FlexiTeak - Your Opinions

[s/v Thievery]

Greetings fellow Sailors!
Am working on some sailboat improvements, and I am considering a small bit of FlexiTeak (faux teak, synthetic teak) in the cockpit -- I have no other teak on the top deck. Anyone familiar with it? Pros/cons?

Thank you for sharing!

[Pblais]

It's not teak but it is dimensionally stable. If you could get real Asian teak it would be different. Real teak has been replaced with "Honey teak". It is commercially sustainable and more correct for a modern environmentally minded world. Real teak only comes from Asia where the process of getting it is not an upbeat story. Honey Teak also has 1/3 the teak oil that makes teak what it really is. When you sand with fine sand paper real teak appears to bleed. It's the oil that makes teak desirable. Real teak won't ever be what it was - it is all but gone. Busting you behind to pretend it is is still here is a mistake.

Your chore is to maintain a boat that you love. If you do that you have won the battle. There is no extra points for anything else.

[s/v Thievery]

Thanks, Paul. I guess I'm interested to see if people have found that synthetic teak holds up well and is a good substitute. Going with a synthetic would eliminate the need for sanding, etc., and is more "green," if you will. Thank you for the reply!

[Christian Van H]

I have used solid plastic lumber from these guys. PlasTEAK 100% Recycled Plastic Lumber Products 1-800-320-1841 Guaranteed Its recycled milk bottles...sort of. This stuff is about as tough as you can get. No teak on my exterior, ever again!

[whatever]

There is an article in the July edition of Soundings mag, I believe, about Flexiteek. The writer of the article gave very high marks for it.

[Pblais]

Thanks, Paul. I guess I'm interested to see if people have found that synthetic teak holds up well and is a good substitute.

It's not the same stuff but it does hold up to a whole lot of abuse. I've seen it enough to know that for sure. There is no romance and no one tells you how great the fake teak looks. I still own a taft rail that owns me plus more for a bonus. It's like being married. You do it for love - not for convenience. That's my story and I'll stick with it. Sailing really is more about showing up regular than the ride you have.

[NDH]

Have just laid some and an extremely pleased. Our cockpit seating was teak strip on ply core and was beginning to de laminate and looked scruffy so we replaced with flexiteak, really easy to lay and looks great. It has only been down a couple of months but so far so good, the only downside to date is that it does get very hot in mid day sun.

[Albro359]

Hi everyone,

I have had teak decks, or maybe they had me !
After 10 years of burning my feet, constantly cleaning / sanding to keep it looking good and watching it wear thinner and thinner each year, AND always trying to find tiny leaks which I am sure were coming from one or two hundred of those 10,000 screws in the deck, I have had it all ripped off...except for the cockpit which I had relaid 2 years ago.
My boatbuilder / advisor offered me Flexiteak, but I decided against it....plastic decks on a wooden boat didn't quite make it somehow...I opted to glass the complete deck (yes I know glass is considered plastic) and paint it ....all that work is done and the boat is in the paintshop now...I am sure this is the best solution.
The glass will ensure that the deck doesn't leak and it will be low maintenance...only real concerns were, the quality of the non-skid...real teak gives great grip, and the issues of glare on a large foredeck...the nonskid will be off white and the rest will be "de-glossed" with a flattener to minimise glare.
Just my 2 bobs worth...I'll post pics of the deck when its done
Cheers
Alan