Teak substitute?

[mick]

I need to replace the teak-strip cockpit seating on my boat as 17 years of weather have knackered it. I can get a hardwood called meranti at a reasonable price, but I don't know if it is up to the job. Anyone know anything about this wood?

 

[Col]

Someone was on about some stuff called tek-dek, I have seen their web site, as I might be interested in it myself.
No reply for my request for more info yet.

 

[Plum]

Re: Teak substitute? - Iroko

If you can't aford teak, then I recommend the cheaper Iroko which has almost as good durability as teak.

 

[Guest]

Youu say you had no reply for info, do you mean froom the tek-dek people or this forum. If you mean this forum it may be because it was covered a few times recently. Use the search facility for the forum and you will find quite a few discussions on Tek-Dek including an update on sommeone innstalling it. It seams to be quite good althoug I have no experience on it personally.

Cheers

 

[Guest]

Meranti is a low grade species of mahogany, not durable and likely to prove highly unsuitable. The recommendation elsewhere to use iroko is sound.

 

[Col]

It was the tek-dek thread that prompted me to contact the company, It is the company I am waiting for.
Hallooooo, hallooooo anyone there?

 

[drawp]

I agree with Bargee's comments re meranti. The recommended substitute for teak is iroko. But iroko is susceptile to warping when exposed to moisture. In my opinion, the best replacement for teak is - teak.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Worth taking a look at -

http://www.marinedeck.net/n_mde_index.htm

 

[Guest]

They are obviously making more money than we are at the moment!!!

 

[Guest]

Secondhand Hardwood

A friend of mine found a place that sold secondhand wood. It came from an old outdoor swimming pool. All the locker doors were made of Teak would you believe. And to make it worse, they were all painted. It looks as good as new.

Every now and then I buy Classic Boat. They often write about renewable sources of hardwood and it clearly worries them as attempts to 'classify' these woods as renewable is difficult and probably impossible because of counterfeiting. For owners of wooden boats this situation can only get worse. But why can't renewable softwoods be used with modern resins etc ?. North America have huge problems at the moment with loggers and green groups over hardwoods. Food for thought.........

I have the same problem, as my teak rubbing strake needs replacing.

This season I will be trying Burgess Woodsealer on other woody bits to see if it works ( small plastic particles that sink right in ). If it works I'am going with a softwood strake and to hell with marine convention. It's cheap and seems to work well on cottages and the like very close to the sea.