Teak Decks - Remove, Restore or Replace?

[TernVI]

...
Most classic yacht owners I know expect a teak deck.

I suspect that if you come to sell your boat in 10 years time, there will be a great many boat owners about who've had bad experiences of cheap 21st century teak decks made of poor timber, and very old teak decks. Good teak is not going to get easier or cheaper to obtain.
Using irreplaceable hardwood as an ablative layer is not going to get any more socially acceptable.

People who buy Mk1 cortinas expect vinyl seats, doesn't mean it's what they'd choose....

 

[Koeketiene]

I suspect that if you come to sell your boat in 10 years time, there will be a great many boat owners about who've had bad experiences of cheap 21st century teak decks made of poor timber, and very old teak decks. Good teak is not going to get easier or cheaper to obtain.
Using irreplaceable hardwood as an ablative layer is not going to get any more socially acceptable.

People who buy Mk1 cortinas expect vinyl seats, doesn't mean it's what they'd choose....

If it were entirely up to me, fingers crossed, selling my boat will be my wife's/children's problem.

 

[RAI]

If I had a boat with teak decks, I'd sell it and buy one without.
Should that also be an option on your list?

 

[pvb]

Restore - given the thickness of teak left, I could simply restore it. I would need to deepen the slots between the planks and decide whether to do it all insitu, or to remove the teak planks one at a time and restore them before using a modern glue to stick them back down (or on the conventional planks, deepening the screwholes and also screwing down) and re-caulk. I think this would be an awful lot of work, but it could be done in stages while the boat was still in use. My real concern is how long the refurbished teak would last - if it is only 5 years then it is probably not worth doing, but if it is 10-20 years then perhaps it is?

Professional replacement in the UK would probably cost £40K. DIY replacement, unless you're very skilled, will damage the resale value.

DIY restoration is feasible. Do not even think about lifting the planks, just work on them as they are. It is possible with care to deepen the grooves and recaulk. Exposed screws are no problem, just deepen the hole with a Forstner bit, put a low-profile screw in, and then a new bung.

I did a DIY restoration of the teak decks on my last boat, a Hallberg-Rassy 352. It was a lengthy and tedious process, made worse by the fact that Hallberg-Rassy use narrower planks than most builders, so there's miles of caulking! I finished the job with a very gentle sanding, using a lightweight DIY belt sander. If you sand your deck, don't try to get rid of all the grooves in the teak, you'll just remove another precious millimetre or two. This pic gives an idea of the result.



Some years later, I did more restoration, with lots of screws deepened and new teak bungs, and some more re-caulking. This pic gives an idea of the result of that process.



And, a year or so later, when the boat was 24 years old, I decided that the deck would need replacing in perhaps 5 years. I wasn't prepared to spend £30K on the deck, for a minimal increase in resale value, so I sold the boat.

I went out and ordered a new-build boat, and specified fake teak everywhere (it was actually a bit more expensive than having real teak!). It's virtually zero maintenance, it won't wear out, it has decent grip, and it looks OK. Seven years later, I'm pleased I went for fake teak.

 

[Neeves]

I've read every post. Interestingly the posts are by members, without exception, whose opinions I respect - which suggests the people I respect largely have yachts (or have had yachts) with teak decks. Teak decks look gorgeous at boat shows. We have never had a teak deck and when we have bought yachts we never considered the ramifications of selling them. W e have always bought on the basis of - its forever - but forever came more quickly, except for the current vessel. But I would never buy a yacht with a teak deck (having read the thread) - which means I cannot join the ranks of those whose opinions I respect.

Great thread, very educational

Jonathan

 

[superheat6k]

The teak deck on my Corvette looked shot and requiring replacement within 5 years and I factored that into my forward cost plan. However, after some attention with Wessex two pack followed by Semco, a virtually new deck was found hiding beneath.

I believe the key to the deck's longevity had been her 24 years home location in frost free Jersey since new.

So I now apply the Semco at least once each year, depending upon how much use the boat has had, with a Wessex treatment every 3rd year, as the Semco does tend to build up. I minimise scrubs and washdowns and prefer to let the rain do that for me.

Keeping the damp out of the grain stops the frost from splitting and breaking down the surface. I reckon the deck is good for at least a further 10 years +.

 

[Tranona]

I've read every post. Interestingly the posts are by members, without exception, whose opinions I respect - which suggests the people I respect largely have yachts (or have had yachts) with teak decks. Teak decks look gorgeous at boat shows. We have never had a teak deck and when we have bought yachts we never considered the ramifications of selling them. W e have always bought on the basis of - its forever - but forever came more quickly, except for the current vessel. But I would never buy a yacht with a teak deck (having read the thread) - which means I cannot join the ranks of those whose opinions I respect.

Great thread, very educational

Jonathan

Problems with teak decks are more related to older methods of construction where heavy teak is screwed and glued to a structural deck (sometimes ply!) then deck fittings, chain plates - and even toe rails! as already mentioned screwed or through bolted on top. Just so many points of entry for moisture - one 38' high class British built boat had 96 screw holes for fitting fastenings. Plus of course the plugs over the screw heads and caulking that often fails over time.

On the other hand recent production boats use teak as a largely cosmetic top layer, only applied in areas that do not have fittings. The teak is laid up in panels in a factory then vacuum bagged on the deck moulding - just as in pvb's example, although his is fake teak. Light weight and teak is not under stress and no path for moisture to get into the fabric of the boat. OK it will wear over time but much easier to remove 30 years down the line - and the non slip pattern in the deck is still there. The cockpit seats on my last boat were like this and after 10 years in the med and 5 years in the UK were still sound part from one area at the rear where the seat was dished and water collected which needed recaulking.

Having said that I did not specify teak deck, only cockpit, on my new boat, partly cost and partly looks as I think it is at odds with the clean lines of the boat.

 

[Koeketiene]

Problems with teak decks are more related to older methods of construction where heavy teak is screwed and glued to a structural deck (sometimes ply!) then deck fittings, chain plates - and even toe rails! as already mentioned screwed or through bolted on top. Just so many points of entry for moisture - one 38' high class British built boat had 96 screw holes for fitting fastenings. Plus of course the plugs over the screw heads and caulking that often fails over time.

On the other hand recent production boats use teak as a largely cosmetic top layer, only applied in areas that do not have fittings. The teak is laid up in panels in a factory then vacuum bagged on the deck moulding - just as in pvb's example, although his is fake teak. Light weight and teak is not under stress and no path for moisture to get into the fabric of the boat. OK it will wear over time but much easier to remove 30 years down the line - and the non slip pattern in the deck is still there. The cockpit seats on my last boat were like this and after 10 years in the med and 5 years in the UK were still sound part from one area at the rear where the seat was dished and water collected which needed recaulking.

Having said that I did not specify teak deck, only cockpit, on my new boat, partly cost and partly looks as I think it is at odds with the clean lines of the boat.

The only reason I bought the current boat, with teak decks was that the teak does not form a structural part of the boat.
Of the 40-odd built, only 3 had a teak deck fitted.
I had contacted the yard that built her about this and the confirmed this.
Should the teak need removing during my ownership, I intend to apply Threadmaster, TBS, Vetus or some other kind of anti-slip.
In the mean time, I intend to enjoy my deck while it lasts.

 

[Caer Urfa]

I surveyed a motor sailor earlier this year with teak decks and recommended they should be cleaned and resealed
The boat was chemically cleaned first using Semco deck cleaner 1 & 2 then 3 coats of Semco deck sealer showing before and after cleaning of the teak deck and re sealing them.

 

[Blueboatman]

It’s been replugged
Some of those caulking seams look very wide indeed now
The yellow worries me -is there some loss, a degree of acid attack of the woods fibre going on , a trade off if you like between look better now and quicker future degeneration I wonder to myself ... Ie what durability- if any -is being destroyed within the teaks oily nature ?? Doubtless these things have been tested and proven over the years of course
I have some of those chemicals sitting around unopened ?

 

[geem]

It’s been replugged
Some of those caulking seams look very wide indeed now
The yellow worries me -is there some loss, a degree of acid attack of the woods fibre going on , a trade off if you like between look better now and quicker future degeneration I wonder to myself ... Ie what durability- if any -is being destroyed within the teaks oily nature ?? Doubtless these things have been tested and proven over the years of course
I have some of those chemicals sitting around unopened ?

Semco is oily with a stain in it. It like painting tea on your deck. We have been using it since 2016 on new teak. It works for us but in the Tropics need regular application. It works for us

 

[neil1967]

pvb, if I can get my decks looking like your restored ones I will be very happy. Given that they are glued down, the main issue is actually the caulking, and the need to make the grooves between the boards deeper. For the straight sections I'm considering using a router with wooden board and some sandbags to act as a guide for the router. the (relatively) few plugs should be straightforward.

 

[pvb]

pvb, if I can get my decks looking like your restored ones I will be very happy. Given that they are glued down, the main issue is actually the caulking, and the need to make the grooves between the boards deeper. For the straight sections I'm considering using a router with wooden board and some sandbags to act as a guide for the router. the (relatively) few plugs should be straightforward.

People have deepened the grooves using a router, but it's by no means an easy job, and there's the risk of accidentally widening the groove. Once it's re-caulked, the width discrepancy will be immediately noticed. The foredeck pic in post 29 shows just how these wider bits stand out visually.

On my deck, the grooves where some of the caulking was coming loose were only about 3mm deep - not enough for the caulking to get a decent hold on the teak. Given that the deck was never going to last another 20 years, I decided that I could use some unorthodox methods to deepen the grooves. Purists should look away now! As the aim was to deepen the groove enough for the caulking to get a decent mechanical bond, I considered that it wasn't really necessary to deepen the grooves in a perfectly parallel-sided manner. So I used a grout-cutting blade in a multitool to dig out a few mm of teak from the bottom of the groove, taking care not to touch the sides of the groove. It meant that the caulking would hold well, and there would still be about 2.5mm of wear potential on the deck before the caulking would fail. I reckoned that, treated very gently, the deck should have another 5-10 years of life.

This is the sort of multitool blade I used, it's 1.3mm wide so is easy to manoeuvre along a curved groove - Bosch Tile/Grout Segmented Cutting Blade 85mm

 

[MikeSutherland1956]

Yesterday at 04:05
Hello there.

I am replacing the fore decking (fibre glass) with half inch thick teak.

I am anxious of the panels that need to be curved.

I plan to glue 3 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch (square cross section) together to make
1 inch and 1/2 wide panel.

If the right glue is used and the right amount of varnish, will this suffice ?