Decking Options that Look Great without the Maintenance

[LaVida]

My 1973 woody 48' GB has old teak decking which previous owner has covered with canvas and rubberized paint. Looking for advice on deck material options. Afraid that old teak hidden under canvas has leaks , rot and damage beyond point of return without spending big $$.

[HopCar]

If you take up the canvas and decide the old teak deck can't be salvaged I suggest you contact these guys: TEAKDECKING SYSTEMS
You might be able to use their products to put a new teak deck over your old one as long as your old deck is sound. We sell their deck caulk in our store and they are nice folks to deal with. Talk to them. They're the experts. As for maintenance, there is nothing wrong with a nice sun bleached teak deck. Just be sure to deal with stains as they happen.

[hellosailor]

AFAIK there are limited options. "Plas"teak or cork composites. The former is synthetic decking lumber, the latter is sold in rolls, similar to cork floor tile but larger, both intended for marine decking. You'd still have to strip the deck, explore and fill all those holes, and then recover so it isn't going to be cheap or simple. The less expensive option would be to just paint the deck with a heavy application of a rubberized non-skid paint after all the cleaning and filling, the heavy texture should hide all the filled screw holes.
Odds are if they went with canvas over it, there's a hundred leaking screw holes and they got tired of playing whack-a-mole with deck leaks. If you're lucky, the deck itself isn't delaminated under all that, but it may need some repair too.

[Lodesman]

Is this a solid teak deck or teak laid over fibreglass? If the latter, what is the condition of the sub-deck?

[LaVida]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Is this a solid teak deck or teak laid over fibreglass? If the latter, what is the condition of the sub-deck?

I have not yet inspected the teak decking - apart from some test patches where the canvas has come up. The teak planking appears to be original and intact for the most part. However my fear is that with the rubberized paint covering any water that has penetrated the rubber membrane has been able to sit and soak into the teak wood. Apart from maintenance issues - I wonder why anyone would cover beautiful natural teak decking on such a beaut of a boat.

[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by HopCar

If you take up the canvas and decide the old teak deck can't be salvaged I suggest you contact these guys: TEAKDECKING SYSTEMS
You might be able to use their products to put a new teak deck over your old one as long as your old deck is sound. We sell their deck caulk in our store and they are nice folks to deal with. Talk to them. They're the experts. As for maintenance, there is nothing wrong with a nice sun bleached teak deck. Just be sure to deal with stains as they happen.

We're using this product to replace the old teak decking in our cockpit. The previous owner of the boat removed the teak decking elsewhere and re-cored the deck, leaving only the teak in the cockpit.

Right now I'm in the middle of glassing over and fairing the cockpit sole. I used penetrating epoxy to fill in the old screw holes (after verifying the core is in excellent shape), and put down two layers of fiberglass mat using West System epoxy over the whole sole this past weekend and put three more layers (mat/cloth/mat) in a low spot in the center this morning. I'll lay in fairing compound tomorrow, then sand fair, prime with two-part primer (the whole cockpit - might as well, right?). I'm doing all this work because I want to eliminate the possibility of leaks and ever having to do this again in my lifetime!

I just wanted the original poster to have an idea what he's in for if contemplating a DIY job. This is just a 40-foot square area - not the entire deck. And I didn't have to re-core the sole because there was no rot. I'd imagine that the canvas on his boat is hiding something...

I just received the new decking and haven't even opened up the shipping crate yet, so I can't comment on Teakdecking Systems work at this point...

[HopCar]

Cap'n Jon, Since I recommended Teak Decking Systems, I'd love to hear how it works out for you. If you have a bad experience I won't recommend them again.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by LaVida

I have not yet inspected the teak decking - apart from some test patches where the canvas has come up. The teak planking appears to be original and intact for the most part. However my fear is that with the rubberized paint covering any water that has penetrated the rubber membrane has been able to sit and soak into the teak wood. Apart from maintenance issues - I wonder why anyone would cover beautiful natural teak decking on such a beaut of a boat.

I don't think you understood my question. The other posters have apparently assumed you have a fibreglass desk with teak planks laid on that, with rubberized canvas over that. Their solutions assume you will have some form of deck to lay plasteak onto, after you remove the canvas and teak - I'm trying to determine if the structure of the deck is solid teak?

[hellosailor]

WOODEN GB...Oh, yes, forgive the assumption that you had a teak deck over frp! Lodesman has it right, an all-wood boat is going to be a very different animal.

[Pblais]

However my fear is that with the rubberized paint covering any water that has penetrated the rubber membrane has been able to sit and soak into the teak wood.

Confrontation of fears is where the fun begins. You need to make a cut and play show and tell. It probably is not bad everywhere but just enough to have made the PO upset enough to do it. They may not have done it right either.

You'll need a solid base to start with. How you get there depends on what it is and isn't. Once you get that far you have all the options. Until then only questions. A new teak deck get into real money even if you have the tools and trials to do it yourself. Done right it could be better than before. Alternative products woukld cost less.

Slapping something over the top didn't work the first time and won't work now either.

[LaVida]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

I don't think you understood my question. The other posters have apparently assumed you have a fibreglass desk with teak planks laid on that, with rubberized canvas over that. Their solutions assume you will have some form of deck to lay plasteak onto, after you remove the canvas and teak - I'm trying to determine if the structure of the deck is solid teak?

Ah. The teak sits on the original GB frame which is solid. I plan to remove the rubber paint and canvas and want to be prepared with some options to redeck if the teak is either severely damaged or unable to be used to support an overlay material.

[LaVida]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Confrontation of fears is where the fun begins. You need to make a cut and play show and tell. It probably is not bad everywhere but just enough to have made the PO upset enough to do it. They may not have done it right either.

You'll need a solid base to start with. How you get there depends on what it is and isn't. Once you get that far you have all the options. Until then only questions. A new teak deck get into real money even if you have the tools and trials to do it yourself. Done right it could be better than before. Alternative products woukld cost less.

Slapping something over the top didn't work the first time and won't work now either.

You have touched the truth nerve. I will open up an area large enuf to determine the condition of the teak. Most likely the flybridge deck. Will be prepared to weep before attacking the restoration with a small bag of money and big heart.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by LaVida

Ah. The teak sits on the original GB frame which is solid. I plan to remove the rubber paint and canvas and want to be prepared with some options to redeck if the teak is either severely damaged or unable to be used to support an overlay material.

That sounds like a good plan. Hopefully the teak is sound or only requires spot repair. You're lucky to be in BC - you can find Rot-fix (Rot Fix - System Three Resins, Inc.) at Industrial Plastics and Paint; which is an epoxy designed to penetrate into the wood and repair soft spots and seal the wood. Your options after that depend on the condition of the wood and whether or not you want to have a teak deck showing or are happy laying fibreglass over it with non-skid.

[Fortytwo]

It's hard to protect your deck core or your cabin when you have a bunch of holes screwed in it.

Looking great is an opinion. If you figure out the "without maintenance" part, you win.

[LaVida]

Well - opened up a test patch on the deck - peeled back rubber paint and canvas...water seeped out. yikes. So hoping water that is sitting between teak and rubber/canvas has not rotted the teak. Cannot remove the decking until boat is on the hard in September. As much as I adore orig teak - looking like a fiberglas over project.