Westerly Teak Decks

[Danthegorrila]

Hi,

We have teak decks on our Westerly Sea Lord and we have a problem with the dowels coming off the screws that hold the teak down. Now I suppose that the deck should be replaced but we arn´t able to afford anything like that, but we would like to put new caps on.

Does anybody know if it is true that the screws were just while the deck was bonded and that they can now be removed to put longer dowels in?

The boat was built in 1984/5.
If anyone is part of the Westerly Owners Associan can you post this for me there?

Thanks


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[Talbot]

best way to replace the plugs is by dipping the dowel end into a varnish. This will hold it in place, but if you want to get at the screws, it will enable the plug to be removed without real damage to the surrounding wood.

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[tome]

Two things which might help with this:

1 What is the thickness of deck remaining, and any idea of the original thickness? A giveaway of the original thickness is around locker hinges or below deck fittings.

2 What type of screws were used (eg round head, countersunk etc)? Try removing one of the exposed screws to check. You will almost certainly need to clear out the slot with something sharp before using a scewdriver. Measure the screws length and diameter. Replace it after measuring to stop water getting into the deck.

My teak deck has the same problem, but the wear is only about 1- 1.5mm max on a 9.5mm original thickness. I've been experimenting and have an easy cure which will save us a replacement deck. I've tried it on a small area and it works fine. Happy to send details.

You might be correct that the fastenings were only in place whilst bonding. Is there a small piece of deck you can remove to test the bond strength? Maybe a damaged corner which needs to be replaced anyway? If it comes off easily, you'll need to replace fastenings. Hopefully, it's a bitch to remove.

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by tome on 29/04/2004 21:28 (server time).</FONT></P>