Decks and Seat Tops Finished

The previous post left the decks and seat tops covered in the black goop (Sikaflex 291). When it had cured for three days I started sanding the excess black goop off. A belt sander with an 80 grit belt made short work of it in the open areas but it is a dangerous tool to use close to the newly painted hull and bulkheads. I found that a paint scraper with a carbide blade worked well to remove the bulk of the black stuff close to the paintwork and could also get into the corners (although care is needed when working across the grain). After the scraper the detail sander with 80 grit paper cleaned up the edges. It sounds straight forward and it was but it took a long day to complete this sanding. Here is a photo of the foredeck after the sanding is complete.

 

Unfortunately after the sanding the imperfections show up where I had failed to fill the gap completely. There were not too many of these and I went round and patched them up. Here is another photo of the foredeck with the patching done. Once patched I had to wait for the caulk to cure before sanding again.

 

Finally I was able to start putting some finish onto the decks; I used Deks Olje. This is a two part finish; the first part is oily and is intended to protect the wood, the second part is more like a varnish and produces a glossy finish. The manufacturers recommend using only the first part on decks to obtain a sealed, protected non-slip surface and that is what I did. It could not be simpler to apply, put on coat after caot, wet on wet, until the surface is still wet after 10 minutes. I applied 7 coats and the then wiped off the excess with a clean rag. After 3 or 4 days the surface is exactly what I wanted.

 

 

I am very pleased with the result. Whether I would do it again is another question. It has been a time consuming and quite expensive exercise but it looks pretty good to me!