Removing old teak decking from GRP

castaway

castaway

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Has anyone any experience of this task ?

The decks in question are 35 year old teak factory laid over GRP on a Moody and are 'glued' down... I understand that they are starting to part company with the GRP in several places.

I guess that more than a few boats of that era are having this problem (and probably quite a few much newer boats as well !).

Does anyone know what would have been used back then as an adhesive, and assuming that no attempt will be made to salvage the materials and 're use', what the best means for removal of the teak would be ??

BTW these decks are not on my boat thank God ! So I'm a bit short on detail..

Thanks Nick
 
His are different as they are laid on a ply substrate whereas the Moody will be on a GRP deck. Chisel off piece by piece, use a gel coat stripper or a router are the options. All hard work, messy and potentiallly expensive.

Followed by resisting the temptation to spend huge sums putting on more teak which will need the same doing some time in the future. Make good with epoxy/glass and paint instead!
 
Got the T-shirt.

Hammer and chisel on the teak (after removing the screws). Some of it will come off clean, but most will splinter and stick like poo to a blanket, entailing more use of chisel. Inevitably you will gouge the deck. As to the adhesive used, no idea. Mine was 'sort of black sikaflex' in places which remained rubbery and some sort of clear hard adhesive (epoxy?) in others. Once the teak was off, a belt sander to remove the last knockings of splintered teak and associated adhesives.

I'm told the clever way to do it is to use a router and some sort of jig. Dunno how that works. Someone will also recommend using a Fien Multimaster. I tried, and broke loads of blades, before giving up on it.

Good odds that the grp substrate will be in such a mess, that re-teaking (or false teak) will be the only realistic re-decking option.
 
Moodys from the late eighties have teak faced ply seats with routed grooves for sikflex or rubber strips, glued to the GRP seat areas. - I've just spent this weekend doing this job.
I don't know if this was the practise when yours was made but if the teak is lifting in patches or layers,it might well be.

I plan to replace with solid teak for a couple of reasons:
1. There is a seat "hump" that needs to be covered and strips will make it easier.
2. It does look nice and won't delaminate like the plywood.
3. I have a mate that will help me do it like that to keep the cost down.

If you want more specific advice on Moodys I suggest you go to MoodyOwners as there is a mine of information from existing owners.

Hope that helps

Piddy
 
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