Teak Decks Fastened from Inside Cabin

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

Face that when/if you come to it.

On cored decks the outer fiberglass skin is usually much thicker than the inner skin. Better to keep the outer intact.

Yeah, there are a lot of proponants for doing it from the outside too. I think it depends on where it is etc. I did a whole V berth from the inside and would do it that way again. One or two sq foot areas would have been a piece of cake from the inside.
I dont know that I trust moisture meters. You could know now by drill a small hole from the inside where you suspect. Take the embedded shavings off the twist of the drill and sqwuessze between your thumb and forefinger. If wet water will appear.
It's sounding more and more to me like these teak decks should come off.

[b_ascott]

Thank you for everyones replies. It gives a lot to think about. Before I commit either way I'm going to need to do some more investigating which means more tearing things apart to assess the situation some more. I like everyones personal accounts and experiences with this stuff though.

[Nicholson58]

Lots of good advise here. You probably know you will eventually have to re-teak or remove & non-skid. Our boat had teak. The PO had it stripped and non-skid installed by a Miami marina. The yard did a great job but failed in one part. Once the screw holes are filled, epoxy a veil layer of glass on the deck so that glass spans all holes. If this is not done, the filler used in the holes will fail and let water into the core. Very simple step.

[HansSolo]

I would think that the first step you would want to do is to establish weather or not there is even core in the decks. I know that with hans christian 33 at least the decks were constructed in two different ways depending on the year they were built. One way, with the teak screw from the top used coring in the decks. The second way is where the teak was screwed from the bottom, and they used used solid fiberglass decks. A small hole saw from underneath will tell you for sure weather or not there is core and will be easily fixed with some epoxy afterwards. A moisture meter can give false readings because of metal or if its wet under the teak its self. The teak decks on our boat were preemptively removed by the owner before us because he was afraid of core damage. It turns out that our boat has solid glass decks.. If he would have drilled a tiny hole from underneath before hand he could have saved both him and me a tone of work in the end.

[Capt Phil]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Lots of good advise here. You probably know you will eventually have to re-teak or remove & non-skid. Our boat had teak. The PO had it stripped and non-skid installed by a Miami marina. The yard did a great job but failed in one part. Once the screw holes are filled, epoxy a veil layer of glass on the deck so that glass spans all holes. If this is not done, the filler used in the holes will fail and let water into the core. Very simple step.

Excellent point, Nich... that quick, cheap and easy step is a very important one not to forget. Experienced yards know this but many just pass on this critical step for some reason. When buying a boat with a replaced deck, ask to see the yard bill or name of the yard who performed the work and check with them on their process. If it was DYI, ask to see the bills for materials.
Cheers, Phil

[HansSolo]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

Lots of good advise here. You probably know you will eventually have to re-teak or remove & non-skid. Our boat had teak. The PO had it stripped and non-skid installed by a Miami marina. The yard did a great job but failed in one part. Once the screw holes are filled, epoxy a veil layer of glass on the deck so that glass spans all holes. If this is not done, the filler used in the holes will fail and let water into the core. Very simple step.

+1 Good advice

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Capt Phil

Excellent point, Nich... that quick, cheap and easy step is a very important one not to forget. Experienced yards know this but many just pass on this critical step for some reason. When buying a boat with a replaced deck, ask to see the yard bill or name of the yard who performed the work and check with them on their process. If it was DYI, ask to see the bills for materials.
Cheers, Phil

One I've mentioned here many times, it seems just filling screw holes is quite popular with the DIY crowd here. I would not be happy with a veil, way too thin. I fill all the screw holes, then dish them out 1/8" deep in a 1" circle with a 1" Roloc grinder, then glass with poly resin a matt torn by hand. Glass high and grind flat, then brush on several coats of gel to do final fairing and primer in one step.

[JPA Cate]

1. There is rust around many of the screw heads in the posted picture.
2. There is rust under the washers where the tracks are installed.
3. The owner reports leaks into the cabin.
4. It would have taken proper preparation of each deck penetration of perhaps 3,000 screews, bolts, and whatevers to prevent water getting into the balsa. Does anyone here think that a safe assumption?

We had a balsa cored deck on our old Insatiable. We had also, a chain plate leak. When Jim attacked the problem, we found the balsa a slimy, sodden mess, that we had to clean out with a teaspoon till we got back to some that was dry. Jim eventually solved the problem, and made a tidy repair. But it was a lot more time consuming than I thought it would be, for one hole.

Had some acquaintances who removed their teak decks on a Westsail 43: it became a Wetsail shaped deck surrounding their hot tub. True story.

Over the years, have seen many people fight the teak deck problem. I'm sure glad it's not us!

Teak can be beautiful, but water belowdecks is just bad news, and I wouldn't want to put up with it.

I'm sorry the OP has got himself in the present situation, and wish him the very best for solving a nasty problem, his desires going contrary to the flow of years of experience.

Good luck with it, "b".

Ann

[deluxe68]

Does anyone know if the decks were fastened that way from the factory?

[xeon_tsd]

Originally Posted by deluxe68

Does anyone know if the decks were fastened that way from the factory?

Yup. Some where top down and some where bottom up. A few other small changes in the interior as well... which way the door opened up in the aft head. A trash can in the galley counter or not... and the aft cabin stb sette arrangement varied in a few ways.

[maj75]

Quick question regarding teak decks, only marginally related.

On a steel or aluminum boat, how are teak decks fastened down? I assume that they are not screwed down, but only bedded. So why do the teak decks on a fiberglass boat need to be fastened? Is it because the underlying deck of a fiberglass boad is not stiff enough? Did builders of fiberglass boats substitute teak deck strength for fiberglass deck strength?

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by maj75

Quick question regarding teak decks, only marginally related.

On a steel or aluminum boat, how are teak decks fastened down? I assume that they are not screwed down, but only bedded. So why do the teak decks on a fiberglass boat need to be fastened? Is it because the underlying deck of a fiberglass boad is not stiff enough? Did builders of fiberglass boats substitute teak deck strength for fiberglass deck strength?

After removing the screwed down decks on my HC38 years ago I found myself asking the same question.. why the screws? The planks came off in small chunks they were so stuck... even with the screws out.

[roverhi]

You have to hold the planks in place. They may warp, twist or bend especially after being exposed to the elements. Bedding compounds like Polysulfide and Polyurethane have good adhesive characteristics after they have cured but not before. These caulks also don't like steady pressure so wouldn't glue a board in place that wanted to twist or otherwise move about. So you need mechanical fasteners to attach traditional 4 quarter teak decks in place.

Traditionally decks were 3/4 inch (4 quarter) or more thick lumber. Takes a lot of force to hold them in place so fasteners are needed. Newer boats are using much thinner material that they are gluing in down with epoxy. Can be done with the thinner more pliable material because weights will hold them in place till the epoxy cures. Unfortunately, this thinner teak decking has a relatively short life span as it can break the glue bond and come loose or wear to the point of needing replacement quickly.

The OP's decks were still 5/8" thick after 30 years or so of wear and abuse. If the builder had used shorter screws, the decks wouldn't have had a problem with the fasteners showing. Probably still would have for leaks, however. Of course, there is the possibility that shorter screws wouldn't have had enough grip and stripped out too easily on installation or with time.

Don't know how teak decks are fastened on Steel boats but assume it was also with screws or even threaded machine screws if the decks were 4 quarter lumber. Thinner material could have been glued down but the adhesives were not widely used or available 40 or more years ago and even then weren't widely used till 30 or so years ago.

[maj75]

I'm not talking about ships with wood decks. I'm thinking about modern aluminum or steel boats with a solid metal deck, with a teak overlay.

[roverhi]

Originally Posted by maj75

I'm not talking about ships with wood decks. I'm thinking about modern aluminum or steel boats with a solid metal deck, with a teak overlay.

Whose talking about wooden decks??? You have to fasten the teak down somehow and fasteners are about the only way to do it when you're working with 4 quarter teak. If you look at most teak decks, There is considerable curvature in the planks as they match the curvature of the hull. These planks are forced into that curvature. You could pry the boards into position and glue them individually but it would take weeks of gluing, waiting for the epoxy to kick and then on to the next board.