Teak Deck Question?

[GalaxyGirl]

A broker told me that if the teaks decks go bad on a boat, it's possible to remove them and just leave the deck fiberglass. Is it that simple?

[ssanzone]

this has been, recently, discussed and the general conclusion is 'yes'.

if the teak is screwed down you will need to fill all of the screw holes after removing the deck.

if the teak is to the point where it needs to be removed it is likely that the deck may need some core repair too.

screws or adhesive may both take up some of the glass when pulling off the teak.

best case it comes right off...you may still hate the way the desk looks and want to paint or something.

-s

[Ocean Girl]

So are the decks bad?

[Ocean Girl]

I ask that because if they are bad, more likely you will have core issues.

[boatpoker]

It is possible but is most definetly not "simple" and can be hideously expensive. Thousands of screw hole into the deck core ... if the teak is bad you are pretty much guaranteed widespread core damage... now you have to remove the teak, remove the FRP skin, dig out how many feet of rotten core, re-core an recover with FRP.

The problem with jobs like this is that you can't tell how bad it is til' you are too far into it to get out.

[Ocean Girl]

Unless its a steel deck, might be easier to replace.

[Emmalina]

And why does everybody assume its cored ????

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Emmalina

And why does everybody assume its cored ????

Because most teak decks are teak laid down across another surface, which usually has wood involved. It's a relatively safe assumption. Not universal, but generally true.

[bobconnie]

GG, It all depends on whats under the teak. On some steel boats, it's glued down, and other surfaces can be used if removed! but normaly if the decks bad it better be a cheap boat cus replaceing it can be real expensive! It's sure not a DIY type of job!!

[Boracay]

My understanding is that teak decks on a steel boat may have rust underneath.

If they do then extensive repairs may be necessary.

[denverd0n]

Just to reiterate... Removing the teak decks is dead simple. Filling in the hundreds (maybe thousands) of screw holes underneath is a long, boring job (and expensive if you have someone else do it).

The real problem, though, is that if the teak decks are bad, you are almost CERTAIN to have other problems underneath that will be difficult and expensive to fix.

That is one reason why I consider teak decks an absolute deal killer on any boat. I don't care how perfect the boat may be otherwise, or what the price may be. If it has teak decks then it is immediately ruled out as a possibility.

Of course, people who have teak decks (especially those hoping to be able to sell their boat some day) will tell you a completely different story. And brokers, hoping to make a sale, will also tell you a different story. But that's MY story and I'm stickin' to it!

[minaret]

Even if you are fortunate enough to have a scenario where you are only dealing with the screw holes remaining, you can't just fill them as mentioned several times here. Screw holes in glass often have associated stress fractures, and just filling will lead to long term shrinkage and visible screw hole ghosting in your finish, at best. Each screw hole must be ground out and glassed for a proper repair, then faired. It's usually easiest to just glass the whole deck. Often the gelcoat is totally shot and must be removed, due to damage from moisture trapped under the teak. This scenario (very common) lends itself to glassing the whole thing instead of each screw hole. Either way, a big job. Brokers lie, don't trust em!

[Dhillen]

We have teak decks and we love them. We also had teak decks on our last boat which were too thin and had to be replaced. We had this done in Thailand where it was very affordable so we replaced teak with teak. This was about 12 years ago and cost us about 5 grand. I am sure now it is much more expensive - even in Thailand.

A common and cost effective solution to replacing worn out teak (and I agree with all the suggestions above) is to replace it with a non-skid surface, such as Treadmaster or Vynagrip. Boat US conducted a test of the relative merits of various non-skid surfaces on boats which you can read here:[URL="http://www.boatus.com/foundation/findings/nonskid2.htm[/URL]

I was always told to be careful about conversation topics such as politics and religion. To that list I would anchors and teak decks!

Cheers.

Dhillen

[Tia Bu]

The standard answer on this forum and others seems to be that teak decks are a hideously expensive nightmare to deal with. That seems to affect the sale values of boats with teak decks enormously.

I've never repaired or replaced teak decks personally, but I have repaired and resurfaced decks with rotten cores. Frankly, it's just not that big or difficult a job, if you do it yourself. It's time consuming, so you probably can't afford to pay other people to do it for you (unless you're in Thailand). But the entire situation strikes me as one of those where a handy, hard-working boater with some time on his or her hands could get a steal on a great boat.

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Tia Bu

The standard answer on this forum and others seems to be that teak decks are a hideously expensive nightmare to deal with. That seems to affect the sale values of boats with teak decks enormously.

I've never repaired or replaced teak decks personally, but I have repaired and resurfaced decks with rotten cores. Frankly, it's just not that big or difficult a job, if you do it yourself. It's time consuming, so you probably can't afford to pay other people to do it for you (unless you're in Thailand). But the entire situation strikes me as one of those where a handy, hard-working boater with some time on his or her hands could get a steal on a great boat.

Fully agreed.

If you look at the things that could be wrong with a boat (engine, rig, decks, etc), the deck work is by far the one with the lowest barrier to entry, the most options, and requires skills that even an entry-level handyman has or will quickly acquire.