Teak Deck

[Mercator]

Hello out there,
This is my first post to this forum. I have recently bought the dream - a 48ft steel Yawl with Oregon spars and a teak deck.

The deck has been left natural and I am trying to decide whether to oil the deck or use a product called Seatol - a cross between oil and varnish or to just leave it as is.

Overall the deck is in good condition but needs a little work and a number of plugs replacing.

Some opinions say to oil the deck and it will be better presearved others say to leave it natural

Your feedback and advice would be appreciated.

[delmarrey]

Hi Mercator,

I see that you are right close to Frankston. Welcome aboard Mate!

Teak seems to be a matter of choice. If your going to be off shore a lot and need good footing, you may want to leave it natural and rough. Also, those who like that rustic look will leave it uncoated.

Others like that shiny slick and dark look. It's all up to the individuals taste.
Leaving it natural will allow it to slowly decompose and that's OK if you can afford to do a refit over time.

Myself, I prefer the shiny smooth coated finish with a product called Deks Olje. It's like a liquid wax. You don't really have to sand between coats unless the wood becomes exposed and dry. In Southern California it would last about a month between coats after the first initial 3 coats.

I'm not familiar with Seatol but it might be Sikkens-Cetol through the translation. It's basicly an oil that soaks into the wood and helps to water proof it, but will do very little to protect it from the sun.

Teak can be a lot of work, but is easy to maintain once it is in good condition.

One other thing. If you have teak over steel, it may depend on the condition of the under laying steel on how you'll want to treat your teak. If it's in good shape you could do a smooth finish and seal it off. But if it's rusty and swelling (iron oxide) an oil may be your best bet.

Fair winds................................._/)

[GordMay]

Those that leave their Teak "natural" often rinse the decks with seawater (weekly). The salt brine helps to preserve the teak.
Of course, if you have any leakage to the underlying steel, I imagine the salt water would be a problem.

I've worked on Yachts that oiled their Teak decks weekly. They used a very light teak oil product (sorry, don't recall the name).
A one hundred six foot power yacht only took me about 4 hours to oil (very quick & easy application). Looked fabulous!
Regards, and congrat's on your new boat,
Gord

[CSY Man]

Concur with the above.
My previous boat had a teak deck.

I used to pour sea water over the deck once a day in the summer to keep it swelled up and to prevent leaks caused by the deck drying and shrinking in the heat and the sun.

Once a week I would use a soft brush to clean it during the salt water baths..

Most chemicals and teak cleaners take away meat and the deck will get thinner over the years, then the bungs will start to pop and ya have to pull the fasteners, drill a bit deeper, put the screw back in, then re-plug and and all that....

Check to see what is under the teak-deck...Ply wood, other "filler" or just the steel deck...
As stated above, steel and salt water is like cat and dog, so ya may not want to do the daily salt soaking.

Gord:
I got a job offer to drive and maintain some guys big M/Y.It is brand new and has a teak deck..
Would like to know the product ya used on that big boat as the salt water thing would not work on that kind of vessel.
Nor do I see myself down on hands and knees scrubbing and cleaning with traditional teack cleaners...Did that a couple of years ago before the Ft. L boat show to spruce up a 53' sloop that was for sale...All f...day on my knees for $12.00 per hour.

[GordMay]

CSYMAN:
This is not the first time I wished I could recall the product name, of the very thin deck oil. Unfortunately, I cannot.
It was great stuff! Went on like water, and looked like furniture. Just had to keep it away from the Aluminum scuppers.
Sorry for no help.

Have you accepted the position - if so, good luck as an indentured 'slave'. Don't want to dampen your enthusiasm, but I've found that permanent crew are mere servants - I got no respect at all.
As an outside contractor (on the other hand), I've been able to garner (sometimes great) respect.
Regards,
Gord

[Mercator]

Thank you all for the response.

I should have probably mentioned that the boat is berthed at Lakes Entrance, on the east coast about 300klms from where I live and at this stage we only get to go up and stay on board every 2 weeks or so.
This means that daily or even weekly maintenance is not possible.
So treatment and maintenance is something I will have to further research.

I will try and post a couple of pics of her when I figure out how.

And Delmarrey, yes, just next to Frankston.

Cheers

[CSY Man]

Hi Gord.

Thanks for the gretting the 7ty, tried to send ya a msg, but yer box was full.

As for slaving away as a permanent crew, yup, true enough.
I applied for a mate's job on this thing, but got instant upgrade to skipper...Nice owners..The boat is a Johnson 70..

It does have some teak, but only the aft area called the California deck..
Need to find a good product to keep it looking new..

[Trim50]

Semco only!

[palagic456]

I am about 1/2 way through replacing the cockpit teak decking on my mid-80s Beneteau. The product I opted for is made by a company in Surrey, BC called Teak Marine. It's basically pre-fabricated panels to match your decking templates.

I'm generally happy with the raw product, but whomever cut the shapes out of it did an extremely poor job. I have found some panels are as much as 1/2" too short! As my installation does not have edge perimeter pieces, the only option is to load on a bunch of caulk to fill these voids. Very frustrating after spending $3000 on raw material.

The worst problem now is that whomever did the layout in the manufacturing reversed the port and starboard cockpit seat panels. This resulted in them aligning the layout with the wrong edge! When you put the panels where they go - the strips run at a diagonal to the boat. Teak Marine refuses to stand behind their product or workmanship and I have no recourse but to dispute the credit card charges now. I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau.

My advice to anyone contemplating this job........steer clear of Teak Marine in Surrey BC, or Teak Marine Products, LLC in Bellingham, WA.

[Dockhead]

A vote for leaving it natural and dousing it regularly with sea water.

It's beautiful like that and will last for decades if it's not brushed with the grain or pressure washed (eegads!).

If it gets mold or black spots, treat with Boracol. In my opinion, it is much more beautiful left like that, than if it is oiled. If oiled or varnished, it will look good only for a short time, then will go blotchy. Then it becomes a lot of work and usually looks shabby. When natural, it looks perfect all the time.

Not relevant to the OP, but for anyone contemplating a yacht with teak decks -- the glued-down ones are far superior to the screwed-down ones. They last longer, don't split or leak like the screwed-down ones do.

The teak decks on my boat are going on 11 years old, and have never been sanded or recaulked. I'm starting to have some problems with the caulking inside the cockpit, but the rest of the deck is nearly flawless still. I can't describe how much pleasure they give me! Looking forward to at least another decade of pleasure from them.

[HopCar]

Gord, was it Teak Wonder? That's a very light teak sealer that is popular with big boats here in Miami. Tip Top Teak Sealer is my best seller in Palm Beach. For anyone in the tropics, that doesn't have a paid crew, sealing/oiling teak is a losing battle. Varnish holds up a little better but still a lot of work.