Fiberglass over teak deck

[freshalaska]

Has anyone successfully applied epoxy, fiberglass cloth over a teak teak?
How was it done and what kind of degreaser was used.

[boatpoker]

it'll just create a bigger mess when you have to remove the teak after the bond fails.

[bergius]

Epoxy reputedly doesn’t adhere too well to teak. Just bite the bullet and rip the teak off. If you’re lucky, you only have some thousands of holes to epoxy shut, and not a wet core underneath that you need to replace it.

We removed our teak deck last winter. Was “fun”. But now we have a boat with a solid deck. Well worth it.

[Pete7]

And probably a couple of hundred kgs less weight above the waterline.

Pete

[capt jgw]

If the teak is in bad enough shape that you're considering covering it up the plywood core underneath is probably already rotten. Covering the teak will not fix that. And as Pete said, getting rid of the teak and all the water in the core will shave off 100's of pounds of dead weight.

[HankOnthewater]

Originally Posted by freshalaska

Has anyone successfully applied epoxy, fiberglass cloth over a teak teak?
How was it done and what kind of degreaser was used.

It is just a question of mathematics: add post #2 to post #3 to post #4, that will give a an infinity of reasons why not to do what you suggest. Maybe I got the formula wrong with 2+3+4= 8 on its side, but it is certainly close to that

[coopec43]

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The WoodenBoat Forumhttps://forum.woodenboat.com › ... › Building / Repair

7 Dec 2016 — coating a teak deck with epoxy would be totally nuts. It would then need to be sanded smooth and varnished (or better yet, painted) on a regular ...

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[Montanan]

If you cover over a teak deck with fiberglass, can it still be called a Leaky Teaky?

[Toccata]

After it's covered, it will still feel soft to walk on, and nobody in their right mind will buy that boat.

[David Mathis]

No. Bad idea. If the teak is in reasonably decent condition, sand it and apply teal oil. It likely isn't because you want to cover it. If so, remove it to assess the condition of the deck structure, then decide your next step which might be fiberglass, one of the closed cell deck coverings such as SeaDek, or new teak.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by freshalaska

Has anyone successfully applied epoxy, fiberglass cloth over a teak teak?
How was it done and what kind of degreaser was used.

I would not. It's just going to get water under somewhere. Remove the teak first. Depending on the boat, some are plenty thick glass underneath to be fine with no recovering.

A belt sander makes an old teak deck look pretty good!

The thing is, if the screws are leaking into the core already, glassing or removing teak doesnt help much.
If the screws aren't leaking into the core, then your teak is just an aesthetic thing and great non skid.

At least if you leave the teak on there, and even if the core is a bit wet in spots, the structure is probably 1.5-1.75" thick and strong enough!
Just my oddball opinion that probably goes against the grain for many people.

[Chris Cringle]

Freshalaska, sir, you are a Phillistine

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I would not. It's just going to get water under somewhere. Remove the teak first. Depending on the boat, some are plenty thick glass underneath to be fine with no recovering.

A belt sander makes an old teak deck look pretty good!

The thing is, if the screws are leaking into the core already, glassing or removing teak doesnt help much.
If the screws aren't leaking into the core, then your teak is just an aesthetic thing and great non skid.

At least if you leave the teak on there, and even if the core is a bit wet in spots, the structure is probably 1.5-1.75" thick and strong enough!
Just my oddball opinion that probably goes against the grain for many people.

If the subject vessel really is a Taiwan tub, the core is almost certainly approx. 4" to 6" squares of plywood with hundreds of screws through the teak, a thin layer of FRP and into the plywood ... the worst possible core material for spread of moisture and rot.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

If the subject vessel really is a Taiwan tub, the core is almost certainly approx. 4" to 6" squares of plywood with hundreds of screws through the teak, a thin layer of FRP and into the plywood ... the worst possible core material for spread of moisture and rot.

My Hans Christian 38 had teak decks. While in Trinidad I removed the teak, which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Even with the screws out, the black caulking was so strong bonding the teak to the deck I had to break off the teak in short pieces with a large pry bar. It broke at each screw hole. A few came off longer, not many. 3/4 teak is not easy to break! I suppose it was more 5/8" being well worn.
I could not find water in any of the many hundreds of holes. Not a single one. I think the caulk they used to lay the deck was the reason.
Nevertheless, I chamfered every hole and filled with epoxy slurry. Then I let the boat workers sand and repaint the cabin and deck. I put on Treadmaster after that. Incidentally, that deck top layer above the core was about 3/8" thick under the teak and still solid with no hint of flexing.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

My Hans Christian 38 had teak decks. While in Trinidad I removed the teak, which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Even with the screws out, the black caulking was so strong bonding the teak to the deck I had to break off the teak in short pieces with a large pry bar. It broke at each screw hole. A few came off longer, not many. 3/4 teak is not easy to break! I suppose it was more 5/8" being well worn.
I could not find water in any of the many hundreds of holes. Not a single one. I think the caulk they used to lay the deck was the reason.
Nevertheless, I chamfered every hole and filled with epoxy slurry. Then I let the boat workers sand and repaint the cabin and deck. I put on Treadmaster after that. Incidentally, that deck top layer above the core was about 3/8" thick under the teak and still solid with no hint of flexing.

Glad to here it. Few of the TT's I've surveyed were done that well.