Trawler chb redoing teak decks

I have a 34 foot chb trawler I need to do the decks I bought some teak decking materials but I was talking to guy he was telling me I might want to pull the teak deck up an use non-skid paint. it leaks very bad on the port side aft cabin I want to do it right if non-skid would work it'd be less maintenance I think if that stuff works but everybody on here has been really helpful so far I was wanting to get some opinions the boards are tight on the port side but the cocking is cracked it leaks really bad in the aft cabin some boards are loose on the starboard side and there are gaps in the caulking I'm not sure how to go about patching the screw holes or what to do an not do. any help would be greatly appreciated thank you so much Robert

Well, I would recommend removing the teak and refinishing the decks with nonskid paint. But to do it correctly is a ton of work. If the screws have been leaking the coring is probably wet and/or rotted. If it is you will need to replace the core and glass over the top. Then you can paint the dck with a paint like Kiwigrip which is really good nonskid paint. If the core isn’t bad then you could fill the screw holes and paint the deck. However the teak may be part of the deck structure and if it is then you will have to lay some more glass on top to make up for the lost strength. Unfortunately if you remove the old caulk and recaulk the teak it will eventually need to be redone. Teak decks are a never ending source of work.

I was lucky and even though my decks were wet for years, being a good teak plywood must have helped as they are still structurally strong after 8 years of being glassed over and drying out.


Unfortunately the flybridge continues to soften because it was made of teak blocks poortly engineered, not plywood.

Robert,
Screwed down teak decks (while attractive to look at and feel good underfoot) were on my "don't want list" when boat shopping.
One experienced broker I dealt with suggested removing and recaulking 20% of the screws every year on a rotational basis. In that way, they would be "refurbished" every 5 years. Not my cup of tea!! Way, way too much work and too much downside when they do leak (if not adequately maintained).

My advice, especially if you are planning on keeping the boat for the longer term, is to bite the bullet now. Pull up all the teak, repair the deck as needed (hopefully you don't have rot), and put on non skid.
Unfortunately if you have "bad leaks" (unless they started suddenly), you probably do have wet coring and are looking at a potentially very big job.
Sorry, but just my best guess and opinion based on what you have stated.

We only have teak on our sundeck which has a hardtop and side curtains all around. The caulking was starting to go bad so I set out to refinish and recaulk the deck. What a terrible job. I have back problems and it took several hundred hours on my hands and knees. Never again. Best plan is to get rid of them and glass the deck and then paint with a nonskid paint.

...teak decks (while attractive to look at and feel good underfoot) were on my "don't want list" when boat shopping.
One experienced broker I dealt with suggested removing and recaulking 20% of the screws every year on a rotational basis. In that way, they would be "refurbished" every 5 years. Not my cup of tea!! Way, way too much work and too much downside when they do leak (if not adequately maintained).

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Ditto. Hell no. Nah. Nope. Never. I even worry about intrusions into the core from small screws etc. I over-drilled and sealed any/all on our current boat's intrusions into the balsa core and any areas that were exposed from the factory. Even the anchor rode hawse-pipe was only sealed with a white sealant (4000, 5200?) smeared over the core. Luckily, our boat was brand new and relatively small by most standards here.



I realize no boat is perfect, but anything with a teak deck is out. Looked at a few Grand Banks. All had teak decking, even the upper deck/FB. Off the list.

If I may:




It's a four part series, but will give you an idea of what is possibly in store.

You can identify screws / bungs that are leaking by their dark color. I remove the bung and screw. Drill out the hole to 3/8 inch and drill right down into the core. (Careful not to go through the bottom layer of fiberglass.). I then fill the hole with slightly thickened epoxy resin and pound in a new bung to the wet epoxy. Done deal. If the teak has to come off one day just slide a chisel under and break the epoxy.
Pulling the teak deck up and glassing is a nice ending but lots of work and or $$$$$

Glued down teak versus screwed down teak are 2 different animals.

psneeld said:

Glued down teak versus screwed down teak are 2 different animals.

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They both require caulking, which means maintaining them though, correct?

I imagine that you will have more $ into the boat than it will be worth after your investment.

localboy said:

They both require caulking, which means maintaining them though, correct?

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Yes some maintenance...but way less of a headache than screws and bungs.



If the caulking gets aways from you on glued ...at least it will not cause deck damage or leaks.

Even the caulking is a PITA to do. That is what I did to my sundeck teak this last winter. Several hundred hours on my knees...

psneeld,
Agreed, there is a big difference between glued down and screwed down teak decks. Personally, I don't want either, but with the glued down, you don't have the same worries about the deck core getting wet and worse yet rotting away.
In my humble opinion, with screwed down teak decks you will eventually have potentially big problems unless you are diligent with the large amount of required maintenance!

Rcan said:

I have a 34 foot chb trawler I need to do the decks I bought some teak decking materials but I was talking to guy he was telling me I might want to pull the teak deck up an use non-skid paint. it leaks very bad on the port side aft cabin I want to do it right if non-skid would work it'd be less maintenance I think if that stuff works but everybody on here has been really helpful so far I was wanting to get some opinions the boards are tight on the port side but the cocking is cracked it leaks really bad in the aft cabin some boards are loose on the starboard side and there are gaps in the caulking I'm not sure how to go about patching the screw holes or what to do an not do. any help would be greatly appreciated thank you so much Robert

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After reading all of the horror stories here about leaky decks, when I had a leak into my fwd cabin I blamed the aging teak deck. I found a spot at the joint between the teak deck and the front of the fwd cabin fibreglass where the caulking had apparently failed. I pulled out the caulking and pulled off the edging teak board, replaced it all properly, using Lifecaulk black caulking, following the instructions to the letter and on the first rainy day following that repair, had no change in the leak.

After a few years of trying other things, a few years ago I caulked the joint between the fwd hatch and the fibreglass deck and my leak stopped. That joint didn't even look like it was near failure. Had I simply redone the simple things first, I wouldn't have cursed my teak decks and I would have fixed the problem several years earlier.

Be absolutely sure you know where the leak is coming from before you embark on expensive repairs/changes.

Robert,

Teak decks are beautiful and worth all the trouble. Hope you find your leak and fix it.

Wife and I recauked our entire fly bridge on a weekend.
40 to 45 working hours or so.

Glued down teak is a great way to go. My bow is fitted with glued down teak which came in sections. It was then glued on top of fiberglass. As stated, even if the chalking leaks a little it doesn’t cause any issues. I love the look and feel of the teak deck. It does however require some Semco sealer every few months to maintain the beauty

No thanks. Our boat is our sanctuary. More work...nope.

To each his own...

We removed all the teak on our Hershine, except the flybridge. Not really that bad of a project, way worth it. Only way to eliminate deck leaks. Used a small jack hammmer and a wide flat chisel blade. Rip and tear!Sanded off the mastic and filled the screw holes with resin. Had 2 or 3 soft spots, cut the fiberglass, removed the mush underneath, replaced with good plywood, marine grade Baltic birch, soak with resin and replaced fiberglass that was removed. Added a layer of fiberglass cloth. Used kiwi deck on main deck and woven vinyl flooring that looks like teak on the rear house roof, Great Product. A bit of work, but the boat will love you for it.

Robertmark said:

We removed all the teak on our Hershine, except the flybridge. Not really that bad of a project, way worth it. Only way to eliminate deck leaks. Used a small jack hammmer and a wide flat chisel blade. Rip and tear!Sanded off the mastic and filled the screw holes with resin. Had 2 or 3 soft spots, cut the fiberglass, removed the mush underneath, replaced with good plywood, marine grade Baltic birch, soak with resin and replaced fiberglass that was removed. Added a layer of fiberglass cloth. Used kiwi deck on main deck and woven vinyl flooring that looks like teak on the rear house roof, Great Product. A bit of work, but the boat will love you for it.

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That is what I would do if I had teak decks.

Comodave said:

That is what I would do if I had teak decks.

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Ditto. Can be washed, scrubbed and the Kiwi Grip can be easily repaired. It’s a no brainer. Limited maintenance and no leaks.

I did Kiwigrip on our decks, absolutely love it. Just don’t try to sand it off, very tough. Hides minor cracks and defects also.

I used it on our swim step, splash well and the seat at the port-side stern in our cockpit. It’s how we ingress/egress the boat to our dinghy. It was a major slip hazard. No more. Kiwi Grip was easy to use. Even clean up. When we need the seat, we have a custom cushion to cover it.

I just like teak deck

...after it was removed

Robertmark said:

We removed all the teak on our Hershine, except the flybridge. A bit of work, but the boat will love you for it.

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Any guess on whether this improved the value of the boat? While I currently own my last boat, if I were to buy another, teak decks is #1 on my list of do-not-buy.

My brother's current sailboat was a unique purchase. It is a mid-80s 36' boat made in France. It was imported into WA when brand new...and never left the yard. No one knows why. It sat for 35+ years in the wet WA weather. Over the decades people pilfered parts; bow rail, stanchions & safety lines, interior teak panels...the stove...the mast's hardware/cables etc...the list went on.

When he bought it at auction it had no teak decks; they were an option. Because of this, the boat was still solid. No soft, mushy decks. No interior water damage in the vast teak interior. Nothing. In 35+ years of the PNW's shittiest weather, the boat was outside and not cared for that entire time. He said if the boat had come with teak decks he would have walked away. He repainted the entire exterior deck/hull and used Kiwi Grip where needed. That showed me the value of NOT having teak decks.

Just my experience...

Didn't do it for resale, the old decks were rough and ugly,previous owner had replaced tanks, there were a couple of soft spots, probably due too deck leaks.I use to own a G.B.36 Woody, I have had enough trying to "fix" deck leaks!Amazing how much dirt and yuck is in and under the old teak. Probably spent around $500 total on materials plus the woven vinyl flooring, best money I've spent on the boat. We also removed the teak trim around the outside of the flybridge at the joint along the top of the bottom brow, was full of crud, had a pro glass it up and paint, looks super clean! The woven vinyl is a great product! Comes in 8' sheets, water proof, good looking, super easy to work with. Stay away from the faux teak, doesn't hold up and bleeds color.

Another "benefit"

it is for us a total of, around, 560 kgs removed from an average height of 2.1 m above the wl !
Good for the displacement and the stability curve...

Robertmark said:

We also removed the teak trim around the outside of the flybridge at the joint along the top of the bottom brow, was full of crud, had a pro glass it up and paint, looks super clean!

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I'm having my boat re-painted right now at a yard in Ensenada MX. My Willard 36 does not have teak side decks or anything, but does have a wide caprail along the hull and flybridge. Years ago Nordhavn, went to an encapsulated/painted caprail which I really admired - looked good and very practical. I decided to have that done as part of my paint job - four layers of glass with faring and hi-build primer, then painted with AlexSeal. Did not add much to the overall cost - around $1700. Unless someone drops a toothpick, there will be no exposed wood on deck.