Teak decks are lovely. Comfortable on the feet, good traction when wet. Pretty to look at when well kept. They are not fun to maintain.
At some point I will start posting bits of the “Master Plan” for Evenstar over the next two years. It is a horrifying amount of work and expense if you put it all in one place and add it up. But part of that is the reason I am going to school, of course.
But back to the teak, the daunting task I am starting now. Recaulking. It’s not clear if all of the teak needs to be recaulked just now. However some of the black caulk is coming up way too easily, and most of it is sticking up above the wood (or “proud” as the surveyor called it) indicating some wear to the wood. At a minimum that stuff needs to be razored – but the stuff coming up is what has me alarmed.
Being both cheap and jaded with regards to hiring out big jobs like this, it seems that I will try and take advantage of my hiatus from classes the next four weeks to take a start at some of this. Armed with a Fein Multimaster with a special teak caulk blade, a case of TDS (Teak Deck System) caulk, a power caulking gun and a sander I plan to spend the next three weeks crawling about under the shrink wrap, snorting fumes and sawdust while getting Teak Caulk in my hair, under my nails on my clothes and with luck, into the skinny cracks in the teak.
Wish me luck.
