A reason to save your teak decks

[WayneDana2]

After a long hard internal debate on whether or not to tear off my teak deck on the upper deck, I decided to save it. This took me ~60 hours and less than $900 in materials for this deck. It was in horrible condition but was still 7/16" thick before sanding.

The cetol is slick when wet, but I never drive up there when it is raining anyways. It will take 1/2 quart Cetol and 4 hours every 2 years to maintain. Covered moorage in the PNW.


Galley Wench Tales: 867 Screws—Or—When It Rains Inside Your Boat . . .

 

[Goodness]

Tell me more about what you did. Is there a plywood laminate in the deck or solid glass?

 

[Miz Trom]

Goodness:


Welcome aboard. And to answer your question, click on the link at the end of WayneDana2's post. They not only give a detailed description, they posted some excellent photos of this project on their blog.


Cheers and Stay Safe,
Mrs. Trombley

 

[Peter B]

Looks fantastic after all those coats of Cetol over re-caulking the joins etc. The trouble is that unless this new surface is absolutely waterproof - everywhere - over time water may still find a way in. Why..? Because in boats of that age, they used to screw the teak down into the sandwich of fibreglass and wood stiffened deck structure, thereby causing breaches in the fibreglass that ultimately any water getting through the essentially cosmetic teak, will find its way through. I hate to be a bit of a wet blanket, but ask me how I know. Later models, eg after about 2000, they either dispensed with teak, or glued it down.

In your favour however is the fact the boat is stored under cover, so hopefully, the time the decks are exposed to all that rain you get will still be much less than when it is just moored when not in use. So, with luck and speedy attention to any future damage to the surface or leaks, all will be good. The fact you do not mention any deck softening suggests that significant wetting of the coring used has not yet occurred. I hope so, as that was a bugbear in my boat, when we had her, even though the previous owner had had all the teak removed, extra stiffening added in the form of marine ply, then fibreglass non-skid lain down all over it. Even then, parts were still 'springy,' even though perfectly strong. However, this did affect her resale value. Best of luck after all that hard work.

 

[WayneDana2]

Looks fantastic after all those coats of Cetol over re-caulking the joins etc. The trouble is that unless this new surface is absolutely waterproof - everywhere - over time water may still find a way in. Why..? Because in boats of that age, they used to screw the teak down into the sandwich of fibreglass and wood stiffened deck structure, thereby causing breaches in the fibreglass that ultimately any water getting through the essentially cosmetic teak, will find its way through. I hate to be a bit of a wet blanket, but ask me how I know. Later models, eg after about 2000, they either dispensed with teak, or glued it down.

In your favour however is the fact the boat is stored under cover, so hopefully, the time the decks are exposed to all that rain you get will still be much less than when it is just moored when not in use. So, with luck and speedy attention to any future damage to the surface or leaks, all will be good. The fact you do not mention any deck softening suggests that significant wetting of the coring used has not yet occurred. I hope so, as that was a bugbear in my boat, when we had her, even though the previous owner had had all the teak removed, extra stiffening added in the form of marine ply, then fibreglass non-skid lain down all over it. Even then, parts were still 'springy,' even though perfectly strong. However, this did affect her resale value. Best of luck after all that hard work.

In this case I oversized all the holes where the screws were with an 1/8 drill bit, then filled with thickened epoxy and for the most part left the screws out afterwards except for the board ends. Now the screw holes that are left lead into solid epoxy instead of the core. There was no significant water damage. I can tell by the wood that came up on the drill bit that there were few holes that were wet. In any case, it is all sealed up now. The boards were majorly glued down.

 

[Peter B]

In this case I oversized all the holes where the screws were with an 1/8 drill bit, then filled with thickened epoxy and for the most part left the screws out afterwards except for the board ends. Now the screw holes that are left lead into solid epoxy instead of the core. There was no significant water damage. I can tell by the wood that came up on the drill bit that there were few holes that were wet. In any case, it is all sealed up now. The boards were majorly glued down.

I'm relieved for you that there was so little water intrusion into the core. Just puzzling so much was getting in previously somewhere, and going through right into the cabin, necessitating collection receptacles and even a rain gutter. Did you ever manage to find out why/where that leak was..? Clearly it was coming in from some place other than the teak screw-holes.

 

[WayneDana2]

I'm relieved for you that there was so little water intrusion into the core. Just puzzling so much was getting in previously somewhere, and going through right into the cabin, necessitating collection receptacles and even a rain gutter. Did you ever manage to find out why/where that leak was..? Clearly it was coming in from some place other than the teak screw-holes.

Thanks for commenting Peter and yeah, I can see your puzzlement now that you mention it. The sealant on that deck was so bad that the water was funneling through and under the teak, traveling over the fiberglass to the chimney for the propane heater. That was where the pot was. I did all the screw holes just as a matter of course really. The plugs were wore thin and I wanted it REALLY REALLY sealed up. Like no leaks forevermore.



The rain gutter over the bed was from a leaky window well aft of the shown deck. That has also been fixed but maybe Dana shouldn't have included that in her blog post as the post was really about the upper deck.


We've been through some hellacious rain storms in the past few days and we're good and dry right now.

 

[Peter B]

.....We've been through some hellacious rain storms in the past few days and we're good and dry right now.

 

[Goodness]

Gorgeous

Thanks for the tip on the link. Great job. Looks incredible!

 

[KnottyGuy]

Very nicely done restoration! I am curious to know how the solar panels deploy from your FB. I have similar aspersions for my MT44.

 

[WayneDana2]

They are hinged at the rail there. Not shown in the pic is a wood cross beam with extendable legs that I use to tilt them up or down. Just temporary for now until we design and build a canvas top to mount them on.

 

[Peter B]

Be very cautious mounting panels on any canvas top. Canvas flaps - rigid panels don't = chafing and wear unless there is some form of separation. Ask me how I know...

 

[koliver]

They are hinged at the rail there. Not shown in the pic is a wood cross beam with extendable legs that I use to tilt them up or down. Just temporary for now until we design and build a canvas top to mount them on.

Those solar panels are very similar to my own, which hang in the same way from a similar rail, though mine hang on the outside. I prop them when up, so they are horizontal, but most differently from yours, mine are totally out of the way. At anchor, the whole area of the upper deck is unobstructed.

 

[WayneDana2]

Be very cautious mounting panels on any canvas top. Canvas flaps - rigid panels don't = chafing and wear unless there is some form of separation. Ask me how I know...

LOL, yeah I can see that. In the sailing world it is quite common to mount solar panels on top of the bimini. But mounted to the frames not the canvas and at least a couple CMs above the canvas so the panels are well ventilated.

 

[mvweebles]

Very nice work! Better than new! You'll have many years of dry ownership.

Thanks for sharing. Keep those project photos coming.

Peter

 

[Exctyengr]

Absolute great job! And thank you for sharing.

 

[Albin]

It's a nice restoration and looks great but I personally think it was a huge mistake to varnish your deck. Besides the maintenance it will add to your list of things to do, varnished teak is treacherous when wet as you pointed out. All it will take is a little bit of dew in the morning or evening to turn it into a hockey rink. The nonslip feature of unfinished teak when wet or dry is the main reason people have them. I have teak decks on my boat and I love them for that reason. I maintain the caulking so leaks are not an issue. Good luck with yours and I hope I am never proven right because any fall on a boat is usually a bad one.

 

[Filbert]

I have a 49 Defever RPH with Teak decks that are in OK shape but definitely need some attention. My plan, eventually, is to remove all of them but for now they have to wait on some other projects. I may tackle re-caulking and sanding the bow area just for some peace of mind but I have a question as to your comment:

I oversized all the holes where the screws were with an 1/8 drill bit, then filled with thickened epoxy and for the most part left the screws out afterwards except for the board ends. Now the screw holes that are left lead into solid epoxy instead of the core.

Does this mean that you eliminated the screws completely and used the thickened epoxy as the binding for the teak to the deck or did you re-screw through the epoxy?

Thanks

 

[WayneDana2]

The teak was already glued down at the factory. The screws were there to hold it down while the mastic they used dried. I drilled out all holes with an 1/8 bit. then filled the holes with thickened epoxy. Only on the board ends did I then drill into the epoxy and install #8 screws. So, there is a 1/8 epoxy nail now for 99% of the screw holes I guess. Not counting on that to hold the deck down. As anyone who has tried to pry up these decks can attest, it doesn't matter if there are screws installed, it aint goin' anywhere.

I figure that if I do actually find some lifting later, it would be pretty simple to drill, screw and plug the moving board.

 

[Filbert]

Thanks. I have to pull of some of the teak decking on the port side walkway in order to deal with some moisture issues at the deck fills. The problems are visible from the engine room but too difficult to fix from that direction. I’ve got teak from stem to stern so I’ll have to come up with a plan soon as to how to deal with it.

 

[Comodave]

The plan would be to remove the teak and glass the deck and then paint the deck.