Teak Decks

[purplerobbie]

My boat has Sat in the sun for a good few years and as a result the teak decks leak.
I was thinking of coating them with Colean (spelling?) to seal them.
Does anyone have any other ideas on how to seal them?
They are teak over ply
Rob

 

[Poignard]

[ QUOTE ]
I was thinking of coating them with Colean (spelling?) to seal them.


[/ QUOTE ]

That isn't dealing with the real problem, which is probably that the decks need re-caulking. The water is not getting throught the teak but through joints and, possibly, fastenings.

 

[Seagreen]

The best thing for a teak deck is daily buckets of salt water, and gentle scrubbing. Does the deck leak at the seams or just at fittings? If the dec won't close with regular wetting, soak them then re-caulk if necessary.

 

[purplerobbie]

Just the fitting i think?
Thats what the survey says
Rob

 

[Seagreen]

Well, try soaking the decks in lots of salt water and a bit of gentle scrubbing just to get the green bits off. The salt will kill any incipient areas of rot due to rainwater collection, and the wood should swell up and seal. After a few days of this, if there are any leaks, you'll know which bits to repair, if at all. All you may need is a little sikaflex here and there. There are some excellent teal deck restorers out there which others have recommended (from Wessex Chemical factors) but I've not used yet.

Try this before the slash and burn bug hits you and your bank balance.

All the best.

PS. Don't cover them with anything, except seawater. They'll stay tight and pretty non-slip. Scrub the green slime off and regular light scrubbing, removes bird guano and keeps them watertight.

 

[pyrojames]

Good advise. I had decks that leaked when left in the sun. I then had full covers made and washed them in seawater every day I was on board. Moving the boat from the Med to the UK finally made them tight.

 

[jimbaerselman]

[ QUOTE ]
and a bit of gentle scrubbing

[/ QUOTE ] A warning. If you scrub, scrub cross grain to avoid rapid deck wear. And better still, scrub with a medium grade flat scouring pad, rather than a brush.

In my experience, leaks won't take up with just wetting unless you're very lucky. Inspect the seams for separation from the wood. If the seaming shows cracks between caulking and wood, see how easy it is to pull a section out. If it comes out easily, you'll need to re-caulk that section.