Teak deck life question

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by Lanevdl

Teak decks look fabulous when they're in good condition and they offer good non slip properties.
On the down side they have a shelf life of approx 20 years and are almost too hot to stand on in the tropics. If you sail in warm climates I wouldn't favour them. I have this year removed our teak side decks and cabin tops and replaced with painted non skid over fibreglass. The boat looks brand new and the deck will now last as long as the rest of the boat. All at a mere cost of $50,000 NZ dollars.
Oh the joys of boat ownership!

Gee that was not our experience with teak decks for over 40 years. If you let them go natural gray, they are not hot to walk nor sit on. If you slather them with oils, the oils will burn you. Never replaced the teak decks, and our old tub, now about 50 years old still has the original teak, and its been around the world several times since we sold it to the new owner. .

Maybe you had inferior teak? Tried to varnish it? Scrubbed it?

[barnakiel]

I agree with posters above in everything ... but one thing: 20 years.

NO WAY.

It is yes if you are talking a custom thick plank sourced from an expensive reliable teak source.

But for a Bava / Bene as well as HR, Oyster or Contest ('grade') teak the boat would have to live in a hangar.

Sun, rain, heat, dust, etc. all take their toll. I think 10 years is when one is already looking around rather nervously thinking about who will buy a boat with a deck like that ...

Sure, there are various visual standards, but modern teak decks, in regular boats, simply do not last.

Cheers,
b.

[robwilk37]

agree with most. good old growth properly sawn and installed teak, well cared for, will go longer than you. problem is those forests were exhausted decades ago and the plantation miracle-grown stuff of today is a poor substitute. but i love a wood deck so mine will be Siberian Larch... ill let you know in ten years if it was a smart idea or not.

[David B]

Our decks are teak, and new with boat, early 2012.
Grey teak is nice for some, but we prefer the look of 'new' teak, and therefore protect it with Semco (about two and a half hours work including the cutting in to treat the decks on a 50' mono.

This, with little effort, keeps the teak looking pretty well new/freshly sanded (which we have never done). Five years on, we still get questions as to whether our boat is brand new.

With the modern decks using 12mm planks then sanding during production to more like 10mm, there is not a lot of teak to play with, and therefore our attitude is to protect the teak from weathering, rather than let it wear away. We do this when we are sailing by using Semco as above, and when we leave the boat for Wintering, it has a full cover on it (which also of course protects the gelcoat). The cover does not keep the deck totally dry, but keeps the worst off, and of course keeps the sun off.

Think about it - if you have a coating on it such as Semco, and that coating is maintained, then how can the teak underneath ever wear away?

The other thing of course is the caulking, and assuming the attachment remains solid (screws or epoxy or both), then that is the only other maintenance point. From time to time, where any issue is noticed, as long as it is not left, then injecting fresh caulking into any problem areas will solve most problems. The time will come when the whole caulking will probably need to be re-done, but if those planks are still looking new under the protective coating, then they should still be fine.

We re-coated our deck in late May 2015, (just a single coat – 2.5 hours all up). I have attached an image taken mid July this year, with the only maintenance being washing with fresh (yes fresh) water. Ideally we would have recoated again this year (if you look closely, there are a few small areas just starting to grey), but will do another coat in May 2017, so apart from washing (and keeping a brown deck looking clean is so much easier than with a white deck !), that equates just a couple of hours a year to keep looking as new, and prevent weathering/wearing away.

As to heat, we spent two seasons in North Africa, and the rest of the time on the European side of the Western Med. No issues with heat, but would hate to have glaring white decks.

If we did not have teak, we would probably go for a light grey two-pack paint system on the tread areas of the side decks to match the grey canvas of the dodger and bimini. Done well, that can look good, but there is something about the rich look of a nice teak deck .....

[Terra Nova]

DB--looks good!

[SV THIRD DAY]

Unless you have the stomach for this....
Beware of an older boat with a Teak Deck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQVWcyCzoa0

[ben373]

Thanks so much eberybody for the information. So glad to be a member here. I will negotiate hard, although sounfs like i should be running.

Sent from my GT-N5120 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Terra Nova]

A teak deck must get pretty bad before it needs to be completely replaced. Usually reefing and caulking, along with selective refastening and fairly heavy sanding, is all that's needed. If it is poorly bonded, it is often possible to remove the affected area, clean and re-bed, prior to re-caulking.

Bad sections of planking can be routed out and replaced.

[eddi]

if you like your deck as it is - keep it.
if there is no safety issues - f.ck the surveyors ********.
you should only bother if you do not enjoy it anymore.
my deck is 43 years old and I bet I can keep it for ages
recauk

[kelbylinn]

Our teak over fiberglass decks are from 1981. I am finally removing the teak and will refinish the glass with an Awlgrip non-skid surface. We are keeping the teak railings and the teak up on the flybridge (under canvas) that looks like new. We're looking at about $30K to $35K unless we hit bad spots under the teak which aren't apparent at this point. Reason for changing is that several pieces are coming up and twisting and although we have no water leaks anywhere showing, I'm tired of stubbing my toe on the raised boards and the Gorilla Tape holding it down looks like ...

[Cheechako]

Yes, teak decks are very hot in the tropics even when just left grey. Been there done that. The old teak ~ 3/4" thick will last forever.... but not the underlayment, caulking, plugs etc!

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

Unless you have the stomach for this....
Beware of an older boat with a Teak Deck

Yes, I did that on my Hans Christian. There's a lot to it. Removing screws etc is one thing, prying up planks to the point of having to break them due to the caulking bond is another, removing all that black caulk under is the worst of the worst.
I got the impression the modern boat the OP was looking at is likely thin modern teak decking with no screws though...?

[David B]

Originally Posted by kelbylinn

Our teak over fiberglass decks are from 1981. I am finally removing the teak and will refinish the glass with an Awlgrip non-skid surface. We are keeping the teak railings and the teak up on the flybridge (under canvas) that looks like new. We're looking at about $30K to $35K unless we hit bad spots under the teak which aren't apparent at this point. Reason for changing is that several pieces are coming up and twisting and although we have no water leaks anywhere showing, I'm tired of stubbing my toe on the raised boards and the Gorilla Tape holding it down looks like ...

That's the key - don't let it get to that stage. Get on top of maintenance issues as soon as they appear. If a plank starts to detach, then re-fix and re-caulk that area, before it becomes a real issue. Easy to say I know, but that's boats for you

[Cheechako]

I was fortunate, in 1998 I needed the teak decks rescrewed, rebunged and recaulked on my 47 footer. I ran into an independnt shipwright on the dock in Annapolis. He rescrewed and bunged there. Then we met up in Ft Lauderdale a few moths later and he striped and caulked them completing the job. Total cost was about $2500-$3000. Great guy and a great job.

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I was fortunate, in 1998 I needed the teak decks rescrewed, rebunged and recaulked on my 47 footer. I ran into an independnt shipwright on the dock in Annapolis. He rescrewed and bunged there. Then we met up in Ft Lauderdale a few moths later and he striped and caulked them completing the job. Total cost was about $2500-$3000. Great guy and a great job.

It is a very tedious job. We found out the hard way never to use silicone or anything with silicone in it on teak decks. Seam sealers will not hold. Silicone itself will not hold to teak.