Seeking Deck Rebuild Input…

[C.E. Grundler]

Here’s some background:

The boat is a 32’ 1977 Cheoy Lee trawler, with a bridge deck of what once had been ½” teak decking fastened down over fiberglass. The previous owner, I’m told, was very fond of two things: bright, honey-colored teak decks… and his belt sander. The sad result is that he sanded the decks clear down to their fasteners, which led to years of water seeping through to the coring. Fortunately the coring in question was yet more solid ½” teak lumber so there is no rot involved, but unfortunately years of that saturated teak freezing and thawing had compressed the wood fibers and led to it delaminating from the fiberglass both above and below, undermining the deck’s strength.

The damaged area spans roughly 8’ by 8’, and while we could repair individual sections, we decided it would be best to remove all damaged core and delaminated glass, rebuild the salon coach roof and stringers, and reglass it above and below. We constructed a frame to duplicate the precise camber of the area, and have clamped down three layers of marine-grade ¼” ply with alternating seams to preshape the wood. Our intention is to laminate these layers with epoxy, as well as laminate stringers to the duplicate dimensions of the originals. The cabin will be braced from all sides, the damaged area of the deck removed and the new laminate positioned and epoxied in place. From there it would be glassed above and below to match the original thickness, using 17 and 18 oz. Biaxial glass/mat and 1.5 mat and Vinylester resin, faired to join the un-damaged remainder of the deck.

This is a job that had been delayed by work and health, but at this point it will be going forward. Before we began I figured I’d tap the collective wisdom of this group and see what input any of you have to offer (other than having my sanity evaluated… it’s too late for that!) There are pictures of the deck and frame-work on my blog and we’ve worked with glass and epoxy in the past so I’m reasonably comfortable with both.


Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!