Teak Deck replacement cost

I'm looking at a 1978 32 Grand Banks Sedan. Over all it is in very good condition except for the decks. Has anyone replaced their teak deck? What is the approximate cost? I DONT want to remove the teak and do a "glass over". I feel this would help to "ruin" a classic. Thanks!

Hi BOBG, Welcome! The issue of failing teak decks is very common and well documented in terms of replacement on older trawlers.

Keep in mind the failure typically extends past the failing teak layer as the cracks, checks, missing bungs, failing caulking and bedding will allow water to penetrate the deck through the screws used 40 years ago to attach the teak to the deck. Water then gets into the deck coring (which is usually luan squares or plywood) causing rot. This means a boat with failing teak (waterproofing layer) usually has soggy decks as well.

So, you may actually have two projects to consider:

First: Remove the teak and outer fiberglass skin then the soggy core sections and replace using modern materials and a shiny new fiberglass skin. This gets you back to structurally sound and waterproof.

Second: Replace the teak the old school way with individual teak boards cut to fit in place (and glued rather than screwed) or replace with pre-fabricated teak "mats" installed in large sections based on templates you make and send off or replace with fake teak (same templating process) or do what most people do which is to not replace the teak but instead use a non-skid like Awlgrip (the "glass over" approach). Some people might argue that improves the vessel in terms of modernization and proof that the decks are repaired.

Anything can be done with enough time and money but the cost of repairs is hard to estimate without getting into the project. Most shipwrights around here (PNW) are in the $60 - $90 per hour range which adds up fast. Fake teak costs about $20 - $30/sq ft assuming a DIY installation, more for templated mats and more for professional installation.

There are a bunch of great videos about this topic on YouTube, but BoatWorks Today in particular address both deck core repairs as well as a complete teak replacement on a sailboat.

https://www.boatworkstoday.com/videos/

The rub is, while the repairs can be accomplished DIY if you have the skills at a significantly reduced the cost (the expense or materials and the value of your time) but a professional replacement will likely exceed the value of the vessel.

A few years ago, I know of a GB42 owner that had his teak deck replaced. He didn’t have significant repairs to the underlying deck. His cost exceeded 35k.

What Airstream said. I had my pulpit rebuilt, and about 18 sq ft of deck recored. Quotes from a couple of big yards made my head spin. I eventually had the work done by a small, independent shop in So Carolina for 1/3 of the “big yard” quotes, and was very happy with the results.

I have been wondering about these Dri-Dek boat tiles for flooring.
On my Egg Harbor, I removed the teak around the cockpit walkaround and rebuilt all the substructure and put on new 3/4 treated plywood, then glassed and painted white.
I have been debating whether to reinstall the old teak boards or do something else.

these tiles I would need them to be attached or I think they will fly off the rear walk around deck. I kind of like the idea.
Maybe could be glued on with an adhesive polyurethane, I dont know.

Small narrow SS screws, #4 or #6, 1 inch long. Drill small holes through where the support pegs are, just a few screws would hold them down. I am not worried about the treated ply rotting, I got a special grade of treated ply.

The old rotted out deck, was not treated wood.

https://www.amazon.com/Dri-Dek-Mari...=40701&refRID=VBVANX43ERHPPFP0BV9K&th=1&psc=1

sdowney, why not just use Awlgrip (or similar)? Any water ingress through screws into the substrate will eventually rot the plys.

A lot of yards farm a lot of the work out to someone like Teak Decking Systems.
I'd call them first. The World's Leader in Pre-Manufactured Custom Teak Decks - Teakdecking Systems®

Airstream345 said:

sdowney, why not just use Awlgrip (or similar)? Any water ingress through screws into the substrate will eventually rot the plys.

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It is already painted.
The way the deck is constructed on the boat, There is the subdeck framing. On top goes 3/4 plywood. On top the plywood goes 3/4 " teak.
The teak surface stops about 9 feet forward from the stern.
So right now I have a 3/4 inch drop in the deck where the teak is supposed to fit to make it level with the rest of the deck going forwards. And the rubrail sits up a little higher cause the teak is off.
So something should go back on top the sealed plywood.

I think a light colored playground rubber could work.
It will take a lot of work to reattach all the teak, and have to fix damaged teak areas. I can do all that, I am capable, but it is a lot of work. One of the teak boards split and rotted. Some people might not think teak rots, but it can.

Why not lay another layer of plywood on top of the glass and put another layer of glass on top so that it will come out level with the other deck? Then you have more structure and no screw holes to leak. Paint it with your choice of nonskid and you are done.

if there is a 3/4” lower area, putting some rubber decking in the low spot could cause water to sit in below the rubber and may smell or eventually find a way into the core.

Comodave said:

Why not lay another layer of plywood on top of the glass and put another layer of glass on top so that it will come out level with the other deck? Then you have more structure and no screw holes to leak. Paint it with your choice of nonskid and you are done.

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That is a possibility. Or where it meets other deck put a small ramp glued on.
I stubbed my toe on it once.
Deck is very solid, I rebuilt using larger structural members.
The rub rail sticks up about 1/2 inch higher than the deck.
It does help keep things from rolling off the deck, so somewhat beneficial.

Comodave said:

if there is a 3/4” lower area, putting some rubber decking in the low spot could cause water to sit in below the rubber and may smell or eventually find a way into the core.

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I emailed Dri-Dek, and they are sending me free samples, They also have an edge piece. Being open, it might eventually catch some dirt, but I think a hose would wash it out. The picture on Amazon shows it being bent back, so it is very flexible.

Teak is a lot of work. And it greys and it erodes.
Removing the teak and painting the deck white gave it a nicer look.

I have lots of teak, I could create a border to frame in the Dri-Dek. At a marina I used to have the boat there, Ehrlin would crush up old boats, and I salvaged lots of teak. The rub rail can frame one side, but the inner side needs something, and so does the top of the transom, inner and outer sides. Teak would look great till it greys, then going to be a big contrast to the Dri-Dek. The cockpit decking is still all teak and looks good and is in good condition. It does need re-caulking.

North of 25K AUD 6 years ago on an IG36. Bow section(weather exposed) not done in teak,2 layers of f/g and nonslip paint instead, common practice on some new boats. Elsewhere,1 layer of f/g,and fresh teak, glued not screwed. Substrate was foam cored, so required minimal attention.

BOBG said:

I'm looking at a 1978 32 Grand Banks Sedan. Over all it is in very good condition except for the decks. Has anyone replaced their teak deck? What is the approximate cost? I DONT want to remove the teak and do a "glass over". I feel this would help to "ruin" a classic. Thanks!

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Just did a teak deck removal on our Grand Banks 49 last winter. I did it myself with the help of an experienced shipwright. The goal was to remove all of the old teak, fill all of the screw holes with epoxy, apply multiple coats of white gel coat, mask off for "islands" of non-skid, and apply two coats of Durabak non-skid. Describing it is the easy part but the devil is in the details. Total labor time was approximately 280 hours; 70 hours of mine; and 210 hours for the shipwright at $60/hour. Materials, supplies and tools were about $2,000 for a total cost of around $15,000.


Removing the old teak was time consuming. It was held down with a combination of adhesive and small screws - about 2,000 of them. Approximately 10% of the screws broke off during removal which required using a special core drill extraction tool. Filling, and refilling, the screw holes with epoxy was tedious and time consuming. Some of the old teak came up relatively easily after the screws were removed, other sections where the adhesive was still well adhered, required the use of crow bars, wood chisels and small sledge hammers. It was a lot of work. The good news was that the underlying deck structure was still sound and required no repair.



There were several technical and procedural challenges, the biggest of which was the re-design/re-fabrication of the three large lazarette hatch covers in the rear of the boat. The new hatches had to sit flush with the decking, use the old hardware, and be structurally sound. The other major challenge involved the four deck fills for fuel and water. There was no possible under deck access for fitting new filler pipes to the tanks so the deck fills ended up proud of the new decking by the thickness of the old 1/2 inch teak. We decided to fair the deck upwards to match the height of the fills which sounds easy, but ended up being very time consuming.


Applying the Durabak non-skid to the masked off "islands" also proved to be interesting. Two coats of Durabak are recommended with some cure time between coats. We originally expected to pull the masking tape after the second coat but that proved to be impossible. Fortunately we'd done a small test section first because that masking tape had to be cut loose with a straight edge, utility knife and chisel. It turned out that the solution was to pull the masking tape while the first coat was still wet, and freehand the second coat. Both coats were brushed on since rolling a test section did not go well.