Teak splitting in cockpit

[geoffcollins]

Hello

I've got a teak deck over my cockpit locker which forms a seat. Unfortunately it is splitting or delaminating and I'm not sure how to fix it. My instinct says that injecting the right sort of glue between the gaps and clamping would solve the problem for the medium term.... Am I barking up the wrong tree or would this plan work? If so any product recommendations?
Thanks in advance for any advice

Cheers

Geoff

 

[gardenshed]

I had a similar problem. Once the teak splits, moisture can get underneath and you are not sure that a temporary patch will work. In my case, previous owners had sanded down the teak and in some places it was rubbed through to the fibreglass beneath.
I elected to remove it all and replace with new.
Fein Multimaster with a rigid blade and a 38mm chisel with a mallet (after removing all screws).
took it from this

to this

Robbins timber for the 6mm teak, West 106 Epoxy to bond it, 5mm spacers to set the gaps and sabo caulking compound to fill up the gaps.
not finished yet but here's the current status:

The lessons:
1. I would have bought 1/2 checked timber (3mm rebate on one edge) as this would have made fitting the teak much easier.
2. You need lots of weights to hold the teak in place whilst the epoxy is setting. perhaps a sikaflex/sabo tube of ready to use adhesive would be easier
3. Time: it takes a lot longer to remove the teak than you might imagine
4. check the weather forecast before taking a friday/monday off to do it you can't work in the rain!

The cappings on the cockpit coaming were alson replaced. This involved removal of four winches and four cleats, and to access these, removal of the headlining in both aft cabins plus the removal of a set of cupboards in the port cabin. Once removed (in one piece to use as a template for the replacements) it was clear that there isn't a straight line anywhere!. Clamp the original to the new brynzeel marine ply, jig to follow the contour and then hand plane to smooth off the curve. 1 coat UCP or equivalent plus 3 coats satin varnish and the jobs a good'un

 

[Tranona]

As gardenshed has illustrated, this is not an easy job. You may be able to patch it up by squirting Sika into the gaps and putting weights on until it sets, but messy job and only temporary. If you are going to replace you need to find out how it is attached to the GRP. If it is screwed - give away is plugs in the teak, they have to come out first. Then chisel off the teak and clear up the mess back to grp. If it was screwed then you will have dozens of holes to fill. Best thing to do then is to coat it with epoxy and paint.

If, however you do want to put teak back ready for somebody to do this horrible job again in 15 years time, then use ready machined teak available from Howells or Robbins, set in Sika 291 or the Sabo equivalent. I have used both epoxy and Sika, but, although epoxy can give a good bond, particularly on ply, I have had it fail in patches on GRP.

If you have been unfortunate enough to buy an older boat with its original teak deck, this is all good practice for when you have to do the whole deck - not long now if the cockpit has gone!

Good luck!

 

[gardenshed]

When the rest of my deck goes, it will be off with the teak, epoxy and filler to smooth the deck underneath and then deck paint.
Particularly here in Scotland, the continual damp makes a teak deck a liability, not an asset.
Tek-Dek? I'm not convinced. If you are to go artificial, go the whole way and paint. Tek-Dek or other can be added later.

 

[Tranona]

Could not agree more. However, it seems that many people are in love with it and are prepared to spend huge sums in relation to the value of their boat to replace it.

Tek Dek looks good in small areas like cockpits, but I find a whole deck looks overpowering, particularly as it does not weather. Also, no longer the "cheap" alternative.