Flexiteek

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brians

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I am considering replacing the teak cockpit seats and cockpit floor on a Moody 36CC with Flexiteek.

Can anyone give me a indicative price for doing this? Need all in price for supply and installation including removal of existing.

Any comments, good or bad, on Flexiteek would also be appreciated.
 
For that sort of job, fake teak is virtually the same price as real stuff as there is little shaping involved which is where the extra cost is in teak. Suggest you get a quote for ready made panels in 6mm to your pattern from www.kjhowells.com Easy DIY fit as you just glue them down. You can however save a significant amount by buying the materials and making your own. Again not difficult with straight planks on a flat surface but more time consuming.
 
Did my Moody 376 a couple of years ago using "Dek-king". They cut the pieces to shape, I fitted them. Cost £650 including sealant. I had a quote from Flexiteek, from memory it would have worked out at much the same. Certainly FAR less than real teak - or even teak faced ply. Personally I prefer artificial, the only down side is that in very hot sunshine it does get quite hot.
 
I had the the same job done on my Ocean 33 a few years back with Dek-King by MCP Marine, the cost was £1300 which included removing existing teak seats, templating and fitting the new stuff. A large portion of the cost (IIRC £500) was for the removal of the old seats, if you are prepared to do this yourself you will make quite a saving. I am very pleased with the result, particularly as my diesel filler is in the cockpit sole and spilling fuel on real teak would be a nightmare! As far as choice goes, I think it largely a matter of personal taste, but the pattern on the bottom of the Dek-King looked to provide more security than some that simply had grooves.

I have never mastered the art of attaching pictures to these posts, but if you PM me your email address I will send you a picture.
 
The difficulty of removing the old decking might have a significant effect on the price, or effort. When I removed some damaged real teak from a locker top, to replace it with artificial, I found that as well as screws, it was bonded down with epoxy. The only way to remove it was inch by inch with a hammer and chisel.
 
Yes, I'm sure that's right. Moodys used teak-veneered ply, which is epoxied down, not screwed. Chiselling is the way to go, though I took it only down to the bottom layer of ply to avoid chipping the gelcoat, then sanded out the bottom layer very carefully using an angle-grinder. Very dusty, needs good protection. It's OK to leave a thin smear of the old epoxy, as the sealant used with artificial teak will take up minor irregularities. Incidentally the cockpit and seats of Moody's have shallow mouldings to take the 'teak' - 6mm deep from memory which must include the sealant - the thickness of the material may have been the reason I chose Dek-king rather than Flexiteek.

P.S. Tranona: I've just checked, and the quote I had for a teak panel replacements was €2,300. However that was in Greece, where prices tend to be high. I didn't get UK quotes because I needed to transport the panels to Greece, impossible with solid teak but artificial could be rolled up and carried.
 
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AndrewB said:
Yes, I'm sure that's right. Moodys used teak-veneered ply, which is epoxied down, not screwed. Chiselling is the way to go, though I took it only down to the bottom layer of ply to avoid chipping the gelcoat, then sanded out the bottom layer very carefully using an angle-grinder. Very dusty, needs good protection. It's OK to leave a thin smear of the old epoxy, as the sealant used with artificial teak will take up minor irregularities. Incidentally the cockpit and seats of Moody's have shallow mouldings to take the 'teak' - 6mm deep from memory which must include the sealant - the thickness of the material may have been the reason I chose Dek-king rather than Flexiteek.

P.S. Tranona: I've just checked, and the quote I had for a teak panel replacements was €2,300. However that was in Greece, where prices tend to be high. I didn't get UK quotes because I needed to transport the panels to Greece, impossible with solid teak but artificial could be rolled up and carried.
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Replaced my teak-faced ply on my Dehler 35 with Dek-King. I agree with removing the old stuff - mallet & 'cranked' chisel is the best way, because it allows the blade to lie flat on the surface. Hard work, though. Price was £800 fitted. Brilliant job, & looks the Puppy's Privates. More flexible than teak - eg curved surfaces - & doesn't stain (oil, red wine etc).

I'd do exactly the same on my next boat without hesitation.
 
An alternative is solid teak panels made ready to fit.
The teak faced ply cockpit seats on my Moody 44 have seen better days and the transom and cockpit steps are completely shot. Moody Decking have the templates for the parts which all need to sit in a shallow well. They made up solid 6mm teak panels to fit, each laid on a thin GRP sheet to hold the shape. So far I've fitted one of the transom steps which is a complex shape and it simply dropped into place as an exact fit, leaving room for calulking around the edge. They supplied all the teak parts to shape along with a fitting kit of epoxy glue (Wessex Resins) and caulking sealants.
Hardest part by far was removing the old wood and getting down to a surface smooth enough for the epoxy to level. Chisel and mallet was proving very labour intensive but then a neighbour lent me his sander with a triangular head and a diamond pad to fit onto it. That made very short work of the rest of the cleaning out and was much more controllable than a chisel.
When I collected the teak I was given a good verbal lesson on what to do by one of their staff and a stern warning to call if anything was not clear while doing the work!
The panels are screwed and glued and I was told that will probably be best to do on the large cockpit parts. On the one step so far I used 6 x 1.5L bottles of water to hold it down and that seemed to do the job.
Cost for the panels and fitting kit was about £1300. Steps went to Greece in my hold luggage. Cockpit seats will be going as a snow board in a few weeks time.
 
We had Flexiteek factory fitted on decks and cockpit and still seems just as good after one years use . We would not have used real teak due to maintenance etc but we looked at a number of Moody's which have this before deciding . It does go green in places in winter on decks but responds just as well to patio magic treatment . The only problem is that if there are not maintained it shows up the real teak cappings and grab rails as it stays so much cleaner. There are a number of different colours available so might be worth having a look around to find the one that suits you by visiting boat show or say Hamble point where a number have fitted.
No obvious downsides apart from costs and lifting deck fittings if retrofitting
 
There are many different makes and styles available now, and if you want to match weathered natural teak nearby you can even do that. I opted for Permateek and did a semi-diy job. I had custom fitted panels made up and fitted them myself. Here is the story on my blog;
http://harley25refit.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/new-decking-in-cockpit.html
and the finished result:
permateek6.jpg

Cost me £768 for the custom deck and glue/sealant. Plus my labour which was half an afternoon to fit, half and afternoon to caulk all the edges.
Hope that helps!
 

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Quoted about 4 grand from flexiteek for entire new deck (ring deck) for my 38 footer earlier in the year. That's with me doing the work but them supplying custom made kit for my boat.

Compare to about 25 grand for a new teak deck. So a huge difference.


Still not sure whether to give my existing teak deck a few grands worth of love or just go down the flexiteek route. Sure the boat will be worth less with a fake teak deck but I'm not planning on selling it so I might just go for the option that involves less maintenance.

Personally id like the ' weathered teak' colour to replace my real teak and it would at least half match the silvered teak toerail.

The orange looking stuff better suited to a flash motor yacht covered in bikini clad airbrush tanned ladies....

Wait a minute.... why hell didn't I buy one of those instead!!???
 
contessaman said:
Quoted about 4 grand from flexiteek for entire new deck (ring deck) for my 38 footer earlier in the year. That's with me doing the work but them supplying custom made kit for my boat.

Compare to about 25 grand for a new teak deck. So a huge difference.


Still not sure whether to give my existing teak deck a few grands worth of love or just go down the flexiteek route. Sure the boat will be worth less with a fake teak deck but I'm not planning on selling it so I might just go for the option that involves less maintenance.

Personally id like the ' weathered teak' colour to replace my real teak and it would at least half match the silvered teak toerail.

The orange looking stuff better suited to a flash motor yacht covered in bikini clad airbrush tanned ladies....

Wait a minute.... why hell didn't I buy one of those instead!!???
Click to expand...

You are not comparing like with like. The material cost of real teak and plastic is much closer than you imply. The biggest element of cost is in removing the old teak and sticking down the new. These costs are not so different from doing it in plastic. Get a quote for doing the whole job (not just the panels) in plastic and watch the difference shrink. 6mm teak machined as decking planks is not expensive - around £130-150 sq m and you can get panels made up just like plastic for around £300-350 sq m depending on complexity. So if you are prepared to do the graft of removing the old, making good and laying panels the cost will be nowhere near £25k
 
Tranona said:
You are not comparing like with like. The material cost of real teak and plastic is much closer than you imply. The biggest element of cost is in removing the old teak and sticking down the new. These costs are not so different from doing it in plastic. Get a quote for doing the whole job (not just the panels) in plastic and watch the difference shrink. 6mm teak machined as decking planks is not expensive - around £130-150 sq m and you can get panels made up just like plastic for around £300-350 sq m depending on complexity. So if you are prepared to do the graft of removing the old, making good and laying panels the cost will be nowhere near £25k
Click to expand...

Hmm... The teak on my deck is a lot thicker than 6mm even in its thinnest worn areas? I see the point you're making, but the way I see it, fitting the custom made flexiteek panels is something I can do myself with the boat undercover for a relatively short amount of time. A proper laid teak deck replacement is somewhat beyond my carpentry skillset and even if I could do it, it would take me a long long time.

Came across this on the net a while back:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=f...UICCgC&biw=800&bih=1280#imgrc=SI7bx4t25q__kM:

Certainly looks a lot better than my current real one!
 
contessaman said:
Hmm... The teak on my deck is a lot thicker than 6mm even in its thinnest worn areas? I see the point you're making, but the way I see it, fitting the custom made flexiteek panels is something I can do myself with the boat undercover for a relatively short amount of time. A proper laid teak deck replacement is somewhat beyond my carpentry skillset and even if I could do it, it would take me a long long time.

Came across this on the net a while back:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=f...UICCgC&biw=800&bih=1280#imgrc=SI7bx4t25q__kM:

Certainly looks a lot better than my current real one!
Click to expand...

Not necessary to have 9 or 12mm teak deck. The reason for yours being thicker is that it is screwed and glued down so to accommodate wear which starts at the screw heads you need depth to sink the screws further. Even knackered decks have as much as 50-60% or the original depth left, hence the cost and work involved in removing them - and the appalling waste of a scarce resource.

The latest method is to just glue 6mm, which gives at least the same if not more life at a fraction of the weight and cost. You can get panels made just like the plastic panel by firms such as Moody Decking in Swanwick or KJ Howells in Poole. However, if you want teak for its known non slip and to cover an unsightly deck then consider doing what I did and lay straight planking (not following the curve of the deck) on polyurethane adhesive and the conventionally caulked.

Still hard work but no real skill required other than cutting edge planks to shape around cabins and deck edge. I used unmachined 4mm, partly because I bought a job lot at well under half price, and partly because I did not want the weight on the 26' boat it is on. You will need around 30 sqm to do the whole boat which will cost around the same as your plastic panels, although the adhesive will be more expensive and more work. In my IMHO a much better job though!
 
Tranona said:
Not necessary to have 9 or 12mm teak deck. The reason for yours being thicker is that it is screwed and glued down so to accommodate wear which starts at the screw heads you need depth to sink the screws further. Even knackered decks have as much as 50-60% or the original depth left, hence the cost and work involved in removing them - and the appalling waste of a scarce resource.

The latest method is to just glue 6mm, which gives at least the same if not more life at a fraction of the weight and cost. You can get panels made just like the plastic panel by firms such as Moody Decking in Swanwick or KJ Howells in Poole. However, if you want teak for its known non slip and to cover an unsightly deck then consider doing what I did and lay straight planking (not following the curve of the deck) on polyurethane adhesive and the conventionally caulked.

Still hard work but no real skill required other than cutting edge planks to shape around cabins and deck edge. I used unmachined 4mm, partly because I bought a job lot at well under half price, and partly because I did not want the weight on the 26' boat it is on. You will need around 30 sqm to do the whole boat which will cost around the same as your plastic panels, although the adhesive will be more expensive and more work. In my IMHO a much better job though!
Click to expand...

Interesting stuff. Didn't know about ready made panels. Certainly bonding rather than all those screw holes makes sense. Thanks for the heads up.

Like you say the original thickness was huge still lots left. But there is some water getting under a few of the planks on the side decks it pumps when you walk on it. So I'll have to do something with it sooner or later. Don't know if its viable to just lift the offending planks and re-seat. But really the whole deck is 1982 original so it must be on borrowed time.

I'll do some more research sorry to the OP if I've hijacked the thread!
 
You might get away with just lifting and rebedding strips. But HR lay on silicon and chances are water has got underneath adjacent strips and only oozes out where the caulking has split from the edges of the strips. So you start with one and end up taking another 3 or 4 until you find a good dry bond!
 
I did a DIY flexiteek job on the cockpit seats on my 10m Beneteau last year. What made it an easier DIY job was to remove 4 locker lids and take them home to do. Taking time to do a nice job in the warmth and comfort of my garage. I was then confident enough to make up the templates for the fixed sections and knew how to fit them. Great job. Really pleased with the results for relatively little cost.
 
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