Teak Decks ?

[Bluefuss]

I am seriously considering the purchase of an almost completely rebuilt Tayana 37. The teak decks have had no major work done that I know of and the cost of maintainance / replacement has me worried. I have searced the archives. Any advise would be appreciated.

[Minggat]

I love all kinds of teak... on other peoples boat. Seriously

Please forgive me for asking, but when you say you've searched the archives, did you get anywhere? I'm asking because when I do a search withing the forum, even when I use exact wording,... even my own threads.... I find it less than rewarding.

I found this
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-16202.html
on Google. If I search it things on Google and it brings me back to this forum I'm always happy.

This is in no way intended to be a thread drift, although it's not an answer. Just trying to help through this forum the way I sometimes get help through this forum.

[scook1]

Teak decks are beautiful! They also have the tendency to get very, very hot. Depending on your cruising grounds, they can even hold heat. Maintenance mostly includes regular cleaning. It may be more active than other decks, but not unreasonably so.
No I have not had great results with the search function either.
Spencer

[gonesail]

where was the boat kept? if northern US or canada and less than 20 years old then maybe .. otherwise i would be very cautious.

[BlueWaterSail]

Originally Posted by Bluefuss

I am seriously considering the purchase of an almost completely rebuilt Tayana 37. The teak decks have had no major work done that I know of and the cost of maintainance / replacement has me worried. I have searced the archives. Any advise would be appreciated.

I had teak decks on my first boat and avoided them like the plague the second time around. I spent countless hours recaulking the seams, only to have the tropical sun warp the teak and pull the joint apart again. Fasteners were rusting to nothing all the time, and I think therein lies one of the major hazards of "old teak" - thousands of potential leaks into the vulnerable fiberglass deck core.

I would walk away from neglected teak decks, no matter how much the boat has been rebuilt. Tearing them off and re-glassing the deck will eventually punch a huge (and totally avoidable) hole in your maintenance budget.

I would advise the same regarding obviously neglected wood spars on older boats - another huge hole into which you'll be pouring money.

Hope that helps.

BWS

[s/v Moondancer]

We have a Tayana 55 whose 26-yr-old teak decks were starting to get water under them. We pulled the teak on the worst areas and used a 2 inch hole drill to core the deck and found the balsa core to be still perfect. The Tayana deck fibreglass was so thick that the screws holding the teak had not entered the core and allowed water into the core. The carpenter said that the old teak was better quality than any teak he could buy and was worth relaying

Two carpenters then spent 5 weeks taking up the teak, sanding and recutting all the groves and then recaulking, relaying and replugging the teak. They used $1,000 of caulking...

The good news was that the work was done in Columbia and the carpenters cost less than $7/hour each and the workmanship was very good.

Other friends in Columbia with a 42 ft boat had the teak removed and the deck fibreglassed and painted.

The cost in Columbia of both repairs was $3,000-$4,000

I think it it a grave error to buy an older boat with a teak deck and unless you plan a trip to Columbia the cost of any major repair would be great. If the core is compromised the cost of the repair would be massive.

My friends all thought I should have gone the fibreglass route but we now have a lovely teak deck that will be good for the next 10-15yrs.

[savoir]

The unofficial guesstimate price for a new teak deck is $1,000/foot.









Are you back with us ? New Zealand is medium cheap and might appeal. You will get a better price in one of the smaller ports like Whangarei but not as cheap as Colombia. The price can be reduced further if you remove the screws and deck hardware yourself. Once that is done the new teak goes on pretty quickly because it is kind of prefab and no screws are used these days.

If there is any good news in all this it is that by the time your new deck wears out you will be too old and decrepit to care. A full length tent will help extend the deck's life to about 25 years.

[sneuman]

I have a Tayana 37 and just ripped up/replaced deck this year. It's a big job, but not terribly difficult. You can do it yourself and save a lot of money.

If the bungs in the screw holes have been maintained, the deck might be ok - at least for now.

You can PM me if you have further questions - or recommend you provisionally join the Tayana Owners Group and inquire there. Lots of people on the list have done or are considering a deck re-core:

TOGnews E-mail Discussion Group | Google Groups

[cburger]

I am currently re-seamng a cutomers Hans Christian. To add to my love of this project the job is all being performed under shrink wrap, requiring that I low crawl to perform e work. Temperature on the Hudson River with the wind chill yesterday was in the 20's. I am using this project to produce a "How to" video on the repair and maintainance of teak decks, something I feel is needed by owners of boats with teak decks.

Properly installed and cared for teak decks can last indefinately, that being said they are not for everyone.

[phantomracer]

Originally Posted by Bluefuss

I am seriously considering the purchase of an almost completely rebuilt Tayana 37. The teak decks have had no major work done that I know of and the cost of maintainance / replacement has me worried. I have searced the archives. Any advise would be appreciated.

The previous owner of our Ohlson 38 redid the teak deck.. after starting a recaulking project...the entire deck was in the dumpster!





Of course..the final product was well worth the effort! (1992 picture)




Only maintenance is washdown with salt water, and occasional brightening. Looks decent 18 years later (2010 picture below)




I would go for a teak deck.. Naturally skid resistant, pretty, long lasting, low maintenance. Not cheap if it needs to be replaced though. The deck on our boat was made by Teak Decking System, in 2 pre-made pieces and glued down. No bungs to worry about popping or leaking.

[S&S]

I'd avoid it- and this coming from a guy whose whole boat is wood. Ours was built with glass over ply decks and I'd never go to a planked deck. Teak over fiberglass strikes me as bad engineering: "lets see, I have a waterproof sealed deck- I know! let's drill thousands of holes in it! "

It doesn't last indefintiely- almost bought a nice Morgan Giles sloop with a planked deck- the original 1 1/4" teak was worn down to 1/2" in spots. The wood alone would have cost thousands.

[sneuman]

In the case of the Tayana 37 (and any boat with a cored deck), you need only pull up the top layer of fiberglass, then remove the soggy core. No need to remove the bottom layer of the sandwich, as above. It doesn't hurt to take out everything, but there's no benefit to doing so, and a LOT more work!

[cburger]

It doesn't last indefintiely- almost bought a nice Morgan Giles sloop with a planked deck- the original 1 1/4" teak was worn down to 1/2" in spots. The wood alone would have cost thousands.[/QUOTE]

If you read my post carefully it said"Properly installed and cared for it can last indefinately" Improperly installed and abused they can turn into a real mess.

The teak decks on my personal boat are over thirty five years old, over an inch thick and absoltly no deck core problems. After a "High quality" reseaming that was performed two ars ago I expect the deck will be going strong long after I have passed on to the "Happy hunting grounds". The origional installer wasa skilled shipwright adlaid the decks right.

P.S. Phantomracer what a pretty boat.

[phantomracer]

Originally Posted by cburger

P.S. Phantomracer what a pretty boat.

Thanks.. the previous owner went well above what was needed..and HAD to have a teak deck.. I am glad he did. It is the only way to go..easy to say now..that he did all the work!! I couldn't afford to do a deck like this myself... my wife would have me hung!

He thought the deck was solid until he pulled out the caulking..and all the boards came out with it!

[cburger]

He thought the deck was solid until he pulled out the caulking..and all the boards came out with it![/QUOTE]


"Guessing" from the pictures a true teak deck not an overlayment?