Teak refit — care step by step
Start restoring teak by assessing the wood, the seams and the watertightness, not with oil or sanding. When the planks are thin, the seams are lifting or there are signs of damp below deck, surface care will not solve the problem.
The shortest answer: wash the teak gently along the grain, look at the seams and the areas around the fittings, then decide whether cleaning is enough or the sealing and the substrate need assessing. Oiling or leaving a natural patina is a choice of finish, not a way to fix a leak.
Assessment and care checklist
- Wash the surface with a soft brush along the grain and rinse without scrubbing hard.
- Check the seams, the ends of the planks, the areas around fittings and the places with dark stains.
- Look at the interior under the deck if you suspect a leak.
- Only after the assessment choose surface care or a further repair.
Oil, natural patina or repair
Oil or a sealer change the appearance and the care requirements, but they do not add thickness to the wood and do not repair the seams. Natural greying is not in itself a fault. Take the decision to sand carefully: removing too much material eats into the reserve thickness of the planks.
Mistakes and safety
- scrubbing across the grain or using aggressive chemicals without testing on a small area,
- applying the product to a wet, dirty or leaking substrate,
- ignoring lifted seams and leaks around the fittings,
- sanding without checking how much wood can still be safely removed.
Useful guides
Next step: before choosing a product, mark the seams, the stains and the places where a leak is possible on photos of the deck.