Thoughts on Deck Strategy

[Nicholson58]

If you decide to re-do the teak check out this special blade for the FEIN MULTIMASTER. It is designed to peel the calk out of a teak deck. Fein MultiMaster Teak Blades for Boat Deck Repair

Jamestown probably also has a total "HOW TO" video for the calk job.

On our boat, we only have Teak in the cockpit seats. I peeled the calk with a custom hand chissel, filled with 3M 4200 black and then used a 60 grit DA sander. I oiled to finish. My favorite oil is TROPICTEAK. It is loaded with UV blockers. I know now that I probably used the wrong filler but it seems to have worked and held up well.

[Pelagic]

Looks Great!

[ainadude]

Based on the above posts, it looks like I have two realistic strategies: 1) scrape, re-caulk and refinish the existing teak, or 2) pull the planking, fill several hundred screw holes, sand and treat, and install another layer of glass before painting or cetoling (new word for me). Leaning toward the latter as I like the thought of reduced maintenance and actually think it will give the boat a cleaner, more modern look.

Thanks for all the great advice.

[DSDman]

I'm in the process of doing just that. Pulled up old teak. the gel coat and first layer of fiberglass was shot so I peeeled all that off, sanded and put about 1/4 inch of new fiberglass down. Faired that, gel coat then painted. The PO had done the fore decks but had only sort of filled holes and then painted. the old gel coat and first layer of fiberglass continued to fail so this winter I will be redoing all that as well. Good luck, it's a bit of work. Don't wait until it gets hot...it was miserable this past summer.

[DeepFrz]

Teak decks are often laid down over FG with plywood core underneath. Once you get the teak off you can check the deck for any wet spots and fix those while you are at it.

[Nicholson58]

Here are photos of our boat, teak deck before and during the conversion to its present non-skid condition. Teak was peeled, holes filled and faired and non-skid applied.

As I noted above, the PO did NOT lay glass over the filled and faired deck. The other photos show where we have had to drop headliners, hole-saw the cabin interior glass skin, dig out wet core, re-skin and pump - fill with a slury of epoxy and microballoons. I have also had to re-build all of my solid hatch covers. I would not wish this job on anyone. Make sure you glass over the filled holes before you gel-goat or AWL GRIP. If you do not do a really thorough job water WILL get in and you will be dealing with a sponge.

[cookwithgas]

Originally Posted by ainadude

Based on the above posts, it looks like I have two realistic strategies: 1) scrape, re-caulk and refinish the existing teak, or 2) pull the planking, fill several hundred screw holes, sand and treat, and install another layer of glass before painting or cetoling (new word for me). Leaning toward the latter as I like the thought of reduced maintenance and actually think it will give the boat a cleaner, more modern look.

Thanks for all the great advice.

A third option would be to replace the real teak with SynDeck synthetic teak. No maintenance and same great looks and grip. It is a DIY job if you want and it's not that hard to do. I even installed it in the cockpit floor. Attached are some before and after photos.

[Nicholson58]

COOKWITHGAS
I considered this finish but was concerned about a plastic coating in the tropical sun. How durable is it? What preventive maintenance is required and does it get really hot in the sun? (too hot for bare feet.) Does it turn into a cabin heater?

BTW - that looks fantastic. How long did the job take and what prep did you have to do regarding waterproofing the thousands of screw holes?

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Wotname

What Rebel said +1

Either re-caulk and repair the teak (big big job) or rip it off and replace with glass etc (also big big job).

The first will give you a functional teak deck which will need re-doing some time in the not so distant future while the second will give you a fibreglass deck which will be pretty much maintenance free.

Please don't try to repair / paint over the existing deck, it will remain a problem deck.

If your deck is thick enough (cored) under the teak, then just fill the holes after stripping the teak and repaint. I say "just" but it's a big job. You dont say what kind of boat or where. If the teak is good and the bungs arent falling out, recaulking and sanding could end up beautiful... for a few years... or more if you dont put anything on it but salt water.
There's no reason on most boats you shold have to do any glassing if you pull the teak.

[capta]

When I acquired Seafarer the PO had uncovered her wood decks, thinking they were teak. They were pine with tar/pitch caulking! Not a good for bare decks in the tropics.
After considerable research, I decided to use neoprene/hypolon to recover them.
Sanded the decks smooth and rolled on 5 coats of neoprene. Three coats of hypolon over that (all with great tech support from the company) with crushed walnut shell (used a flower sifter to spread evenly) for non-skid areas between the last two coats. Do not use sand; you can not sand it to repair!
Worked like a charm, no leaks, very flexible and a dent from a dropped tool disappeared in a few days.
That was a boat built in 1909 and we sailed her through the SoPac for 5.5 years and even had some very bad conditions like hurricanes and those decks looked great and never leaked.
It's a pretty expensive project but much less work intensive than the alternatives above.

[Starryvalley]

Appreciate all the photos and advice on this thread