Teak Deck Work

Freshly sanded teak deck covered in dew.

Jerry and I have been hard at work on Persephone's teak decks.  The teak wears down over time, the black caulk between the teak strips comes loose and needs replacing.  There are many steps required in order to replace the caulk.  Every step involves vacuuming before, during and after to keep the sanding dust down.
1.  Sand the wood to make it smooth.
2.  Razor blade the sides of each groove of caulk and use a sharp reef hook to pull out all of the old caulk.
3.  Place a guide Jerry designed along an old groove, screw it in to hold the guide in place, router the groove resulting in a deeper (and a little wider) groove to put new caulk in.
4.  Thoroughly clean and sand out (with Jerry's sanding block he made) each new groove.
5.  Apply a strip of tape along the bottom of the groove.   The tape ensures the caulk does not stick to the bottom of the groove - only the sides.
6.  Fill each new groove with caulk.
7.  Using a flexible putty knife smooth out the bead of caulk along the groove.
8.  After the caulk cures lots more sanding required to take away the black caulk on the wood.
Every step of this process is done from the knees and bending over.  It is back breaking and tedious.
We are halfway done!!

Bob uses the orbital sander to smooth the teak.

Bob uses the reef hook to clean all of the old caulk from the grooves.

Bob using Jerry's handmade groove sander.

The weather has been perfect for working on the decks!

Jerry using his guide and modified router base to router each groove deeper for caulk.

The aft section with the grooves filled with caulk.  Waiting to sand when cured.

Sanding the excess caulk from the teak.

Starboard side done!

Ron, Jerry, and Jerry having fun with shovels.

I have 5 coats of varnish on our teak table so far.  Thanks to Donna and Jerry who make all of this work possible!