Teak deck replacement question

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Ray_G

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I am going to be renewing the teak deck on my Beneteau Oceanis 44cc and would ask anyone who has gone through this particular process (particularly on this model) to give me some guidence on do's and dont's. The original teak deck was never very thick - does anyone know the thickness that would have been used, and what would be the thickness to achieve a quality job.
 
Considering the cost/problems redoing it, and the "advantages" of teak decks, IMHO "NONE", would you not consider bunging up all the holes and have a cheaper solution and a lighter boat.
 
Probably no holes to bung up. Many mass produced boats have teak about 6mm thick which is glued on. The teak in my cockpit is cetainly like that. In France I have seen sheets of teak for sale in a chandlery to make a DIY replacement. They consist of teak strips with a black rubber like material separating them. the strips are about 45mm wide with 5 or 6mm of the black stuff between each strip. You just chisel off the old teak and adhesive, then cut the panels to shape and stick them down.
 
Humbly disagree with FiaTira. I have teak decks and I would rate it very near the top of 'must have' if I ever look for another boat. Once you have it, you will not want to be without it and the benefits are very obvious to you.

IMHO, the thickness of the teak should be at least 12 mm, preferably more, for a quality installation. Mine are 10 years old and still look great. I have had to re-caulk once, but that is pretty normal with decks exposed to the Med sun. In northern Europe you should get a much longer life.

I have sailed your boat type many times and it looks very nice with those decks. Go for it! Replace it.
 
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Humbly disagree with FiaTira. I have teak decks and I would rate it very near the top of 'must have' if I ever look for another boat. Once you have it, you will not want to be without it and the benefits are very obvious to you.


IMHO, the thickness of the teak should be at least 12 mm, preferably more, for a quality installation. Mine are 10 years old and still look great. I have had to re-caulk once, but that is pretty normal with decks exposed to the Med sun. In northern Europe you should get a much longer life.

I have sailed your boat type many times and it looks very nice with those decks. Go for it! Replace it.

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We will have to agree to disagree.
teak decks on any boat would be a put off for me.

Can you walk comfortably in bare feet on yours in a Med or Caribb summer?

Apart from cosmetic,
what are the advanteges?,

insulation? considering how hot it gets, I doubt that is very effective,

non slip?, many cheaper, easier to maintane alternatives.

12mm thick teak, as you suggest, on a 44ftr is a very significant weight in the wrong place.

When it has to be replaced, not cheap,
and for what?

Apart from looking good, to some,
looks silly to me personally on anything but a wooden boat,
I can not see one practical reason justifiing the cost and problems. IMHO.
 
LadyJessie,

---quote---
I have teak decks and I would rate it very near the top of 'must have' if I ever look for another boat. Once you have it, you will not want to be without it and the benefits are very obvious to you.

---end of quote---

I've purposedly stayed away from teak decks. I agree they look good. But apart from that, what do you see as the benefits?
 
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IMHO, the thickness of the teak should be at least 12 mm, preferably more, for a quality installation. Mine are 10 years old and still look great.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree - money being no object.
Guapa's are 15mm, and after 24 years urgently need replacing.

I can not afford the 25-30K required to have it done. That would be 40% of what I paid for her in the first place.

Now opting for this (September next year)
http://www.stazo.nl/html/marinedeck_2000_exterior.html

A bargain at 8K.
Looks good, at it's a "natural" product - not plastic look-alike.
 
I will be interested to hear how that works out. I have the thin teak in my cockpit, and it is in fairly poor shape. I think a cork based product should be good under bare feet, wear well and be a good insulator.
 
Guapa.Late night post-party warning.....read on at your leisure and dismissal.....
!5mm That is top end 'real' deck territory ! You are a lucky man. As a woodbutcher I would be amazed if that is really at the end of its working life. As I understand it,once you lay bare timber at a thickness greater than about 6mm,then the lateral (across the grain) 'natural'i.e. temp/moisure related movement of the wood exceeds the 'grip' of even epoxies...inviting ingress of water through bolts or into the deck substrate...
At 15mm- imho- you should be considering practical methods to remove,rekey,rethickness if necessary,and rebed the original deck teak,and reseam it once in place....Basically you have the material there to do the job,the labour is something else.
Getting back to Ray G's original question,with a thin/indifferent grained teak 'deck'that is now worn out,my first port of call would be with the manufacturer.Sure as sh-t these high volume laser cut decks are produced as a package..what price a new package to the original spec ?
Hic,g'night
 
If you must have teak,( I have and I like it ) then you certainly dont need above 6mm (assuming that there is no structural requirement ie just a nice looking reasonably hard wering 'carpet')
Robbins timber do that teak faced ply with plastic inserts.
That is what I will use when I recover my decks this winter.
Good luck.
 
15mm is indeed the top end of real teak.
But in places it's gone-gone. Other places it's fine.

Having it removed, repaired, bits replaced, refitted and re-seamed was my first option too. However, the cost of the specialist labour involved made this a totally uneconomical proposition. And it would only last maybe another 10 years.

I have a buyer lined up for my teak once removed - thus reducing the cost of the cork replacement even more.
 
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12mm thick teak, as you suggest, on a 44ftr is a very significant weight in the wrong place.

[/ QUOTE ]Some of the fastest, high performance cruiser/racers in the world (Nautor's Swan, X-Yachts and Sweden Yachts) all use this quality of teak and they do not seem to suffer. I am not convinced that teak weight is really a problem on a well designed boat.
 
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12mm thick teak, as you suggest, on a 44ftr is a very significant weight in the wrong place.

[/ QUOTE ]Some of the fastest, high performance cruiser/racers in the world (Nautor's Swan, X-Yachts and Sweden Yachts) all use this quality of teak and they do not seem to suffer. I am not convinced that teak weight is really a problem on a well designed boat.

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I think the weight is significant, but Swans appeal to an asthetically influenced market, not really serious racers, I am certain a racer, choosing THE MOST competitive boat would not add teak decks "to improve performance?".

What about the other ?advantages of teak decks? I raised???
 
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Swans appeal to an asthetically influenced market, not really serious racers

[/ QUOTE ]I can see that you have not been to a Swan Regatta. You would meet some very serious racers there.

But we might be talking about different things here; I was referring to the sailing class 'cruiser/racers' which can have these teak decks and still be very competitive (I know, I have beaten many 'racing boats' in several regatta's with my teak decks.). But you are correct that if you are a die hard racer going for the mostest; this is not what you would chose.

You ask for the benefits of teak decks? Well, that is one of those questions where you don't really know where to start; there are so many. Apart from the obvious; the greatest barefoot 'feel good' factor and the best non-slip material in bad weather ever deployed.

Let me just pick one that is often mentioned as a negative and which I find is not the case and instead is a great positive; it gets too hot in Med or tropical climates. I have sailed many AWB's with white plastic decks and they can get very hot so I don't really know where this particular view comes from. The main drawback of a fibreglass deck in a hot climate is that all heat gets projected downwards and you have a very hot cabin. This is opposed to a quality teak deck that will have three layers; teak, insulation/glue and fibreglass base. Three layers as opposed to one. The result is that the cabin is much better insulated and you will have a comparably cooler 'down below' than an AWB in the same situation.

'Do not think that conventional wisdom is always right.'
 
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[ QUOTE ]
Swans appeal to an asthetically influenced market, not really serious racers

[/ QUOTE ]I can see that you have not been to a Swan Regatta. You would meet some very serious racers there.

But you are correct that if you are a die hard racer going for the mostest; this is not what you would chose.

You ask for the benefits of teak decks? Well, that is one of those questions where you don't really know where to start; there are so many. Apart from the obvious; the greatest barefoot 'feel good'

it gets too hot in Med or tropical climates. I have sailed many AWB's with white plastic decks and they can get very hot so I don't really know where this particular view comes from. The main drawback of a fibreglass deck in a hot climate is that all heat gets projected downwards and you have a very hot cabin. This is opposed to a quality teak deck that will have three layers; teak, insulation/glue and fibreglass base. Three layers as opposed to one. The result is that the cabin is much better insulated and you will have a comparably cooler 'down below' than an AWB in the same situation.

'Do not think that conventional wisdom is always right.'

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I know I have edited your post, just to illoustrate a few cases where you contadict yourself, re "hot feet"!

And weight/racers/Swans etc!

I can not see how white decks can be hot! I have spent more than 3 years in the Med and never had a prob walking on "white" decks in bare feet, but hopped about a lot on "hot teak".

Insulation, if the teak gets hot it must conduct heat through the deck, where as, a white deck reflects the heat, no/or certainly less heat to conduct to the deckhead.

IMHO, teak decks have absolutely no practical value pure vanity, on any plastic/steel/alu/ferro boat, but very practical sensible and efficient on a wooden boat naturally!
 
I would think very hard about that.

I have just bought a Westerly Oceanlord which had new teak decks fitted. I would rather the owner had spent the money on something else. I think I would have preferred him to have reinstated the surface on the deck, an used smooth track mark (not the diamond shape one).

They are 9 mm thick and frankly I dare not scrub them. They cost him £25K because every sodding fitting had to be removed!

Whilst they are classy to look at - no one would disagree... - I don't think they will add a penny to your resale value, in fact probably the opposite.
 
I have a timber boat with teak decks so I have a practical solution according to you, but think teak is still a good option on steel/ally boats. Better insulation and grip than many of the alternatives. I find that teak is quite good insulation. I haven't checked the figures but I suspect it's coefficient of heat transfer is probably less than GRP.
 
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