fitting a deck in pitch pine on a Folkboat

W

woolleyhatter

Member
Joined
19 Jun 2008
Messages
31
Visit site
greetings all
I'm in the thought process of fitting a pitch pine deck on a FB. It will be fitted to a ply sub-deck and caulked etc.
My question/s are:
Is 6 mm or 8 mm the best/recommended, and the gap between pitch pine boards is 5mm. Is that acceptable?.
Furthermore will i need to bed the pitch down onto the sub deck?, as i assume it's just secured with screws onto the deck beams.
Any help at all is appreciated.
 
HI

I used pitch pine for the cockpit decking on my boat. The wood came from a friend who had some old beams of pitch pine about 100 years old. If I remember correctly, we made 5mm thick strips, 60mm wide with a 5mm wide rebated shoulder on one edge to give the gap. I used epoxy to fasten to the ply, held down with weights and some screws / large washers until the epoxy had gone off. The wood was very resinous and needed a lot of cleaning with acetone before glueing.

regards
 
Perhaps the most relevant aspect of overlaying the plywood sub deck with any timber be it teak or pitch pine is perhaps the vulnerability of the underlying sub deck to decay due to various caulking or other minor leaks long-term. The majority of timber vessels constructed with laid deck over sub deck of plywood can suffer serious decay of the underlying plywood eventually. This is both serious and labour intensive to correct. I think perhaps it might be wise to fully sheath the plywood deck in the first instance with glass cloth and epoxy resin before laying the strips down. This way any underlying water between the plywood and deck strips will have no long-term effect on the structure. The important thing is to minimise any piercings in the plywood as much as possible as, this is where any decay will start. If the strips can be laid down on a bed of polyurethane sealant/adhesive with minimal fastenings then the only vulnerable areas are the deck edges, the cabin sides combing junctions and any deck fastenings such as stanchion bolts etc. which, perhaps can receive special attention prior to laying the deck strips.

John Lilley
 
Not quite sure why you want to put pitch pine on top of ply. Gaboon marine ply is usually lightest. Thin layers of softwood often only last about fifteen years and there are often problems when, rather than if water penetrates through to the ply. (Cutty Sark had similar problems). On the other hand; you could go the whole traditional hog and fit a solid pitch pine deck and put up with wet bunks.

It might not look as nice but epoxy sheathed ply would be better and last longer. Probably cheaper and quicker too. OF
 
I very definitely agree with "oldfrank", here.

Go for a ply deck with glass cloth over it; durable, strong, light and very watertight. Folkboats originally had canvassed tongue and groove softwood decks; the appearance will be "correct", but the boat will be lighter and stronger. A Folkboat is a real joy to sail IF she is light and stiff; sadly a lot of Folkboats are overweight and don't sail as their designers (plural!!!) intended. Its really worth getting the strength up and the weight down.

Good luck!
 
old Frank's right I think

Either go for ply sheathed with glass/dynel/canvas whatever. Or lay a traditional deck, with solid timber deck planking fastened tothe beams and caulked and payed. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I have a solid timber deck. If it's done right it doesn't leak (so far) and it is easy to repair. Most importantly, you will know when it needs repair -it will leak, straight through. If you have timber on top of ply, then by the time you notice the leak there's a good chance the ply will be in a tragic state, the rot will have reaached carlins, beam shelf, clamp..........horrors.

Graham
 
gdallas said:
Either go for ply sheathed with glass/dynel/canvas whatever. Or lay a traditional deck, with solid timber deck planking fastened tothe beams and caulked and payed. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I have a solid timber deck. If it's done right it doesn't leak (so far) and it is easy to repair. Most importantly, you will know when it needs repair -it will leak, straight through. If you have timber on top of ply, then by the time you notice the leak there's a good chance the ply will be in a tragic state, the rot will have reaached carlins, beam shelf, clamp..........horrors.

Graham
Click to expand...

I agree - Folkboats shou;d not have a laid deck. One point to make though, is if you remove a ply deck and fit just a pure laid deck one must really address the probable lack of lodging Knees and the type/quality of the beam joints as the ply ties the whole deck together and prevents wracking. That is exactly why a ply deck can help an older boat about to have its mid life crisis!
 
I cant understand why anyone would want to fit a laid deck over ply on any boat never mind a light one like a Folkboat. In my experience such decks are bloody expensive, have short lives as the water gets in & they go rotten with alarming rapidity. Pitch pine does not glue well at all & is heavy.
Stick a good quality ply deck on her with 10 oz glass cloth & epoxy, then go sailing & eat steak!
 
Just to be a little contentious, I'm doing it the other way round; Douglas Fir grooved T&G laid onto the beams ('cause I like to lay back on a bunk and see boards...!!) then laying thin ply over the top followed by glass & epoxy sheathing.
 
Strangely, I'm in the process of doing just that for a lifting cabin top, .25" obeche covered in two layers of 4mm ply and epoxy sheathed. It'll be light (not for speed - I've got to lift the damn thing); no-one will tell the difference from the original and it won't leak on my pit. The obeche is grooved just as the original and only for appearance's sake.

Best known cure for a deck leak is to put a bunk underneath. OF
 
johnlilley said:
Perhaps the most relevant aspect of overlaying the plywood sub deck with any timber be it teak or pitch pine is perhaps the vulnerability of the underlying sub deck to decay due to various caulking or other minor leaks long-term.
Click to expand...


Exactly the reason I have not got a teak laid deck on mine, I have 9mm ply, epoxy cloth sheathed, painted with Blakes deck paint, its been done for 7 years now, is light, strong, water proof and required no maintenance in all that time. Might repaint it soon.
 
Seanick, I'm using a quarter inch obeche to look the part (varnished & beaded to look like planks) and two skins of 4mm gaboon ply under the epoxy sheathing - sounds about as light as I can get. The compromise arises when two or three adults stand on it to flake the mainsail. OF
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top