Teak Decking

[pauln]

I want to fit some teak decking to my boat and I am wondering if this is a DIY job. I am fairly proficient at woodwork. Has anyone done this. If so, where can you get the material and how do you fix it down. Does it come in sheets or strips and how do you get the neat round corners you see on 'professional' jobs.
Any experiences gratefully received.

 

[robp]

There was an article in I think, PBO a few months ago, about Tek Dek. Have a look on;

http://www.tek-dek.co.uk/

It's a "look alike" that's supposed to be easy to use by DIY. (AKA "Don't Involve Yourself"). Only joking... good luck

 

[ccscott49]

It can be done DIY, but if you don't know how to make a joggled king plank and covering boards and also how to steam timber or bend it effectively, secret nailing on wooden decks or screwing into the beams and plugging, caulking, sealing, etc, I would either stick to the artificial stuff, or have panels made up. If you are going to put it on top of fibreglass, a whole new set of problems arise, with fixing it down, Steel and aluminium are a nightmare! I would speak to some proffesionals about this, it's not an easy job, even without bending the planks to match the curves of the ship, believe me I've done it. Robbins timber do a plywood, with teak stripping, like laid decks, this may be of some use to you, but you still need to do the edges and kingplanks etc. Good luck!

 

[Mirelle]

Frankly, don't do it!

Essentially this is a professional job; it can be done by an skilled amateur but the chances of getting the result to look right are rather low and you stand an excellent chance of either

(a) leaks through the deck

and / or

(b) the whole lot lifting again.

Unless you are capable of replacing a plank on a wooden boat, don't try to do it yourself.

In fact, why do it at all - it adds weight and increases maintenance?

 

[bryantee]

look at robbins web site they show two methods,and kj howells
.have made up gratings from the howells kits and done locker tops with material from robbins.Have seen decks relaid and I would not attempt it.
Good luck
http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/walk/gmb91/products.htm
http://www.robbins.co.uk/index.htm

 

[PBrooks]

Although not easy, it is perfectly possible for an amateur to lay "straight" teak decks. I have made up cockpit panels using epoxy / pitch pine and the results are fine (even though I say it myself) and I don't expect the deck (when I get around to it) to be any more difficult. The "professional" look comes with time, pre-planning and a good saw to cut angles etc. The final finish via a quality belt sander. If you have some wood working experience, access to good saws etc and time to plan / undertake the job, you can achieve a perfectly satisfactory result.

If you want to make "swept" decks (where the teak follows the curve of the gunwhale), life is more complicated, but still possible.

It is worth reading a few books on the subject first and deciding what type of decking to fit. K J Howells and Robbins (as mentioned by others) are a good source of materials and the US website www.woodenboat.com has an excellent forum to help with practical concerns.

I'm not that keen on the pre-made panels as the teak final layer can be very thin and it's not that easy to work out how to join them together (to get a run of more than 8ft) as I don't think they're that easy to scarf together.

Good luck
Paul

 

[pauln]

Thanks for all your suggestions on this. I'll have to give it very careful consideration before going any further.

 

[AndrewB]

Mirelle is quite right.

Ornamental veneered teak decks on GRP yachts will come to be seen as one of the fashion nonsenses of the 90's. (These happen - remember the ludicrously large headsails and diminutive mainsails on yachts from the 70's? May have flouted some racing measurement standard, but exactly the opposite of what makes for comfortable cruising).

Teak adds in weight just where it is least needed. If screwed into composite decks, little more than an attempt by the builder to build in planned obsolescence, as water eventually penetrates and rots the core. If glued, natural warping of the teak veneer pulls it off the deck fairly quickly.

The only justification is to improve the non-slip surface of the deck. This is far better achieved with deck paint or Treadmaster.

 

[ccscott49]

Re: Mirelle is quite right.

Totally agree! Mine are teak, but there again, so is the whole boat!

 

[hutch]

Why teak decking? Yes, it looks nice but it is a pain in the rear end to look after. It's expensive! And it adds weight. And it gets hot in sunlight! Extremely so in the tropics.

Apply a proprietary non skid paint, especially if your boat is plastic. If steel or alloy, I would recommend gluing on some of the patterned non-skid stuff.

 

[heerenleed]

Re: Teak Disaster

Everybody who sais DON'T is right. I know so from my own experience. We are taking off the teak decks of our boat, as the former owner in all his wisdom found the best way to clean them was high pressured water. So: only 2-3 mm left of the original 10 mms, and yes, two leaks into the balsa core. Fortunately, no rot yet, but it is quite a job to get it all right.

We use Marinedeck to replace the teak. It is not quite as good as teak for non-skid properties, but you can glue it and it is easy to bend into shape. The glue we have to use takes care of all the old holes drilled for the teak decks. Looks nice, but we could have done without and we would have opted for uncovered GRP decks if we would have had the choice.

I'm sure you can find of a better way to spend your money than on teak decks. After all, you do have a boat you want gadgets for.

Happy sailing



Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[tcm]

If your boat is based in sunny climes, you could (imho) consider teak in the cockpit. This is nice on bare feet, but irrelevant if you boat in the uk with shoes on. Even so, get a pro to do it imho.

 

[Guest]

Having read the replies you have to date all of which do not sound quite right. None sound as though they have approached it correctly. I have just finished laying a teak deck, and yes it takes time, and no it ain't easy! Buy the teak in ready machined unless you have a plainer with T.C blades. I used 35mm X 10mm section in roughly 3 meter lengths, it bends by hand and is not too difficult to lay. Do not use screws & plugs, simply glue it down. I do not have time her to explain it all but if it sounds of interest come back to me and I can offer further advice. There are probably many ways to approach the job but the method I used made total sense to me and I run a joinery company with 25 years in trade.

 

[Mirelle]

Painted mine

I also have a teak boat, with, inevitably, teak decks. After 12 years I got fed up, painted the lot with Coelan and put nonslip deck paint on top of that. Absolutely no regrets six years later - one of the best things I ever did to the boat. Woke up this morning to the delightful sound of rain on the deck just over my head...KNOWING there were NO deck leaks!

 

[ccscott49]

What was the substructure, what adhesive, what caulking and how long ago did you do it, please?

 

[ccscott49]

Re: Painted mine

Boat is 37 years old now, not a drip! But mine are 3/4" thick, laid on 1" thick ply, glued down with cascamite and screwed and plugged to the beams, solid as the day they were laid. Well thats a lie, I've had to replace eight plugs! But I swear by coelans for other things and my bruv has just used it on his cuddy on his lifeboat and on the cabin roof of his marcambe bay prawner racing cutter. I,ve used it on my masts, handrails and cvering boards, bulwarks, kingplanks etc. Wonderful stuff, wish I'd used it years ago!

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: Teak Disaster

I agree with all the "No" votes. What a ridiculous idea to take a perfectly waterproof GRP deck and drill hundreds of holes in it! No matter how good the sealant there will inevitably be some leakage, if not at first then in a year or two. I've met many people who had to relay theirs, at vast expense.

I agree about Marinedeck. An excellent product that I have now had on my cockpit seats for about four years. It replaced teak that was always wet for hours after any rain, cold, hard and uncomfortable. The Marinedeck is the opposite in all resects.