Replacing teak cockpit sole, delaminated wood underneath.

Hello,
I am in process of removing teak sole in cockpit as it is really thin from years of use and sanding.
The mahogany plywood underneath is delaminated underneath and I am removing that as well.
I plan on replacing with marine 1/2 plywood epoxied to glass underneath then cumaru epoxied over plywood. Traditional black rubber sealant after.
Any thoughts?

I just finished refurbishing my teak deck on the sundeck. What a miserable job on my knees. Never again. Personally I would not put wood back on the deck but rather fiberglass it and then paint the deck. We painted the bow and side decks on our boat with Kiwigrip and absolutely love it.

Even "marine" ply suffers from water entering the laminate.

If you love the wood,, look glue (but do not screw) whatever looks good to the ply.

The "marine" rating for ply just means water proof glue and any internal voids have been filled with wood.

You may consider one or two layers of csm over the plywood then glue down new teak.

I would use Coosa board or other non wood product. A couple of layers of CSM and no rot..ever!

Why don't you use a product like Plasdeck. I am in the process of having that done on my boat, inside and out. Basically the cockpit was taken back to its basic structure of marine plywood, the wood epoxied over, a template made and sent of to Plasdeck, waiting for it to arrive, but then it will be installed. The top is not affected by rain, etc.

Krattski said:

Hello,
I am in process of removing teak sole in cockpit as it is really thin from years of use and sanding.
The mahogany plywood underneath is delaminated underneath and I am removing that as well.
I plan on replacing with marine 1/2 plywood epoxied to glass underneath then cumaru epoxied over plywood. Traditional black rubber sealant after.
Any thoughts?

Click to expand...

Could you tell us a bit more about the current construction please ? Is the existing thin teak screwed down? Is there a layer of f'glass under the teak /on top of the marine ply and if so is it this ply/glass interface that is delaminating?

If yes, my own recent experience of removing thin screwed teak from my foredeck was that the delamination helped the process. I used a circular saw set just deep enough to cut through teak and layer of glass under. I cut panels around 3' x 2' and could then pry these off, taking teak with screws still in place and top layer of glass off in one easy go. The core....in your case marine ply...is then exposed and you can inspect it for rot. While any small rotted areas will need to be replaced, you may find it is damp but largely sound. Sand off the top and allow to dry for a few days if you can. Then new glass over and glue decking of your choice. Sounds like you would rather have a timber deck than painted non-skid (me too) and so long as you glue it down rather than using screws, nothing to fear.

Replacing teak deck

Thanks for the info, the current deck is (was) traditional teak strips glued and screwed to mahogany plywood. No fiberglass in between teak and plywood. Teak worn down to 1/4" thick in some spots, teak was 1/2" thick when installed (I can tell on edges).
Pulled the teak off relatively easily with some ply layers coming with it. Screws.pulled through teak and remained.
The 1/2" plywood was delaminated for the most part but not rotten.
It was glued to a smooth fiberglass layer with a brown glue which had large areas that released but spotty areas were still very well bonded.
The fiberglass layer is in good shape with a gentle curve up at edges to cockpit wall.
Lots and lots of screws through the layers and into fiberglass layer (lots of holes in fiberglass).
After remembering all the work of maintaining the teak in the back over the last 15 years, i am now thinking of converting to fiberglass deck, no teak.
The remaining fiberglass deck as pretty good but certainly needs strengthening.
I am thinking of sanding down and lay several layers of Csm down with fiberglass resin, the capping with cloth and resin. Then paint.
Just not sure if it will be stiff enough without plywood or similar underneath.
The boat is 84 ocean 46SS.
All advice welcome.

I would use 1708 for the deck, it will be much stronger than CSM. Besides the cost I would not want the maintenance of a teak deck. We have a teak deck on our sundeck. I just recaulked it and did a complete restoration of the teak, about 250 to 300 hours on my knees, never again. I would just prefer a fiberglass deck that is painted.

rsn48 said:

Why don't you use a product like Plasdeck. I am in the process of having that done on my boat, inside and out. Basically the cockpit was taken back to its basic structure of marine plywood, the wood epoxied over, a template made and sent of to Plasdeck, waiting for it to arrive, but then it will be installed. The top is not affected by rain, etc.

Click to expand...

We love our PlasDeck exterior on aft& side decks. I did templates and had them to factory layup to get plastic welded seams. DIY fairly easy.
Last year replaced interior carpet In fwd cabin w PlasTeak sheet goods with foam padding under it... love it as well. Same deal I made template factory cut pad & teak & holly sheet. Fit was perfect including one hatch.

We applied PlasDeck forward deck, between Portugese bridge and PH and aft cockpit wow what a big improvement. Great appearance safe footing easy clean.

I would use 1708 biaxial fabric like Comodave suggested if stiffness or strength is a concern. A couple layers of 1708 would build thickness faster than CSM. And the fabric will yield a smoother flatter surface than CSM because of the fabric sewn to the mat backing. And if you roll and squeegee each layer throughly, you will end up with a lighter, stronger laminate. Resin rich laminates are not as strong.

Finish with non skid surface of you choosing.

The only teak deck on Sandpiper is the cockpit. It's been protected by the roof overhead and plastic curtains enclosing the cockpit so there is no rot. However, the PO sanded it vigorously so it is thin, there are low spots and the bungs are coming loose.

I forsee removing the teak and FG the cockpit floor in the future. Project number 700 out of 1760.

Syjos" thanks for the info, 1708 sounds like the way to go. I was thinking of using polyester resin rather than epoxy, what do you think. I just have two areas that are a little bouncy.
I was also thinking of reinforcing from underneath somehow.
As for 1708 and strength, would thrww layers be even better for stiffness?

Krattski said:

Syjos" thanks for the info, 1708 sounds like the way to go. I was thinking of using polyester resin rather than epoxy, what do you think. I just have two areas that are a little bouncy.
I was also thinking of reinforcing from underneath somehow.
As for 1708 and strength, would thrww layers be even better for stiffness?

Click to expand...

Thicker laminates will always be stronger but heavier.

The 1/2" teak that you removed from the deck added stiffness.

You described delaminated plywood underneath the teak and fiberglass covering that? If there is fiberglass covering the plywood, where is the delamination?

3/8" marine plywood and 1708 over the cockpit floor would increase stiffness. The plywood over the existing floor would leave you with a smooth surface to apply the 1708.

As for reinforcing from underneath, do you have beams underneath the cockpit floor? If you do, all you have to do is add additional beams underneath the floor. Sand the area where the new beams will be fitted to bare wood or fiberglass. Glue in the new beams with epoxy adhesive. Simple butt joints to the existing beams will be strong enough.