Teak Decks ?

[simonmd]

Originally Posted by phantomracer

The previous owner of our Ohlson 38 redid the teak deck.. after starting a recaulking project...the entire deck was in the dumpster!





Of course..the final product was well worth the effort! (1992 picture)




Only maintenance is washdown with salt water, and occasional brightening. Looks decent 18 years later (2010 picture below)




I would go for a teak deck.. Naturally skid resistant, pretty, long lasting, low maintenance. Not cheap if it needs to be replaced though. The deck on our boat was made by Teak Decking System, in 2 pre-made pieces and glued down. No bungs to worry about popping or leaking.

Now that is B, E, A, UTIFULL!

I have teak on my motoryacht and LOVE it. It's very practical and safe as the combination of the teak and calking provide a very non slip surface, even when wet. However, as has been mentioned, in the summer WOW does it get hot! You certainly cannot walk on it in bare feet thats for sure.

If the boat you're looking at has teak in good condition then great, day to day maintainace is almost nil and teak actualy loves saltwater. If it needs work then prepare for a BIG bill. Easiest way to assess the condition is look at the level of the teak compared to the level of the calking (the black sealer inbetween the planks). If the calking is noticably higher in places then the teak is really past it's best.

[Auspicious]

I spend less time caring for my teak deck than I used to spend mowing the lawn. Not bad at all.

[S&S]

Originally Posted by cburger

If you read my post carefully it said"Properly installed and cared for it can last indefinately" Improperly installed and abused they can turn into a real mess.

The teak decks on my personal boat are over thirty five years old, over an inch thick and absoltly no deck core problems. After a "High quality" reseaming that was performed two ars ago I expect the deck will be going strong long after I have passed on to the "Happy hunting grounds". The origional installer wasa skilled shipwright adlaid the decks right.

P.S. Phantomracer what a pretty boat.

Lucky you. Point beng, teak does wear out. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me putting it on a glass hull. YMMV

[swagman]

Love teak. Had it on current and past two yachts. Both earlier were teak onto GRP. Looked great and I think caring for them was good therapy. Like cleaning a pool and well worth the effort.

Current (new) boat is 45 year old steel with teak overlaid. Sure it took two weeks when we got her to track back where caulking was failing and fixing that - plus replacing perhaps 40 screws / plugs - but it felt soooo good to get that job done and look at the end result.

How quick does it really wear out? This teak deck is now down to 3/4 inch thick - lost maybe 1/8th in 45 years. But was kept in northern europe.

Even so, I fully expect the boat AND deck to last my lifetime.
That will do me.

Cheers
JOHN

[phantomracer]

Originally Posted by cburger

He thought the deck was solid until he pulled out the caulking..and all the boards came out with it!

"Guessing" from the pictures a true teak deck not an overlayment?[/QUOTE]

The original deck was a traditional teak deck.

The new deck is Marine Plywood, West Epoxy, dynel, epoxy, and a deck made in 2 pieces by Teak Decking Systems in FL, trucked up in a containter to MA, glued/vacuum sealed down. Seems to have held up great for 18 years, IMO.

[phantomracer]

Originally Posted by swagman

How quick does it really wear out? This teak deck is now down to 3/4 inch thick - lost maybe 1/8th in 45 years
Cheers
JOHN

I hear this all the time. 'teak wears out'. Always wanted to know how fast. Mine is 18 years old, from the pictures, looks as good as the day it was installed. I can't even see 1/64 of an inch gone.

I don't know when my deck will wear out to the point it needs replacing due strictly to normal wear.. I suspect it wont be in my lifetime.

No doubt decks that have a lot of neglect and lack of maintenance will degrade faster. Keep after it, I think it should last the life of the boat.

[rebel heart]

I have teak decks. I work on them all the time, and all in all they've been pretty good to me. It took me a few years to really "get it" when it comes to how to maintain them, what's a real problem, what's just cosmetic, etc.

Bad signs (if you see any of these, walk away):

- boards are thin (like less than 1/4" anywhere. 1/2" or bigger is best).
- screw heads are under the deck, screw points are pointed up (I've seen it).
- rotten boards. crap lumber. sadly, "new teak" is nowhere near as great as the old growth stuff that is now completely gone from the planet's surface.


If you're planning on living aboard and cruising, forget about putting the boat in the garage and spending two weeks straight working on the decks and doing a "perfect" job. The boats with the most amazing decks never get underway and sit under covers like some museum piece. Especially beating to windward you will cause the decks to shimmy loose from their polysulfide. It's not the end of the world: just reef/pay the seams again and you're good to go. You'll do in in sections rather than some big "all the boat at once project".

Don't *ever* use a sander, get a Fein multimaster, put salt water on your decks all the time to wash them, scrub them with a scotch pad (no bristles).

After rain or dew, look for places were the wood is still wet at the seams (compared to other dry places). Those seams are starting to give, and you need to rebed them. Again, if you spend a few hours every few weeks reefing/paying seams, you'll keep the deck pretty water tight, you'll avoid mega-projects, and it will stay pretty manageable.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by phantomracer

I hear this all the time. 'teak wears out'. Always wanted to know how fast. Mine is 18 years old, from the pictures, looks as good as the day it was installed. I can't even see 1/64 of an inch gone.

I don't know when my deck will wear out to the point it needs replacing due strictly to normal wear.. I suspect it wont be in my lifetime.

No doubt decks that have a lot of neglect and lack of maintenance will degrade faster. Keep after it, I think it should last the life of the boat.

My $0.02: it "wears out" from lazy/dumb owners who put sanders to them.

[Bluefuss]

Thank you all for your input.As I said the boat has basically been rebuilt and other than the deck worry she makes me smile everytime I think of her. If I make an offer that leads to a survey I suppose I will have to trust my surveyor to educate me as to the real state of the core and the teak. I too enjoy maintainance, but dont want to spend all my time on projects. I believe the boat has spent a lot of time in the pacific northwest, but in a season or two i will sail south. (So Columbia is a good option for repair or replacement). For the first few years I will leave her on the hard for aprox 6 months a year, and sail the other months, will the teak need constant dampening while I'm away?

[Bluefuss]

And yes searching the archives can be a bit of a shot in the dark

[zeehag]

i wish my formosa had teak decks--they are easy care and very nonskid, best nonskid in world. easy care-- throw salt water and swab, mate-- gently at the swabbing--ye dont want to remove the teak. no sanding-- many do that--is horrid thing to do to the decks-- "wears em out" as it were--- is unnecessary. cover them in tropix and use sea water EVERY DAY and often more than once per day--keeps heat down and makes them last looong time. teak is awesome.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Bluefuss

Thank you all for your input.As I said the boat has basically been rebuilt and other than the deck worry she makes me smile everytime I think of her. If I make an offer that leads to a survey I suppose I will have to trust my surveyor to educate me as to the real state of the core and the teak. I too enjoy maintainance, but dont want to spend all my time on projects. I believe the boat has spent a lot of time in the pacific northwest, but in a season or two i will sail south. (So Columbia is a good option for repair or replacement). For the first few years I will leave her on the hard for aprox 6 months a year, and sail the other months, will the teak need constant dampening while I'm away?

It would be best, but it's not the end of the world if you don't do it. Dump some sea water on it before you leave, and try to do the same after it rains (which rinses the salt away). Again, not the end of the world, but the more often you do it the better. You might want to consider getting a full boat canvas cover made that goes lifeline-to-lifeline, in which case not a lot of rain will get on the decks and it won't heat-expand / cool-contract as much.

[sneuman]

Originally Posted by Bluefuss

Thank you all for your input.As I said the boat has basically been rebuilt and other than the deck worry she makes me smile everytime I think of her. If I make an offer that leads to a survey I suppose I will have to trust my surveyor to educate me as to the real state of the core and the teak. I too enjoy maintainance, but dont want to spend all my time on projects. I believe the boat has spent a lot of time in the pacific northwest, but in a season or two i will sail south. (So Columbia is a good option for repair or replacement). For the first few years I will leave her on the hard for aprox 6 months a year, and sail the other months, will the teak need constant dampening while I'm away?

One thing to watch out for - in the winter, if the boat is stored outside, any water between deck layers might freeze, thus imitating the feel of a solid deck.

[Bluefuss]

Thanks Rebel, as a matter of fact it has a full cover. When I leave it for 6 months, the boat will be in the tropics, while in Canada I will be on it most of the time. Is it possible to find a boatyard that would throw some saltwater on the deck once a week or so, in the tropics? Good thought about the ice Sneuman.

[BlueWaterSail]

Originally Posted by S&S

It doesn't last indefintiely- almost bought a nice Morgan Giles sloop with a planked deck- the original 1 1/4" teak was worn down to 1/2" in spots. The wood alone would have cost thousands.

That's how it was on my Cheoy Lee - the teak had received ongoing attention over the years (she was a '65), but had been worn/sanded down so much that it had lost it's structural integrity and needed either a full replacement or removal & glass over job.

BWS