Teak Deck Condition

[rkjbnz]

Hi all

Is anyone able to provide an opinion of the condition of these teak decks. Approx 10 years old, i've been told they have recently been treated/oiled and it sounds like they clean them a lot. They are sitting on a Oceanis 50 so does anyone know the thickness Beneteau use? Could they be restored with a bit of work, are they a lost cause or are they ok to just leave for awhile and do some soft washing?

Any info would be great thanks

Richard

[deluxe68]

Cleaning teak decks actually shortens the lifespan if you are using chemicals. I have been told by Swan veteran owners that the best thing to do to them is to rinse with salt (sea) water and lightly brush across the grain. The deck pictured looks ok depending upon the thickness.

[bletso]

I wish mine looked that good. Other than the caulking seems to standing a bit proud, they look great. Use the softest bristle brush you can find or a scotch write pad and dishwashing detergent such as joy and go against the grain LIGHTLY. Salt water wash downs are vey good as well.

[deluxe68]

Originally Posted by bletso

I wish mine looked that good. Other than the caulking seems to standing a bit proud, they look great. Use the softest bristle brush you can find or a scotch write pad and dishwashing detergent such as joy and go against the grain LIGHTLY. Salt water wash downs are vey good as well.

When the deck dries out and shrinks the caulking should be back to even with the deck.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by deluxe68

When the deck dries out and shrinks the caulking should be back to even with the deck.

Your statement doesn't make any sense. The seams need to be cut down using a chisel to once again be flush with the wood. The thickness of the wood needs to be evaluated in order to determine the remaining life of the deck.

Excessive scrubbing of the deck and some weather conditions such as lots of heavy tropical rain can cause the wood to erode prematurely.

[deluxe68]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Your statement doesn't make any sense. The seams need to be cut down using a chisel to once again be flush with the wood. The thickness of the wood needs to be evaluated in order to determine the remaining life of the deck.

Excessive scrubbing of the deck and some weather conditions such as lots of heavy tropical rain can cause the wood to erode prematurely.

When the caulking is applied it is either flush with the deck or slightly below (concave) the top of the deck. When the deck gets wet the teak expands and pushes the caulking up. I just assumed that when the picture was taken the decks were wet.

[Cheechako]

Those look pretty good to me. The caulking standing proud is a good thing and great non skid.
Those dont appear to have been improperly scrubbed much and the grain is not all gouged out. Look great.

[Dockhead]

That part which you photographed looks ok -- with some caveats.

Teak decks become unserviceable when:

1. The thickness is reduced to the point where the screw bungs pop out and screw heads get to be higher than the level of the deck. But this only applies to the traditional kind with screws. These look like the Moody type which are glued down.

2. The planks start splitting or pulling up.

3. The planks become heavily grooved.

The part of your deck which you photographed doesn't seem to have any of those problems. You can see that the teak is wearing down and the caulking standing proud, but that is normal wear. As someone above posted, you can shave down the caulking.

HOWEVER -- the deck is the wrong color -- should be silvery gray. Someone has obviously used an acid wash to give it that yellowish color. Maybe it was done only once, when the boat was put up for sale, in which case maybe there is no permanent damage. IF, however, oil was put onto it, then that's even worse than acid, as the oil will attract dirt (which teak normally sheds) and they will quickly blacken and start looking dirty. Do not under any circumstances perpetuate the mistake by putting on more oil.

As others have said -- never do anything to those decks in the way of regular maintenance, other than buckets and buckets and buckets of seawater, as often as you can manage it. Do NOT scrub them. You can use a soft sponge (much better than a brush) to GENTLY wash them, ALWAYS washing across the grain and never with it. But not too often. You can use a little dish detergent -- even less often -- to help get the dirt up, but do so very, very sparingly, as this will strip the oil out.

The salt is essential, as it holds the moisture in and keeps them from drying out. People in fresh water will even make a saline solution to pour on their decks. If you let them dry out under hot sun for along time with no sea water, they will start to crack and that will be the end of them. That is why teak decks are unpopular in the tropics; although up in these latitudes everyone loves them.

In general, teak is a miraculous almost self-cleaning material, and the less you do to them, the better. They don't show dirt and seem to actually shed it. Lots and lots of seawater, and spare the brush, and for God's sake, no chemicals or oils.

The one single exception to the "no chemicals" rule is that you can use Boracol, to fight black mold spots, and green slime. This causes no damage and has an almost miraculous effect. Be careful with it, however, as it is highly toxic. Don't let it wash down into your water tanks.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by deluxe68

When the caulking is applied it is either flush with the deck or slightly below (concave) the top of the deck. When the deck gets wet the teak expands and pushes the caulking up. I just assumed that when the picture was taken the decks were wet.

I agree with Kenomac about this. In my experience, teak does not indeed expand when it's wet, and certainly doesn't "push the caulking up".

The depicted deck has worn down normally, leaving the caulking proud.

[FamilyVan]

I'm always glad I'm so good at procrastinating planned maintenance whenever I read these threads about what not to do with teak. They have no doubt extended the life of my decks by years.

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[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

I'm always glad I'm so good at procrastinating planned maintenance whenever I read these threads about what not to do with teak. They have no doubt extended the life of my decks by years.

LOL. That's actually no joke. No teak deck has ever been ruined by neglect.

A pressure washer, on the other hand, will ruin a teak deck in less than a second. Over enthusiastic scrubbing only slightly slower.

[CarstenWL]

... is the a screw head showing up?

Take a 'box cutter' and do 'a cut' between the caulking and the wood in different places to see how much teak there is left.

Also double check what kind of oil was applied to the deck.

When you visit the boat make the deck wet with a waterhose and let it dry. You will easily spot the problems where it takes much longer to dry.

Regards,

Carsten

[deluxe68]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

I agree with Kenomac about this. In my experience, teak does not indeed expand when it's wet, and certainly doesn't "push the caulking up".

The depicted deck has worn down normally, leaving the caulking proud.

From:

http://www.bostik.nl/uploads/pdf/641540_Teakdeck_UK.pdf


Remove old sealant and other remaining material completely.
• The seams must be clean, dry and dust free. Do not clean with compressed air, because this can contain oil. Instead, use an industrial vacuum cleaner.
• Use Simson Cleaner E to clean the teak.
• Apply Simson Prep P to the seam sides with a brush.
A continuously, thin layer is obtained by striking the brush several times in the seam (see picture). Drying time: minimum 1 hour, maximum 24 hours.
PRe-TReATMenT OF The seAM sIdes
• The temperature should be between +5°C and +35°C, maximum relative humidity is 75%.
• It has to be noted that the surfaces should only be primed once.
• A teak deck will shrink and expand due to the changing environmental conditions. The Deck Caulk will accom- modate to these movements without loss of adhesion on the seam sides, but only if the pretreatment is used and bond breaker tape is applied on the bottom of the seam (after drying of the pretreatment), to prevent three-side adhesion in the seam.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by CarstenWL

... is the a screw head showing up?

Take a 'box cutter' and do 'a cut' between the caulking and the wood in different places to see how much teak there is left.

Also double check what kind of oil was applied to the deck.

When you visit the boat make the deck wet with a waterhose and let it dry. You will easily spot the problems where it takes much longer to dry.

Regards,

Carsten

That just looks like a ding where someone dropped something etc. AFAIK, Bene does not screw their decks down. I see no evidence of screws from the top, they would show as teak plugs in the center of the plank. Without screws in the deck, there's no detriment to leaving even caulk that looks much worse than that. No where for any water that seeped in to go anyway.
That deck looks just great to me. Don't touch it!
I don't know how worn those decks are at all, they look pretty level across the plank. if they were well worn, the wood would be concave near the center of each plank, impossible for it to wear right up against the proud caulking. But there is a bit of apparent wear, hard to see actually in a pic like that.
If you are curious flood it with buckets of seawater. let it dry for a day and go around and see if any water is bleeding out of any cracks etc. Walk around see see if walking on them makes water bleed out.
I took the teak decks off my Hans Christian 38 and it had screws. The caulk was actually holding the teak fine, even with the screws out I couldn't get it up.... ending up breaking it into 1-3 ft pieces to pry it off!
Recaulking is terribly difficult and will never equal the original job. Too hard to remove all trace of old sealant from the wood to get a great bond. Been there, done that and had it done too. JMHO

[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Your statement doesn't make any sense. The seams need to be cut down using a chisel to once again be flush with the wood. The thickness of the wood needs to be evaluated in order to determine the remaining life of the deck.

Excessive scrubbing of the deck and some weather conditions such as lots of heavy tropical rain can cause the wood to erode prematurely.

The caulking wont shrink back down. The teak also wont unshrink.

The teak looks like its been cleaned recently. Its probably been 'cleaned' too frequently which removes material little by little. Resulting in caulking standing proud. The caulking then gets damaged, water gets in, the teak gets very wet and dries out more.

It definitely shrinks especially when its only 5/16" thick. Up to a 1/4" over a 10+" length of older teak was what we measured. It doesnt seem to expand when wet. The cycle continues and works the interface between the teak and caulking. Old hard caulking will fail in less than a year.

Oiling is not a great treatment. The oil wicks in dirt, brake dust and mold. You then get all sorts of staining and blotching. It looks like they clean it lots so this will probably remove most of the oil.

Trimming down the caulking is worth trying. If it doesnt trim cleanly then a recaulk will be due. If you dont trim it it will break off anyway.

The teak contracts (lots) and expands (a little), when the caulking fails, and will deteriorate more quickly over time. If the teak has sufficient thickness you can recaulk.

We recently replaced the teak on our liberty 458. It was 31 years old. The aft deck was in quite good condition but some of the foredeck was worn down to the bottom of the groove. Regrooving wasnt practical. Plus damp silver teak looks horrible and gets mouldy.

We used Dek King from the UK. It's a PVC based product. No screws, all bonded, flexible and great non skid. All our deck penetrations and prisms were refitted. No leaks.

It stays looking like new forever. It doesnt shrink and dry out and the caulking is both bonded and mechanically interfaced. It feels great and is better non slip than wet oiled teak. (We have a few small original teak inserts) It will outlast us. It has much better chemical and UV resistance than teak.

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