How do I stick teak decking

I am going to rebuild the two lazarette hatches. They are pieces of 18mm marine ply with teak screwed on top. Over the years the ply has sagged in the centre of each. It stands out now that I have braced up the rest of the deck.

So...assuming I can get the teak strips off in one piece( a punt I agree) how should I attach them to the new sheet - epoxy glue or a Sika product (if so, which one?) Epoxy will stick it, no doubt, but what about any flexing and or shrinking/contracting of the teak.

Thinking forward a bit, I am also going to experiment with replacing the teak on the foredeck with an artificial timber - an experiment and if it doesn`t work, off it will come and I`ll glass over and paint, but I would like to try the timber look. Similar question - this will be attached to fibreglass, should this be sika or epoxy?

Greetings,
Mr. B. I would think an adhesive sealant (Sika?) should have more flexibility than an epoxy. Just a guess...

I have a pair of Lazarette hatches. One was sagging, as you indicate so I attacked it.
I was not successful getting all the teak boards off without damage, so I foud a bit of 2 1/4" teak and cut some new boards. First though, I went to the wholesaler and found all the things I would need, cotton for the bottom of the space between the board, called "bnd breaker", Lifecaulk black rubberry stuff for bonding. I cut a rabbet on one side of each board, to make the 1/4" space, and started on a new piece of 3/4" plywood. I used the Lifecaulk brand because the wholesaler had a guy there who did this kind of thing as his other job, and he said neither 3M nor Sika products were as good for that purpose. The bond breaker keeps the caulking from getting between the boards, thus allowing them to swell or shrink independently, so as to not affect the bond between the top 3/8" of the boards. Using the lifecaulk on the plywood to stick the boards down eliminates the need for screws and plugs.

Mine has been down for about 20 years now, and is still good. You don't notice the difference between the new and its old neighbour, the old one that has screws and plugs.

Take a look at TDS FE-180A fitting epoxy from Teakdecking Systems. The World's Leader in Pre-Manufactured Custom Teak Decks - Teakdecking Systems®

You can get it from Defender.

Teak contains oils which make it hard to glue , stick or goop to stay in place long term.

A mechanical fastener (like a screw) is the solution , covered up with a teak plug .

Dip the plug in varnish when installing , and simply drive a screw in the plugs center to remove.

We replaced the teak on the house on our sailboat. We dry fitted the teak planks, then troweled in TDS SIS-440 black caulking onto the fiberglass. Placed the planks on the TDS and weighted them down with cinder blocks. After 48 hours we removed the blocks and caulked the edges and groves. Ten years later none of the planks had moved.

I second TDS Black Caulking.

Guys,

Thanks for the responses so far.

At the moment it seems normal hard setting epoxy is off the list, there is a flexible epoxy which is avail and a couple of votes for caulking . The one suggestion for screws I shall park to one side as I was hoping to fill all the current screw holes before I laid the new deck.

The "teak" I intend to use is not actually wood -its a compound of plastic (ground milk container type plastic), wood fibre and some form of epoxy (I did say it was an experiment!) It does expand and contract a smidge, thus my need for flexibility in the adhesive.

I`ll talk to a local fibreglass supply company about the flexible epoxy 0- I like the idea of ease of spreading and perhaps cost.

cheers

cheers