To Teak or not to Teak... that is the Question

[ssanzone]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

So how do you hold the product down securely until the adhesive cures?
I was going to use 5200 when I put Treadmaster on the HC38 (avatar), but figured I couldnt find a reasonable way to hold each piece down for 1-2 days while it cured.... I would have had to do one panel every 2 days or so..... any air pockets will rise up and bubble in the hot sun.....

the adhesive is SABATACK 750 XL and if you slap some on the bottom of whatever and slap it on a vertical wall it will stay there.

i am sure weight is a factor and i would not be surprised if there was peel off at the top edge or whatever but the stuff is pretty crazy.

it works a bit like pvc cement in the way it bonds whatever the synthetic teak is to itself.

-steve

[Cheechako]

Sounds like it is tacky like contact cement... that should help. I ran into a guy years ago who put Treadmaster on his steel boat using contact cement.. it actually appeared to be holding up real well.

[kentobin]

This is a followup with pictures for an earlier post.

My deck with one of the teak slats removed. The slat shows the 'black' sealant/adhesive on it and the 'white' on it is the top of the deck that came up with the sealant/adhesive.

The deck itself shows white areas which are the fiberglass roving mat now not covered by polyester resin. :-)

I'm cross cutting the teak using a circular plunge saw. I've been doing this in 2 foot sections but may end up making it 6 inch sections as it's that hard to pull up. It's not just leverage you're dealing with but also getting the end of the crow bar between the deck and the teak.

Screws pull out very easily with the teak and are not worth the effort to remove before the deck.

Every boat is different so just take my information as a possibility. From the reading I had done none of the writers had pieces of their decks pull up. A surveyor I know says it's common. :-)

Rafiki 37 built in 1978 by Pacific Yacht Crafters (TAIWAN)

[Cheechako]

Boy, that's the most "OSHA approved" saw I've ever seen!

[boatsail]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Boy, that's the most "OSHA approved" saw I've ever seen!

Tools are more fun when dangerous!

[Delancey]

My cockpit sole is cambered which is great for draining water but not so great for walking or sleeping on, a situation I thought I would correct with a fancy teak grate. After some soul searching I ended up opting for what I call "Kentucky Teak" aka pressure treated southern yellow pine.

I know it's not a very yachty looking but for me the decision to not contribute to the demand for cutting down the rainforest was the thing to do. If I were looking at replacing a teak deck I would consider vertical grain treated lumber if I could source it.

I'm sure many here will castigate me for suggesting it. I just happen to feel like people need to change their expectations of what is appropriate in this day and age living on a small planet already overburdened with an ever increasing population.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by scoobert

yes do it. if you have the coin.
it HAS to be screwed. just screw it correctly, and you will have no issue. each screw will need sealer, you will need to keep it well oiled. really it is worth it. you can also mix teak and rosewood!

This is bad advice, and given the fact that you have zero experience doing what you suggest, it should be ignored.

I don't care how much sealer you put into hundreds of holes you have drilled into a cored deck, over time a few of them are going to leak and that's all it takes to create a very expensive problem. The deck flexes, contracts and expands, is subject to temperature extremes as well as varying loads on top of it. There is no reason to mechanically attach teak when there are adhesives that will accomplish the desired bond without compromising the integrity of the sealed surface beneath.

[ssanzone]

Originally Posted by Suijin

This is bad advice, and given the fact that you have zero experience doing what you suggest, it should be ignored.

I don't care how much sealer you put into hundreds of holes you have drilled into a cored deck, over time a few of them are going to leak and that's all it takes to create a very expensive problem. The deck flexes, contracts and expands, is subject to temperature extremes as well as varying loads on top of it. There is no reason to mechanically attach teak when there are adhesives that will accomplish the desired bond without compromising the integrity of the sealed surface beneath.

i agree 100% water (like life in jurassic park) will find a way and if that way is between top and bottom sheets of fiberglass i am sorry for you in advance.

-steve

[ssanzone]

Originally Posted by kentobin

This is a followup with pictures for an earlier post.

My deck with one of the teak slats removed. The slat shows the 'black' sealant/adhesive on it and the 'white' on it is the top of the deck that came up with the sealant/adhesive.

The deck itself shows white areas which are the fiberglass roving mat now not covered by polyester resin. :-)

I'm cross cutting the teak using a circular plunge saw. I've been doing this in 2 foot sections but may end up making it 6 inch sections as it's that hard to pull up. It's not just leverage you're dealing with but also getting the end of the crow bar between the deck and the teak.

Screws pull out very easily with the teak and are not worth the effort to remove before the deck.

Every boat is different so just take my information as a possibility. From the reading I had done none of the writers had pieces of their decks pull up. A surveyor I know says it's common. :-)

Rafiki 37 built in 1978 by Pacific Yacht Crafters (TAIWAN)

have you tried heat? get a salamander (highest avail BTU) below deck and heat your cabin, one area at a time if possible, as much as possible.

the heat permutation from the deck down is going to make the high side of the adhesive about as rock hard as possible (think baked on) but the low side may still be pliable if the deck (actual deck not teak) warms up.

assuming this is the original deck...35 years is a long time and this may prove futile.

idk about anyone else, but i would most certainly take make the time and effort to remove the screws.

gl.

-steve

[mrohr]

Teak decks are beautiful and aesthetics count heavily for me in certain endeavors, and sailing is certainly one. That said, would not buy a boat with teak decks because the aesthetics would be trumped by the down side of maintenance and weight etc. mentioned above. i did however replace some mickey mouse degraded plastic on my cockpit seats with good quatity teak, glued of course,looks great and is not an issue to maintain,but a racer would argue that i have added 75 lbs . of unnecessary weight.

[HansSolo]

We replaced the teak on the cabin top of our 41' hand christian about 1.5 years ago and are extremely pleased with our choice to do so. I did not use any screws at all, only the epoxy recommended by teak deck systems. I filled all of the screw holes in with epoxy and than laid a 6oz layer of glass over that before I put down the teak just to be extra sure that water would never make its way in. Also we were able to buy the scrap teak from a company who lays decks on large yachts for $2.50 a ft. Total cost was about $2600 for all materials and 78 hours of our labor. When we bought our boat it had "plas-teak" decks on it witch had failed miserably even though they were less than 5 years old (what a mess!). The job was not that difficult at all. More on it here Peek at our sleek new teak

[ssanzone]

hans,

cabin top looks great. what happened with the plas-teak? did the vendor stand behind their product?

-steve

[HansSolo]

Thanks steve!

The glue that plas-teak provided turned into a black gooey mess and 2 the pals-teak itself ended up shrinking from the heat of the sun. The company said that they have changed their formula for the decking material because this was happening but that the older stuff was not covered...


Theres also a chance that the Plas-teak was laid down on decks that were not completely dry. Our decks do not have any coring material at all, just solid glass, however we did have osmosis and delimitation of the top layer of chopped matt in several places. Im thinking that the original teak decks as well as the plas-teak allowed water to sit against the fiberglass for so long and thats why this ended up happening (in some areas you could actually see the pattern of the old deck seams in the cracking gel coat) For more on this whole project see Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

[jgbrown]

Double posting

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by HansSolo

We replaced the teak on the cabin top of our 41' hand christian about 1.5 years ago and are extremely pleased with our choice to do so. I did not use any screws at all, only the epoxy recommended by teak deck systems. I filled all of the screw holes in with epoxy and than laid a 6oz layer of glass over that before I put down the teak just to be extra sure that water would never make its way in. Also we were able to buy the scrap teak from a company who lays decks on large yachts for $2.50 a ft. Total cost was about $2600 for all materials and 78 hours of our labor. When we bought our boat it had "plas-teak" decks on it witch had failed miserably even though they were less than 5 years old (what a mess!). The job was not that difficult at all. More on it here Peek at our sleek new teak

Beautiful work! Only a weeks labour? Forget a zero on that?. If you can do all that in a week, I'm in awe, how did you manage it?! I've been following the blog for a while, very impressed, and a little jealous, lovely boat.