I have been using the Starbrite, the light version, for several seasons. It looks good for a short time (very short) but does probably provide some protection. I'll use that again. It does go on quickly etc. I had used the starbrite in the cockpit previously and so far I like the look of the Sikkens better. A little darker and no too much orange tint, I had it out in the sun today to give it a look. Thanks for the opinions.

 

[gradyfish22]

You will get 2 seasons out of it, beyond that for a swim platform I would not rely on it lasting any longer. As far as the orange tint, it does get some, but if you start qwith fresh teak it is not nearly as bad. also, they now have a ntural teak out that has a better color to it. Still beats teak oil any day unless you want to apply it over and over and then use teak cleaners which rarely work. As stated above, you do need to get all edges and put a few coats on, and then sand it down to bare wood to recoat it, it will peel down the road, but personally I'd rather do the work and not touch it for 2 years then redone it again over the winter when you have time then worry about teak oils.