Costs of teak removal?

[GTom]

Originally Posted by TheThunderbird

But, denying the merits of a teak deck lacks of honesty, or is hypocritical

Which are? (Compared to a FG-only deck, strengthened to the same weight as the teak+FG version weighs)

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by TheThunderbird

Differently from the past, a teak deck on Anything shorter than 40-45 ft is nonsensical.




But, denying the merits of a teak deck lacks of honesty, or is hypocritical

Well, this dishonest hypocrite would not have a boat with teak decks. OOhhh, the shame of it all...

Jim

[kentobin]

Cost of teak removal depends on the boat and how hard the teak is to remove. A surveyor/boat repairman who is familiar with the boat would know. A good surveyor you can trust is worth his weight in gold. I can't stress this enough.

So far I have over 20 hours invested in removing about 1/2 the teak from a 37 foot monohull. The builder used a thiokol sealant to hold the teak down as well as screws. The screws are easy to remove there are just lots of them. The sealant holds the teak in place and won't let go. Removing the teak requires a 4lb sledge hammer and a prybar. About 40% of the time the gelcoat comes up still attached to the teak. Most of the teak is pretty much destroyed so plan on throwing it all out.

For removing the remaining sealant from the deck I'm using a multi tool with a scrapper attachment. Works really well but I figure another 5-10 hours so probably closer to 20. :-)

Currently no estimates for the rest of the work I'll mention.

I'll have to sand the deck down to get rid of the remaining sealant before I can fill in the areas where the gelcoat was removed and fairing and sanding the surface.

So far I haven't found any deck rot which would be a whole other maintenance project.

Now I'll have to fiberglass the deck to make sure it's water tight and add some stiffness to it. Some of my deck stiffness was engineered in as the teak. The teak is now gone and the deck flexes a little and I'm only 160 lbs. If I went with a light glass cloth I'd also have to fill in all the screw holes with filler and level. I'm going with x-mat a 17 oz Biaxial with 3/4 oz Mat Back glass cloth so unfilled screw holes and screw studs still stuck in the deck but leveled won't be a problem.

Now more fairing and sanding then painting and non-skid.

If I had to do it again I'd look for a boat that someone had already removed the teak deck or ask for a very, very, very, reduced price.

[Juho]

You didn't say that the teak deck would be in bad shape. If it is ok, then enjoy it as long as you can.

The merits of a teak deck include at least being non-slippery and drying quickly (in addition to being pretty). One more merit is that it doesn't require much maintenance (just wash it once or few times a year) if it is in good shape and you are happy with the natural grey colour.

I think teak decks are at their best in cool climates. In tropics they could be too hot, and could wear out faster.

[GTom]

Originally Posted by Juho

You didn't say that the teak deck would be in bad shape. If it is ok, then enjoy it as long as you can.

The merits of a teak deck include at least being non-slippery and drying quickly (in addition to being pretty). One more merit is that it doesn't require much maintenance (just wash it once or few times a year) if it is in good shape and you are happy with the natural grey colour.

I think teak decks are at their best in cool climates. In tropics they could be too hot, and could wear out faster.

In cold+wet climate I'd be afraid of mold. I would obviously not buy/ask for a huge discount on something that needs immediate teak replacement, but I can't judge if it'll last 3-4 years or another 30. With an added 30 years time (boat age ~70 years by then) I'd be settled.

BTW it's very easy to make a FG deck non-slippery nowadays.

[Juho]

Originally Posted by GTom

In cold+wet climate I'd be afraid of mold.

In our experience, no such problems. There may be a little bit of some green stuff (algae) at some protected corners after one year of use, but you can just wash that away.

I can't judge if it'll last 3-4 years or another 30.

I'm also not an expert on that. But you can see how worn out the deck is if you look close enough, and compare to areas (e.g. under hatch edges) where there is no wear. It also depends on how well made and how thick the teak deck was originally.

If the boat has a cored deck, that could be another problem, and could require removal of the teak deck even if the teak itself would still be in good shape. The screws (and leaks) of the teak deck could have caused the problems of the cored deck.

BTW it's very easy to make a FG deck non-slippery nowadays.

I don't have much experience on such added non-slippery coatings, but they might be more difficult to keep clean and pretty than teak decks.

[GTom]

Originally Posted by Juho

If the boat has a cored deck, that could be another problem, and could require removal of the teak deck even if the teak itself would still be in good shape. The screws (and leaks) of the teak deck could have caused the problems of the cored deck.

I am afraid most boats come with cored deck, even from the late '70s. I sounds to me an unnecessary headache to avoid or at least ask a hefty discount to handle the issues.

I don't have much experience on such added non-slippery coatings, but they might be more difficult to keep clean and pretty than teak decks.

We had two different solutions on both boats I sailed this year, no serious trouble to clean. One had sand in the paint the other had a kind of glued rubber pads, I'd vote for the latter for my own boat.

Originally Posted by kentobin

...
If I had to do it again I'd look for a boat that someone had already removed the teak deck or ask for a very, very, very, reduced price.

Many thanks for the detailed description what we are dealing with, agreed with your conclusion! Apparently I have to factor in how much a full week holiday time including travel costs to the boat worth me, adding some bonus to make it worth.

[atmartin]

Originally Posted by Juho

I don't have much experience on such added non-slippery coatings, but they might be more difficult to keep clean and pretty than teak decks.

I've used simple sanded paint nonskid for years.

Pros of sanded nonskid:

-Stays cool in the tropics (at least with a light paint)
-Super grippy
-Cheap, easy to apply and repair

Cons:

-Traps dirt, the rougher you make it, the more dirt it traps
-Hard on knees and folks with tender feet
-Rough on tools, backpacks, anything you drag across it, you basically have a 36-80 grit piece of sandpaper on deck at all times.

Some people will complain about the difficulty of removing sand nonskid, but it's not that difficult if you're good with a heat gun and scraper. Obviously, sanding doesn't work. Also, cleaning the nonskid with a stiff bristle brush works pretty well.

Personally, if I had the time, I'd put teak in my cockpit, leave the rest sand.

[Juho]

Originally Posted by atmartin

Pros of sanded nonskid:

-Stays cool in the tropics (at least with a light paint)

Yes, I believe the whiteness of the paint is the key. White teak decks would not be stylish.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by kentobin

Cost of teak removal depends on the boat and how hard the teak is to remove. A surveyor/boat repairman who is familiar with the boat would know. A good surveyor you can trust is worth his weight in gold. I can't stress this enough.

So far I have over 20 hours invested in removing about 1/2 the teak from a 37 foot monohull. The builder used a thiokol sealant to hold the teak down as well as screws. The screws are easy to remove there are just lots of them. The sealant holds the teak in place and won't let go. Removing the teak requires a 4lb sledge hammer and a prybar. About 40% of the time the gelcoat comes up still attached to the teak. Most of the teak is pretty much destroyed so plan on throwing it all out.

For removing the remaining sealant from the deck I'm using a multi tool with a scrapper attachment. Works really well but I figure another 5-10 hours so probably closer to 20. :-)

Currently no estimates for the rest of the work I'll mention.

I'll have to sand the deck down to get rid of the remaining sealant before I can fill in the areas where the gelcoat was removed and fairing and sanding the surface.

So far I haven't found any deck rot which would be a whole other maintenance project.

Now I'll have to fiberglass the deck to make sure it's water tight and add some stiffness to it. Some of my deck stiffness was engineered in as the teak. The teak is now gone and the deck flexes a little and I'm only 160 lbs. If I went with a light glass cloth I'd also have to fill in all the screw holes with filler and level. I'm going with x-mat a 17 oz Biaxial with 3/4 oz Mat Back glass cloth so unfilled screw holes and screw studs still stuck in the deck but leveled won't be a problem.

Now more fairing and sanding then painting and non-skid.

If I had to do it again I'd look for a boat that someone had already removed the teak deck or ask for a very, very, very, reduced price.

Yep, that's what was done on my Hans Christian 38. When you do this, you start to realize that even if a few screws had leaked a little bit, the deck was stronger in the first place than any fiberglass deck. Those teak planks bonded over the deck were a very rigid thick deck system probably 1.5+" thick .
We could find no wet screw holes when we finally got the whole deck off. The deck was floated/bonded on with the sealant. Mostly we had to break the planks off as you mention. Usually maybe 1.5 ft chunks which would break at the screw holes as you pried up hard.

The trouble is we are all anal about making things perfect. I cruised with a couple that bought a pan asiatic 43 (?) Ted Brewer design. They were "spend nothing unless it has actually failed" types. Their teak decks were buckled up in places like 1/2". Looked like a washboard road looking down the side in places. They just left them, sailed the Caribe for 3 years, then sold the boat for exactly what they paid for it. Cheap cruise.

[Terra Nova]

Avoid buying a teak-decked boat if you are unwilling to learn how to assess, repair and maintain it yourself.

[hellosailor]

Some of the Scandinavian boats used a plastic coring material in the decks, so even if the teak deck leaks, the coring may get wet but it will drain with no damage, no rot is possible. You'd need to check to see what's there.

Teak itself isn't very likely to get mold and mildew. All it needs is regular application of teak oil (or lemon oil or similar) and that not only maintains the wood, but it chemically attacks all the mold and mildew that might try to grow there.

There's no way to tell what you are getting into without inspecting individual boats. Otherwise, you skip all the teak and just need to inspect every boat for deck leaks anyway,

[Bodon68]

Paid $2k to remove mine on Tayana 37 in Puerto Vallarta, MX

[Juho]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Some of the Scandinavian boats used a plastic coring material in the decks, so even if the teak deck leaks, the coring may get wet but it will drain with no damage, no rot is possible. You'd need to check to see what's there.

And some have solid GRP decks.

[atmartin]

Originally Posted by Juho

Yes, I believe the whiteness of the paint is the key. White teak decks would not be stylish.

Well, I've tried it with cream colors, never anything dark. Experience tells me that sanded non-skid will stay cooler to the touch than the same color without the sand.

Maybe the increased surface area dissipates heat better? Or the sand is just a better insulator than wood/fiberglass? I really don't know. It feels cooler than boats with textured white gelcoat. Teak is, of course, the hottest. I've done enough work on teak decks in summer to loathe that aspect.

Shoot, this makes we want to take a laser thermometer around the docks tomorrow and gather data.

But it's supposed to rain all week...

Stupid hurricane season