Teak deck on ply base

[mulligan]

Dear all,

I have been restoring a classic S & S for the last year or so. We are getting to the stage where we are looking at what options we have regarding the deck. The ply deck which is currently on is in very good condition and has glass and epoxy over the top of it. One of the problems we are encountering is that the previous owner had the decks painted with a very hard wearing paint (with grit in it), the boat was based in Galveston in Texas and we can only asume that the paint which was employed is for use on oil rigs. What ever it is we are haveing a terrible problem trying to remove it and get back down to the glass, we have tried grinding it off which caused so much heat it bubbled the epoxy. We have tried paint remover which has had little effect on the stuff, any ideas!. The other thing is what are the does and dont's of laying a teak deck on top of a ply base, we plan to take CICLON to Turkey for the work to be carried out and any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Kind regards

Ross

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[Evadne]

It may actually be grit embedded in epoxy, rather than paint. If no ordinary paint has been put over the top of this could you skim it with epoxy + microballoons to get a thicker but smoother surface to put the teak onto?

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[ralf1]

from what i can make out what you intend doing is a loose type floor or one say that "floats on the deck" if this is the case i did this for two boats over the last few years and it consisted of 1/2" plywood with teak laminated on this with casaron g two part glue and black silkaflex as the grout between the boards.this worked very well and reacted well to weather conditions.i often see the boats now and it still looks exceptionally well.

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[Mirelle]

No do\'s - only DON\'T

Shame to wreck a good boat.

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[mulligan]

Re: No do\'s - only DON\'T

Would it be to much to ask for you to give me your logic on that. When you consider that Zwerver, which is accepted as one of the greats has used exactly the same method for re-decking.

Regards

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[Mirelle]

With pleasure! ;-)

What follows is merely my own thoroughly biassed point of view.

That the "floating" method is superior seems very likely to be true - intuitively it would seem so, but I have no direct experience of it.

Seems to me that the boat was designed and built with a sheathed ply deck, which has withstood a period in damp subtropical conditions, in Galveston, which as we all know are the death of many a good boat due to deck leaks.

Now, she might, in the opinion of some folks, look prettier with half an inch of teak laid on top of the ply to fake up the similitude of a laid deck. However, half an inch of teak and a few gallons of gloop above the CG is not going to do anything good for her sailing performance, whilst adding a good deal of work for her crew to do and making the boat hotter below decks in warm climates.

I have the impression, possibly mistaken, that the fad for "teak decks" is on the way out and that the phrase "leaky teak" is starting to cross the Atlantic from the States. I may be quite wrong and I am sure you know the market better than I do, but I do wonder if you might be about to spend a lot of money and time fixing something that ain't broken and which some buyers would prefer?

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