Teak Decking - some pics

J

john_morris_uk

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 Jul 2002
Messages
28,811
Location
At sea somewhere.
yachtserendipity.wordpress.com
I've been laying some teak decking for a friend and I hope he won't mind me sharing some pictures while I sit and wait for the post to arrive with some more caulking compound!

He wanted his cockpit floor done to start with. I won't put all the pics up as I might write an article if the editors are interested. Without going into the technical deere's a taster anyway.

The cockpit drains were interesting...

IMG_3334_zps2dmlgnla.jpg


Ready to be caulked.

IMG_3395_zps6ssuxjjd.jpg


He was pleased with the cockpit floor so he asked for the bridge deck to be done:

IMG_3405_zps4hvhbobx.jpg


I'm off to caulk it now as the new sausage of caulking compound dropped through the letterbox as I was typing this!

I'll put some updated pictures on if I get a moment.
 
john_morris_uk said:
I've been laying some teak decking for a friend and I hope he won't mind me sharing some pictures while I sit and wait for the post to arrive with some more caulking compound!

He wanted his cockpit floor done to start with. I won't put all the pics up as I might write an article if the editors are interested. Without going into the technical deere's a taster anyway.

The cockpit drains were interesting...

IMG_3334_zps2dmlgnla.jpg


Ready to be caulked.

IMG_3395_zps6ssuxjjd.jpg


He was pleased with the cockpit floor so he asked for the bridge deck to be done:

IMG_3405_zps4hvhbobx.jpg


I'm off to caulk it now as the new sausage of caulking compound dropped through the letterbox as I was typing this!

I'll put some updated pictures on if I get a moment.
Click to expand...

it's not so hard to lay a teak deck. It is hard to get it right. Nice borders, symmetry of the half width panels etc. It's all about the detail.
A big deck of a large mobo would take less time than that very impressive bit of work.
 
looks good.


Looks like you are just bonding it down? No screws and teak plugs? what thickness teak have you gone for?


Ideally my boat could use a new deck. Cant afford it though. I did wonder if one day I could have a go myself... not sure if I have the patience though!
 
contessaman said:
looks good.


Looks like you are just bonding it down? No screws and teak plugs? what thickness teak have you gone for?


Ideally my boat could use a new deck. Cant afford it though. I did wonder if one day I could have a go myself... not sure if I have the patience though!
Click to expand...

screws and plugs is a sign of madness! One of the details I admired was not succumbing to that.
 
Elessar said:
screws and plugs is a sign of madness! One of the details I admired was not succumbing to that.
Click to expand...

possibly. I guess in days gone by adhesives were no so good as they are today. Also, much must depend on the thickness of the teak in the first place. I imagine you'd struggle to put a curve in half inch thick planks without some method of securing along the way.
 
john_morris_uk said:
I've been laying some teak decking for a friend and I hope he won't mind me sharing some pictures while I sit and wait for the post to arrive with some more caulking compound!

He wanted his cockpit floor done to start with. I won't put all the pics up as I might write an article if the editors are interested. Without going into the technical deere's a taster anyway.

The cockpit drains were interesting...

IMG_3334_zps2dmlgnla.jpg


Ready to be caulked.

IMG_3395_zps6ssuxjjd.jpg


He was pleased with the cockpit floor so he asked for the bridge deck to be done:

IMG_3405_zps4hvhbobx.jpg


I'm off to caulk it now as the new sausage of caulking compound dropped through the letterbox as I was typing this!

I'll put some updated pictures on if I get a moment.
Click to expand...
V impressed!
S
 
contessaman said:
possibly. I guess in days gone by adhesives were no so good as they are today. Also, much must depend on the thickness of the teak in the first place. I imagine you'd struggle to put a curve in half inch thick planks without some method of securing along the way.
Click to expand...

There was an article in PBO last year on doing just that on a very curvacious Rival 38. Hard work and lots of clamps and weights, but can be done. Common to use 9mm for yacht laid (curved) and just glued down, but 6mm also fine for straight work such as cockpits and seats. Weight is an issue and on my boat, because of that, I used 4mm and straight laid, glued down. Suits the style of boat, but not a job I would repeat - even though I learned a lot, mainly about how not to do things!
 
Looks great, very impressed. Is the teak bought in prepared strips ready for cutting to length is it off the saw? A tip which may be useful; a kitchen fitter showed me how to template and glue down kitchen tops. When he dry fitted the top he marks around it with a pencil and then removes the top, the next stage is running masking tape around the outside of the pencil line, then applying the adhesive sealant and final fitting of the top. The adhesive sealant squeezed out onto the tape and was easy to clean up.
 
As the owner in question I am very happy with the result. I very rarely pay for anything to be done on a boat but so pleased that I did for this. Detail does matter and having cured leaks from virtually every deck fitting I was keen not to add more holes to the deck (especially right over my bed!). I am sure John will post some finished pictures next week.

Yoda
 
Good god! Mine was 8mm direct glue down similar to what you fitting.
That thickness will be there for years without any problem.
John you have done a good job, have you seen how the Swedish boat builders (just for interest) do boarders?
They use wider planks and cut them down so they utilise a soft radius which looks fantastic and even more wasted teak.
The guy who fitted mine said no holes or plugs just bonded with sikaflex and weighted down.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Looks great, very impressed. Is the teak bought in prepared strips ready for cutting to length is it off the saw?
Click to expand...

Its a mixture. The owner supplied some teak strips which already had a rebate machined into one edge.

On the bridge deck I had to buy in some extra teak and my supplier has the machine that puts rebates in so some of the strips came with rebates. I used a router for adding rebates where necessary once the strips were all cut. I also machined the rebates on all the margin boards and routed over the edges to give a smooth finish on the outside.

Regarding symmetry, I pointed out to the owner that the bridge deck is 1mm out (it was annoying to me as I can be a bit of a perfectionist) and it shows where the tapered strips either side come down almost to a point but he laughed at my concerns.
 
Last edited:
john_morris_uk said:
.... Regarding symmetry, I pointed out to the owner that the bridge deck is 1mm out ... it shows ....
Click to expand...

It's a great job and very neat indeed. I think one can spend too much time looking and spotting imperfections that others not intimately involved would never notice.

Sorry, another clarification if you don't mind. Is the 12 mm ply glued to the deck and then the 9 mm teak glued to the 12 mm ply giving an uplift of 21 mm? I had assumed that the teak was glued directly to the GRP.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
It's a great job and very neat indeed. I think one can spend too much time looking and spotting imperfections that others not intimately involved would never notice.

Sorry, another clarification if you don't mind. Is the 12 mm ply glued to the deck and then the 9 mm teak glued to the 12 mm ply giving an uplift of 21 mm? I had assumed that the teak was glued directly to the GRP.
Click to expand...

yes the ply is stuck with epoxy to the grp. This had a secondary pupose as i wanted to add some structrural rigidity and hide some protruding bolt heads that had become a necessity due to weakening of the cockpit sole over the years where water had penetrated into the sandwich construction. I also wanted to raise the cockpit sole as much as I reasonably could because I am not the tallest individual and it helps with looking over the sprayhood, unfortunately doing the whole floor in 22mm teak was just not an affordable option!

Yoda
 
Surprised to see people talking about thin teak decks. Mine was originally 15mm when she was built in 1980. Deck is now well past sell by date so we are replacing the main deck with two layers of 6oz cloth, fill and fare, awlgrip paint. The coachroof and cockpit will be new teak. Cockpit floor and seats will be 18mm teak glued down with 1:1 epoxy.coachroof will be 15mm as original. We are going thicker on the cockpit as this is a high wear area.
My old teak decks are down to 6mm in places and they are full of splits and rot. How long do you expect them to last at these thin dimensions?
 
geem said:
Surprised to see people talking about thin teak decks. Mine was originally 15mm when she was built in 1980. Deck is now well past sell by date so we are replacing the main deck with two layers of 6oz cloth, fill and fare, awlgrip paint. The coachroof and cockpit will be new teak. Cockpit floor and seats will be 18mm teak glued down with 1:1 epoxy.coachroof will be 15mm as original. We are going thicker on the cockpit as this is a high wear area.
My old teak decks are down to 6mm in places and they are full of splits and rot. How long do you expect them to last at these thin dimensions?
Click to expand...

I did wonder how long it would be before someone came along complaining about what they perceive to be 'thin teak'!

Pay your money and take your choice. The teak in the cockpit of our own boat was probably less than 9mm when it was fitted and its over twenty years old and still going strong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top