Fake teak rocks. (boaty post)

[moondancer]

Just fitted fake teak to the cockpit floor and seats of one of our boats. (Actually Wilks supplied made to measure mats so all we did was glue it down) I think it rocks. Far easier to keep clean than nobbly non-stick white fibreglass finish and it looks pretty good.

I know all these people who say fake teak is fake. But surely a 'real' teak deck over fibreglass is fake as well. It is only put down the way it is to look like a real proper teak deck on a wooden boat - and it requires lots of holes drilled in the deck.

Anyway, I wasn't sure about it at first but having seen it I think it is a great solution.

 

[Dyflin]

Sounds very interesting, any pics?

 

[Poignard]

[ QUOTE ]
I know all these people who say fake teak is fake. But surely a 'real' teak deck over fibreglass is fake as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

Reminds me [a bit] of the MD of a firm I used to work for. He wrote to Rolls-Royce and complained that the wooden dashboard of his new car was so highly polished that it looked more like plastic than wood.

 

[retsina]

which fake teak is it?

 

[PCUK]

I had the same Dek-King fitted all over the boat and absolutely love it. It raised the boat to a whole new level. Good to walk on, totally non slip, cuts down on noisy feet walking over the decks at night, used some odd bits for my own additions and it has many uses for trimming edges and folding around corners.

 

[wigen]

Flexiteek ???
http://golfbroker.convert.dk/section-flexiteek/

 

[moondancer]

It is DEK-KING by Wilks, no connection to me. Seems very good to me. Will do pictures in a couple of weeks when the boat isn't in bits.

 

[alldownwind]

Big practical feature using it in S.T. last month (Nov issue).

 

[DAKA]

I have just had Tek Dek fitted, Looks great /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

full report here

 

[DAKA]

I made extensive research into Teak, Flexi Teak and Tek Dek .
Flexiteak was impressive and came a very close second behind my choice of Tek Dek.

Photo of my carpet that harboured dust and was difficult to keep dry.

Photo of cockpit with carpet out but looked very plastic and marks with wet feet.

Photo of completed Tek Dek.

Bathing platform

My choice of Tek Dek was due to several reasons
If fitted well it looks real but is easy to maintain.
As a bonus it is cheaper than teak.
MC Products agreed to discount their price making a saving over flexiteak.
It is UV stabilised as apposed to Flexiteak which is only UV resistant,
I studied Flexi Teak and I did notice older installations had slight fading which was apparent when wet (same as real teak when it is ready for an oil, which I wanted to avoid).
I received a great deal of help from forum members supplying me with quality information regarding costs and draw backs with all products.
I saw a professionally fitted Tek Dek that looked a mess in places as it was left only half finished , as with all products choice of fitter is vital.
The main reason I choose tek dek was due to a recommendation on this forum for MC Products.
With in two days of me contacting him he phoned me from my boat to discus what I wanted where and to quote.
He arranged for me to view a completed boat and gave part of his weekend up to meet me.
The fitter liaised with me through out the whole process.
Incredibly efficient and he made the whole process from start to finish very easy.
If anyone is considering Teak/Flexiteak or Tek Dek on the South Coast I have no hesitation in recommending MC Products of Emsworth (Chichester).

Other points you may find useful

If you find a fitter who has already patterned your boat design you will save up to 40%.( MC Products don’t usually charge like others do for this pattern as they are keen to add to their extensive library of patterns).
If you choose an inexperienced fitter you will wish you hadn’t.
Ask to see a completed boat by the SAME FITTER not just the same company.

Try not to be swayed by impressive Boat show displays, I studied FlexiTeak at SIBS and it looked a beautiful spread but it was set high up away from the crowds.
Tek Dek used some panels on the floor to cover their electric cable supply, how many thousands of feet had trampled across that I have no idea but it looked as new.



Other technical differences as far as I could ascertain
Flexiteak claim to weld the back together, on close inspection all I could see was what appeared to be sporadic daubs with a hot glue gun.
This was the same with other fake teak products studied at sibs.
MC Products use some sort of flexible plastic bonding strip all the way around bends, this appears to create a more permanent fixture.
Tek Dek has a ‘Dove tail ‘pattern on the rear ready to bond to the glue.
Flexiteak is a straight grove.
Tek Dek is UV stabilised.
Flexiteak is only UV resistant.

Tek Dek has a ‘Dove tail ‘pattern on the rear ready to bond to the glue.
Flexiteak is a straight grove.
The dovetail underneath the Tek Dek is significant, the adhesive gets in the grooves and provides a mechanical bond as well as the adhesive bond. Flexiteek and some others just have ridges so there is far more chance of the deck not adhering properly.
In my opinion.
Tek Dek looks like teak and I hope will last and continue to look like teak for many maintenance free years to come.
Flexiteak looks really good and is impressive but the price is too high and there appears to be some issues with life expectancy.

As to Teak, much to the amazement of traditionalists it is not in the running, hard work to maintain , expensive and many owners are replacing sound teak with low maintenance Teeeek who don’t want to overlay a maintenance free fibreglass with wood.


No connection with this company, just as satisfied customer
http://www.mcproducts.net