Pressure-Washing a Teak Deck

[minaret]

Check out what the pressure washer did for my boat which was left under the Ballard bridge for two years before I bought it. There's teak under all that filth! I waited for the nice weather to get serious about exterior cosmetics. It was hard staring at all that dirt all winter while sailing. It sure is satisfying to blast all that muck off my new boat. Now a quick dose of Teka and the deck is done, barring replacing a few bungs. Next up is brightwork, then paint. I wouldn't do this on most boats, but it works great for mine due to the way the deck was built...

[James S]

Looks great.
Hopefully you'll be able to keep up with it with out having to do it again.
Pressure washing can take a bit of the material away.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by James S

Looks great.
Hopefully you'll be able to keep up with it with out having to do it again.
Pressure washing can take a bit of the material away.

Now that I've gotten all the urban filth off, my kids will be scrubbing the deck regularly. Gotta get something out of them, and they have to earn the rank of "swab" right? It's true it takes a little bit of material, but I used a relatively low-pressure system with a little soap soak. And my teak is 3/4" thick. Only blew out 3 bungs, and they were about to go anyway. Helps to blow off all that exhaust soot before solvent wiping for paint prep too. Although I will be applying new gel not paint. Much easier to repair and easier to do it in small sections that way. Do you think child labor will come get me if I make my children holystone the deck at the crack of dawn daily? I dont think they are ready for a bear yet...

[James S]

3/4 inch thick....you should be in good shape for a while.
Why did you decide on gel and not paint?
Child labor...I say make the little buggers work for their grub!

[minaret]

Gel not paint because of the kids. Gelcoat=16 mils paint=6 mils. The much thicker gel is harder to scratch through and much easier to repair than LPU. And any fiberglass repairs are much easier because you dont have to muck about with primer and paint. And like I said you can split a big superstructure like mine into little pieces so you can do any small glass repairs and then shoot a section, wet sand and buff it, and then move on to the next section, doing a blend at the edges as you go. That way I can take my time and do it all in the marina without building a huge tent over my deck. Keeps it all relatively innocuous looking. And keeps the kids from living in a work zone. And keeps the boat easy to take sailing without interrupting something big. Breaking the brightwork into sections as well. Should have it all done in the next 6 months or so while also working on my new hydronic system, splicing up new running rigging, etc. etc.

[James S]

Had a look at your picture albums...damn...that's a lot of boat...very nice.

Would sure like to know more about the hydroponic system...I've been messing around with a combination of film and aero.

[Auspicious]

Have the kids use old-fashioned cotton thread mops to swab the deck and to mop across the grain and not with it. I have a teak-care article from Bill Adams, for decades the Mid-Atlantic broker for Hallberg Rassy and an expert in care and feeding of teak decks that should be up on the Internet this week.

[GordMay]

Teak Deck Care & Repair ~ by Bill Adams
➥ United Yacht Group (Edgewater, MD)

➥ http://www.tenayatravels.com/files/T...eck%20Care.doc

[minaret]

Originally Posted by James S

Had a look at your picture albums...damn...that's a lot of boat...very nice.

Would sure like to know more about the hydroponic system...I've been messing around with a combination of film and aero.

Glad you like it! I'll post more pics of my gradual refit as I go. Not sure I can get away with having a "hydroponic" system, even here in the PNW! Ha! No, I was refering to a new OL-60 hydronic heating system I am installing. Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea!

Oh, and thanks Gord.

[Dockhead]

I would never let a pressure washer anywhere near my teak decks, personally. Teak is made of layers of hard and very soft material. A pressure washer just shreds the soft stuff leaving ridges of hard material which you will then eventually have to sand down, reducing the thickness of the teak. A couple rounds of that and your decks are shot.

Replacing the teak deck on a typical cruising boat costs more than repowering, so it's worth thinking three times about how you treat it. It's likely to the be most expensive element of your boat except only for the hull and the rig.

I agree with this in the resource cited by Gord:

"One should never use or own any kind of deck scrub brush or pressure washer to attempt to clean a teak deck... you will quickly reduce the useful life of your deck.

"Remember, never use a deck scrub brush or pressure washer! We've rarely seen an HR teak deck that cannot be successfully repaired and yet we've seen a few that have unfortunately been pressure washed. Sometimes, an unknowing owner will also use a stiff deck scrub brush, wood acid, various brighteners, etc. With continued scrubbing these will remove most of the soft grain (pith) of the teak wood thereby dramatically reducing the life of the deck. The only deck cleaning tools you need to own for cleaning are a mop and perhaps a 3M white 'scrubbie'. We use the new mops with the chamois type absorbent strips and have found them to work nicely."




United Yacht Group (Edgewater, MD)