Teak Deck Protruding Screw Heads With Pictures!

[tgradyv7m]

We are looking at a 2004 boat with teak decks and took pictures of screws that have protruding from the sides of the teak planks (enclosed). The boat is a Wauquiez. So the teak deck is 14 years old. Is this an indication that the teak deck needs to be replace?

[tgradyv7m]

OK. Found out how to enclose images.

[bletso]

Not necessarily. Remove a screw, see how much teak is left, counter sink a little deeper and replug. I replace 100's that way on Vigah.

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by bletso

Not necessarily. Remove a screw, see how much teak is left, counter sink a little deeper and replug. I replace 100's that way on Vigah.

On my boat, the deck's top laminate was 5/16" thick (I know, bizarre) and the factory teak deck was installed such that it's machine-screw fasteners (also kinda strange imho) only penetrated the laminate by about 3/16".

Years later someone came along and did as Bletso describes and allowed all the fasteners to penetrate deeper, directly into the core.

So I'd like to know more construction details before blindly deciding to "drill baby drill"

[tgradyv7m]

I would like to know the construction technique also. I emailed Wauquiez about this but I am not hopeful as they have changed owners a few times.

[Bleemus]

Those are not where factory installed screws and bungs would be. They would be directly in the middle of the teak strip. Fill them with black sikaflex and go have a cocktail.

[bletso]

Well 3/16 would most likely be through the skin exposing the core any way in case of a plug failure. My core material is ply, not balsa. I did the following;
1. removed the old bung and screw.
2. Drill, counter sink a little deeper
3. Dip the end of the new screw in epoxy and insert it
4. Apply some epoxy to the plug and bang it in
5. After it set up I used my Fein multimaster with a special blade to remove the excess bung.

I have in most cases at least 1/2 thick teak left. When there was less, I replaced that section feathering back to the thicker section.

Nota; Some of the screws had deteriorated to the point they broke. Some were removable with unscrew-ums. If that didn't work I just cleaned it up as best I could and epoxied a plug in. Keep in mind that originally the screws were to hold the deck plank in place until the caulk cured.

Some builders screw the planks from underneath and if after years of bad maintenance, (Sanding), the screw tips now were a direct shot to the inside. Very bad in that case. In that case though there are no plugs.

It is fairly easy to find bad seams and bungs; wet down the deck and when it is drying you will spot the bad ones by water wicking back and the wet lines.

When I started my deck it looked far far worse.

[bletso]

Originally Posted by Bleemus

Those are not where factory installed screws and bungs would be. They would be directly in the middle of the teak strip. Fill them with black sikaflex and go have a cocktail.

You are correct. One has to wonder why they are that close to the seam. Are they holding something inside the cabin thru-bolted or was there something previously mounted on deck?

[Bleemus]

Originally Posted by bletso

You are correct. One has to wonder why they are that close to the seam. Are they holding something inside the cabin thru-bolted or was there something previously mounted on deck?

Exactly. Is there something installed in the cabin just beneath those?

[AndyEss]

Those screws in the edge of the planks don't look to be structural for the deck - as mentioned by Bleemus and Bletso (great name for a band, or cartoon show) teak deck fasteners are positioned pretty well in the middle of the plank. If the screws weren't for fastening something else down to the deck (doesn't look like it, no staining/sun fade) and aren't fastening something underneath the deck, maybe the planks were cupping in that area and a previous owner wanted to suck the planks back down?
After checking underneath, I'd be inclined to just remove those several screws and seal up the holes.
If the entire deck is fastened like this, obviously the factory had some sort of reason to do this odd procedure.
BTW - great before and after shots Bletso!

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by bletso

Well 3/16 would most likely be through the skin exposing the core any way in case of a plug failure. My core material is ply, not balsa. I did the following;

How exactly would 3/16" penetration get "through" a 5/16" skin?

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by Bleemus

Those are not where factory installed screws and bungs would be. They would be directly in the middle of the teak strip. Fill them with black sikaflex and go have a cocktail.

You don't know this.

Many decks are installed with a strong adhesive and they use screws in the seam to hold it while it cures. So those could absolutely be factory-installed.

I think it would have been wise of the builder to remove them and fill the hole when done, but your statement that factory installed screws on teak decks only appear in the middle of the teak strip under a bung is false.

[nigel1]

My Beneteau 473 (and others) have screws installed at the joint between the teak strips, and then caulked over.
As the teak wears down, the screw heads can become visible.
Where this has happened on mine, I have removed the screws, cleaned the caulking and then add a blob of caulk into the hole.

[Dougtiff]

Boat builders should be hung and drawn, when they fasten teak decks this way, instead of in the center of the plank, the fix problem is that the fastening is in the seam, so after removing the fastening, the seam compound must be removed in the fastening area, then the fastening must be reset deeper, then plugged, after taking the plug down level with the deck, BUT the plug is bridging part of the seam, so that part must be removed to create the seam before cauliking.

[bletso]

Originally Posted by chris95040

How exactly would 3/16" penetration get "through" a 5/16" skin?

Do you realise how short 3/16 is? No screw I know of would gain enough purchase to hold down a deck plank in fiberglass so in all probability all the screws will be all the way through a 5/16 skin if for no other reason than to get to the meat of the screw.