Options for new teak deck

[awyatybw]

I own a Victoria 34. She has a teak deck. This is laid on top of the foam-cored fiberglass deck and was an optional extra when she was new (to a previous owner) in 1993. That is, it is largely cosmetic, although some form of non-slip surface is clearly required.

It is fixed by the planks being glued to the GRP deck, I think with some form of epoxy. It has been suggested that there nonetheless may be some screw-holes in the underlying deck caused by the fixing of the jigs used to bend the planks and hold the deck in place as it was fitted. If anyone is familiar with the specific techniques used by Victoria Yachts during the relevant period (which was after the main period of building Victoria 34s) and can supply further details then I should be obliged.

The deck is worn out and needs to be replaced. The "caulking", which was renewed by Victoria Yacht Services in 2001, has failed in many places and a good number of the planks have started to lift (Victoria Yacht Services was one of the successor companies to Victoria Yachts, and they went into liquidation a few weeks after completing the work on our boat). I have patched it up such that it will last this season, I hope, but I plan to have it completely renewed next winter.

I know that there are many who would advise use of Tredmaster or similar, or even Tek-Dek. For the moment, however, I am minded to replace it with a new teak deck of some description. I am fortunate to be based in Kiel (for the present) which is pretty much in the centre of the wooden boat-building world. So far I have obtained two quotes for the work, using quite different techniques.

(a) A traditional build of a teak deck, using 42 x 12mm teak planks. The planks would be screwed into the underlying GRP deck. They would extend all the way to the toerail, rather than leaving a c.100mm 'gutter' as at present.

(b) A deck built using max 6mm teak planking glued to underlying panels of plywood. These panels would be fixed to the GRP deck with either epoxy or a Sikaflex adhesive. This technique has the clear advantage that no screws are required into the GRP deck.

I would appreciate any advice, suggestions or observations about these options including any experience others may have had of either technique, good or bad.

Alan.

 

[whiteoaks7]

Have you looked at prefabricated panels - www.kjhowells.com made mine and I recommend them.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Alan,

You have my sympathy! I was where you are, about three years back.

There is a third way, which is what I chose. The teak is epoxied directly to the deck, without screws (actually there are temporary screws to hold the planks in the curve, but the holes they cause are epoxied up as part of the next step in the laying process). This sounds very like what was originally done to your boat, but it sounds like it was done badly. The key to getting this to work, the boatyard (Yarmouth Marine Services) told me, is very thorough preparation of the GRP deck, so that the epoxy sticks like extremely sticky stuff. My old deck (laid in 1980) was both screwed and glued, and I can assure you that even 1980's glue was very reluctant to let go! It took me days to get the old deck off.

The principle advantage is no screws. My problems with the 20-year old deck which was screwed were water penetration around the old screws, through a solid glass deck, causing leaks into the interior. In your case, I'd be very wary about screws into foamcore, in case the foam starts, eventually, to waterlog.

I don't quite get your second alternative. It seems to me that adding a ply layer is just adding another point of possible (probable?) failure.

 

[johna]

David

We can't all afford circa £360 pounds per sq m. Some of us are "poor" pensioners!!!

 

[boatmike]

I would endorse the avoidance of two many screw holes and believe if they are necessary to hold the planks down while they cure it's a great idea to remove them and epoxy plug the holes afterward. If that has been done on the existing worn deck then I would have thought that you would be able to tell. There will either be a teak dowel over the screw holes, or a sikaflex plug. carefully drill through one of these and there will either be a screw underneath or not.
As far as building the teak up on a ply base, this is also a tried and tested technique used on many larger vessels and superyachts. It has the advantage of making most of the parts off the boat after lifting patterns from it, which means they can be made in a controlled environment. Scott Moody at Burselden used to run a company doing just that, don't know if he still does, but I can tell you he has done some super work on vessels I have been involved with building this way and if you get a good price don't be afraid of it. I have seen it done on steel, aluminium and GRP decks and it can be done very well without using screws at all.