Re Caulking Teak deck

[steve yates]

On a circa 37foot boat, I’m wondering what the rough cost is to have this done?
also if anyone has done it themselves just how long did it take and how much of a pita was it?

 

[Forty_Two]

Had my wood Grand Banks 42 re-caulked around 20 years ago in SoF by a French Carpenter. He took 3 weeks. Cost was around €2.5k so would be a lot more now.

Since then i fix seams myself as needed at fitout. Usually need half a day each year. It's not too bad but a Fein Multimaster with the sealant tool is crucial. Don't think my hands would fancy doing it all but a planned approach would work doing a few days at a time.

 

[Tranona]

Don't go there!. Back breaking, time consuming and expensive. How much of each depends on the deck - the way it is constructed, how far it is gone and how difficult it is to remove the old caulking and prepare for the new. I just happen to be doing some caulking this week. A small tube of TDS cost £38, although if you are doing a big job and using sausages the cost halves more or less, but you still get through a lot. The first photo shows current job which is 1.8mm teak strips glued on with CT1 and then masked and caulked with TDS. Important to use this because of ease of flow into the seams, sandability and UV resistance. That small area (total is about 1 1/2 times what is showing in the photo) took about 4 hours to mask up, apply and remove the tape. Messy job but gives a nice clean edge and minimal sanding. Second photo shows some I did last year using the same technique.

Third photo shows complete deck I laid in 2013 using 4mm strips glued on with SABA and caulked using the same masking method. Took a whole summer - April to October of full time work. From memory the bill for the glue was over £500 - would be near double that now. Still in good nick - the new owner sent me a photo recently and says no recaulking has been necessary in the 5 years he has owned it.

While these are new jobs and give an idea of what is involved in the actual caulking, renovations are difficult to predict as it may also include dealing with wear, removing fittings replacing fastenings, leaks etc before you get to the finishing part of the job. With most older lower value boats it may be better to rip it all off, fill, fair and paint. That may actually increase the value of the boat!

 

[MikeBz]

2 years ago we were quoted ~£10,600 + VAT to recaulk the teak decks and cockpit on a 40 footer. That was to rake out and caulk around all the deck fittings, so no removal of fittings, headlining to access etc -that would have pushed the cost up considerably.

 

[gjgm]

On a circa 37foot boat, I’m wondering what the rough cost is to have this done?
also if anyone has done it themselves just how long did it take and how much of a pita was it?

I dont know your boat. Do you mean a teak deck, or cosmetic teak decking? If the latter are you sure that the remaining teak is thick enough to merit the work and there is enough teak left to recaulk the hopefully remaining grooves?
If so, yes , it is do-able but it is not easy to maintain dead straight lines to recaulk,although a Pro may have some fancy Fein tools. It is also extremely time consuming, and hence expensive. Not as expensive as a new teak deck ,tho!
Think days or even weeks of DIY, though I am not sure of the amount of teak you are talking about. After a couple of M2 and you may be wishing you hadn't started
But, you can get a pretty ok finish DIY.

 

[steve yates]

It wasn't mine, it was one I looked at. The teak is glued down rather than screwed, which is good, but I am inclined to Tranonas way of thinking, that it would be simpler to remove it and paint the deck than recaulk it all.

 

[Tranona]

Glued decks are often very thin as it is difficult to hold down 12 or 15mm thick teak that relies just on glue, hence the screws. Vacuum bagging or premade glued panels are a modern alternative. Straight laid like the one I did is easier to deal with than traditional swept.

 

[MikeBz]

It wasn't mine, it was one I looked at. The teak is glued down rather than screwed, which is good, but I am inclined to Tranonas way of thinking, that it would be simpler to remove it and paint the deck than recaulk it all.

Our teak deck was cosmetic, approx 8mm thick originally, glued down onto the GRP moulding. The problem was once the caulking started to fail water could leak through and get between the teak and the GRP, and from there leak through any fastenings it encountered. Obviously deck fittings are bedded onto the teak. Just recaulking without removing the fittings would stop the leaks as long as there where no leaks where they were bedded onto the teak but that would be hard to prove until the recaulking was done.

 

[Sneaky Pete]

My teak deck is 20 years old; it’s just requiring some areas to be replaced. Time consuming raggling out the old worn areas. Used a firmer wood chisel to do his, then some sanding of edges, mask up and fill with TDS. Finaly level off area.
you can do it yourself, but employing someone will run into several (3000) or more.