Teak deck and joinery
Restoring a teak deck makes sense when worn seams, unevenness, leaks or the thickness of the planks need assessing before the next season. Whether a local repair is enough or a larger scope is needed is decided by the condition of the wood and the substrate, not by the look of the surface.
Work on teak can involve cleaning, the seams, individual planks, sealing or the joinery adjoining the deck. Sanding that is too aggressive or the wrong products can shorten the life of thin planks, so the assessment should also cover the thickness of the wood and the places where leaks may occur.
When it is worth extending the scope
Lifted seams, damp around fittings, moving planks or dark marks under the deck all show that the sealing and the substrate need looking at as well as the surface. Simply refreshing the appearance solves neither a leak nor a fastening problem.
What to prepare for the assessment
- photos of the whole deck, the seams, the fittings and the places with discolouration,
- close-ups of the joints and information about earlier sanding or sealing,
- the dimensions of the area and photos of the interior beneath the places where a leak is suspected.
What affects the scope and the initial quote
What matters is the area, the remaining thickness of the wood, the condition of the seams and the substrate, the number of fittings and access to the places that need work. An initial quote based on photos has its limits: only an inspection allows the fastenings and hidden damp to be assessed.