Even though I mentioned
K2R in
a previous post, I thought it deserved a post of its own. I can't emphasize how nasty the diesel stain on our teak and holly floor was before I started this project. This photo doesn't do it justice.
The wood was dark, the white holly strips black. After sanding, it was marginally better, but the stain was still one of those where you could ignore how good the rest of the floor looked just because that stain looked so bad. The diesel had been soaking the wood for at least 10 or 15 years. We're not sure exactly how long since it was at least two owners previous to us that the tank leaked. After researching how to remove oil based stains on teak I happened on a forum about K2R. I remember my parents using it to remove stains from dry-cleaned clothes when I was little, but teak? It was worth a try, since the alternative was pulling up that section of plywood and replacing it. I'm not sure even that would have worked because the sub-floor marine plywood base under the teak and holly plywood was also soaked and might have seeped into the new plywood.
As I mentioned in the previous post, it takes multiple applications to remove diesel from soaked wood. You apply, it lifts what can be reached, you let it sit and the fuel from the underlayment seeps up into the teak and holly, you apply again. I've now used two and a half cans over a week's time, and it's pretty close to being done seeping. You can do one application every 30 minutes or so by the time you apply, let dry, sweep it up, rinse it off, let it dry. It takes a lot for a marine product to impress me, but color me impressed...and not stained. Now I can hardly wait to get the finish on!
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| Looking forward to aft |
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| Looking aft to forward |
