Teak deck worn in some places: leave as is?

[Cromarty]

I've been wondering what to do with the teak deck of my Cromarty 36 motorsailer. It's a 4 cm thick sandwich construction consisting of (in this order from below to top) polyester/balsa wood/polyester/gelcoat/teak. (See pictures).

Due to wrong treatment when the deck was young (so was I), the rubber seams between the teak planking have come loose in several places and in some areas the wooden plugs above the screws have disappeared and the heads of the stainless steel screws are protruding slightly above the teak.

Originally, the screws go through the teak + gelcoat + teak and just touch the balsa wood. Hence there are no leaks below decks anywhere, as the lower polyester layer is not perforated anywhere. The balsa wood is stil dry, I think, because the deck is still very, very solid everywhere.

I hate to think that I would have to remove the whole teak deck, which is still 5 mm thick in the thinnest spots.

Is there another solution? And if I leave it just like it is, what would eventually be the possible consequences?

[Suijin]

If you have enough thickness you can sand it down a bit (if the pulp has been scrubbed out and it's "ridged"), re-calk (not sure which is best...likely a Sikkens or GE product) and put in new bungs. You may need to countersink some of the screws deeper in if you have enough wood to get new plugs in.

As for possible outcomes if you just leave it, if you're certain that the screws are not penetrating the top skin then it's just going to look shabbier and shabbier. It's glued as well as screwed so it's not likely to start coming up until it's really deteriorated. If the screws do penetrate then eventually you'll probably see core rot in the deck.

[Cromarty]

Originally Posted by Suijin

If you have enough thickness you can sand it down a bit (if the pulp has been scrubbed out and it's "ridged"), re-calk (not sure which is best...likely a Sikkens or GE product) and put in new bungs. You may need to countersink some of the screws deeper in if you have enough wood to get new plugs in.

As for possible outcomes if you just leave it, if you're certain that the screws are not penetrating the top skin then it's just going to look shabbier and shabbier. It's glued as well as screwed so it's not likely to start coming up until it's really deteriorated. If the screws do penetrate then eventually you'll probably see core rot in the deck.

Thanks for the reply. Eventually, I'll have to replace the entire teak deck, of course. But in the meantime, I was thinking of removing the screws that protrude, clean the holes and fill them up with epoxy + a new bung - without screw.

As far as the re-calking is concerned, I would not bother doing that, because the deck will have to come off sometime anyway, but for the time being i would leave it as it is. The teak planks are mounted very tight together and perfectly glued to the gelcoat underneath. So I think there is only a very slim chance of moisture getting in between. Even then, the moisture would never get to the balsa core, but only between the teak and the gelcoat.

In the worst case scenario the teak would then become loose and eventually peel off. Which is what I will need in the end anyway.

Does that sound reasonable - for the time being?

[Terra Nova]

See my post (#13) in this thread.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ak-190235.html

[Cromarty]

Originally Posted by Terra Nova

See my post (#13) in this thread.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ak-190235.html

That's funny: just this morning I called a few dealers to check if any of them would install a 'fake teak' deck on top of my existing, worn-out deck. They both said that it cannot be done, because the teak underneath will certainly rot - according to them - and they could never guarantee a solid fix. So I already abandoned that possibility. Too bad, it would have been 'the easy way out'... :-)