Nuteak, Plasdeck Failures

[shielrl]

I had Nuteak on my Cruisers 460, cockpit and swim platform and after the 5th year it started to separate on one section of the swim platform (attached pic). Although I liked everything else about the nuteak I'm pretty disappointed about the splitting.

Anyway, just purchased a Cruiser 560 this month and was thinking about going to Plasdeck because of my Nuteak separation issue. Travis at TT Marine seems very knowledgeable and states Plasdeck is hot welded and will never separate. They even give a solid warranty and will travel to do the install. Before I drop just over 10k on 210 sq. ft. I wanted to to check on plasdeck and possible bad experiences anyone has had. I did see one plasdeck failure in the sailboat forum but they dont say what failed. Any response would be appreciated.

[JPA Cate]

Shielrl,

What that looks like to me, is failure of the caulking compound. However, be aware, the plastics are hard to glue. if you're a perfectionist about things, you might want to consider something different.

Ann

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, shielrl.

[toddedger]

I have tried some vinyl teak decking before (plasdeck) and it look really nice, but it just gets to hot for bare feet in the sun. Can't be very good for keeping your boat interior cool. I would suggest looking into the cork deck products that are becoming more popular in Europe. I actually have some plasdeck on an interior surface, but will never use it again on the exterior.

[toddedger]

I think the failure like in the picture comes from the lenghtwise thermal expansion of the different pieces.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Treadmaster, fiberglass/nonskid, or regular teak. All are pretty proven when done right. Though the latter is a bit more "mortal".