natural Teak Deck repair

[moseriw]

Please!!! to ALL who have a boat < 1990. Do NOT remove the good old naturally grown teak with 15mm which is usually grinded down by some destroyers to 10mm.


If you want to know if you have natural teak: hammer down a 3 mm nail about 10/10 mm from an edge. Natural teak will not split while plant teak will.





Rework the notches - replace, reset the screws deeper and reepoxy them and - for hell - grind in once again. By then NEVER apply paint or teak oil scrap! If possible wash it at least weekly and only with salt water and a soft brush.




It take years until the flat surface gets rugged but this is what it should be. A real glossy surface is stupid as you have to grind down every 2 years with at least 1 mm.




Applying a new teak deck you get new plant teak which is uzsually only 10 mm and only 1/3 as tough as natural ones. With plant teak please expect to replace it within 15 to 20 years. Natural teak that is treated properly will last, without unnecessary grindings up to 80 years if it is, after 40 years now, grinded down to 10-11 mm.




Even if some plywood stuff is rotten... the deck will be usually strong enough and hell it is a good old boat. And it will dry out when the screws and notches are properly repaired.




p.s. teak is one of the best wood to withstand the sun = loosing lignine very slow and if the deck is rough and silveer/grey the surface is ready and prepaired to face the sun without lignine loss at all.




But usually spoken against the wind.

It's a pity.

[bletso]

I like teak as well, but man it's a lot of work!!!

Stbd aft cockpit | Sailing Vessel Vigah
Hatches | Sailing Vessel Vigah
Main Deck | Sailing Vessel Vigah

I have replaced hundreds of screws and plugs. You have to love teak or be a masochist to undertake this task!

[moseriw]

Yes of course but bletso you have a good old traditional boat which should not be modified.

The easier way would have been to remove the teak at all and to coat the deck with grp.

But I think this is not an option for Vigah and my Calypso, a Vagabond 47

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by bletso

I like teak as well, but man it's a lot of work!!!



Stbd aft cockpit | Sailing Vessel Vigah

Hatches | Sailing Vessel Vigah

Main Deck | Sailing Vessel Vigah



I have replaced hundreds of screws and plugs. You have to love teak or be a masochist to undertake this task!

Can’t believe after all that core repair you went and used screw fasteners again! Didn’t an alarm bell ring in your mind when you started poking holes in your newly repaired deck??? I’ve done similar work but used TDS glue to refasten the deck, no screws.

Also, when you reattached your piece of top laminate which you removed to recore, that superficial bit of fiberglass you used to bridge the repair to the surrounding deck would not be sufficient for any part of the deck where retaining the original strength was important to you. After glueing the laminate down, you should grind a significant (~10:1) taper on both sides of the seam and build it up with fiberglass.

[bletso]

Originally Posted by chris95040

Can’t believe after all that core repair you went and used screw fasteners again! Didn’t an alarm bell ring in your mind when you started poking holes in your newly repaired deck??? I’ve done similar work but used TDS glue to refasten the deck, no screws.

Also, when you reattached your piece of top laminate which you removed to recore, that superficial bit of fiberglass you used to bridge the repair to the surrounding deck would not be sufficient for any part of the deck where retaining the original strength was important to you. After glueing the laminate down, you should grind a significant (~10:1) taper on both sides of the seam and build it up with fiberglass.

There actually was a grind area and there is several layers of cloth laid up. BTW the top was also set down wet. (not water) As skin thickness is only 1/4 inch I only ground 4:1. It is not a structural part and is not a large area. Good part of strength also comes from the teak caulk to the top skin. The screws were all coated with epoxy while screwed back. The bottom of the planks are also coated with the caulking which is tenacious to say the least.

However in the end I don't have to justify my repair to you as it is not your boat.

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by bletso

There actually was a grind area and there is several layers of cloth laid up. BTW the top was also set down wet. (not water) As skin thickness is only 1/4 inch I only ground 4:1. It is not a structural part and is not a large area. Good part of strength also comes from the teak caulk to the top skin. The screws were all coated with epoxy while screwed back. The bottom of the planks are also coated with the caulking which is tenacious to say the least.

However in the end I don't have to justify my repair to you as it is not your boat.

Coating those screws in epoxy was a good call - that way when the next guy has to deal with their leaks into the core, they can have a %$@# of a time removing them.