Terrified of Teak

[micah719]

When they built my boat they screwed the teak all the way through the solid glass deck, then cut and ground the screws flush with the underside of the deck, then applied another 1/4" of laminate to the underside of the deck, glassing the hull/deck joint at the same time.

Now that sounds like they knew what they were doing, and meant to make a quality product. Thanks for the handy tip, too.....

[minaret]

Originally Posted by micah719

.......meant to make a quality product.

Oh, yes. I have found that Finns don't play around when it comes to building most things. Click on the 52 images link under my name to see the glory of their work.

[jcapo]

I have teak decks on a 23 year old Tayana V42 that I completely refastened and recaulked. I replaced about 15% of the planks that were worn too much at the plank edge to cut a new caulk groove. No screws in the new planks. Its a lot of work.

Some of that work was done part time on weekends and some was done full time after I sold my business. I can't even guess at the total hours or cost involved. A lot of both.

A 20 year old boat will need be be refastend and recaulked if it has not been done already. Take a look at this deck and note the cracks in the caulk and the caulk has pulled away from the edge of the plank.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...a-73423-4.html

That deck is past time to recaulk. If your boat looks like that then you have to do it or pay someone a lot of money to do it if its worth recaulking at all.

Look at the plank wear around stanchions, deck fills, anything that sits on top of the teak. The planks were probably 1/2" thick on a 20 year old or so boat. Any more than 1/8" of wear probably means refastening and recaulking is a lost cause.

Look for plank edges that are worn so much that the caulk groove is gone. Need to cut a new groove and recaulk if there is enough plank thickness left or replace the plank.

Tap the planks lightly between and across screw holes. Planks that are no longed bonded to the substrate with polysulfide caulk, most likely what was used, will sound hollow. Hollow sound means the plank has separated from the caulk and is held by screws and edge caulk only.

Teak decks in really bad shape will probably feel spongy in places. Look inside lockers that are open to the underside of deck. You might see evidence of leaks there. Remove overhead ceiling and look for leaks.

Caulk that is proud of the deck planks indicates time to recaulk has passed.

Have someone walk around the decks while you listen below. Creaking and cracking sounds most likely indicate plank separation and/or glass delamination.

If you decide the decks are OK or salvageable, get a surveyor that is familiar with Taiwan teak deck boats and see what they say. Some surveyors don't know squat about teak decks.

I think the bottom line is that unless you are comfortable with refastening, recaulking, and replacing some planks yourself, that's assuming that the deck is salvageable, its gonna cost more that its worth to have someone else do it for you.

John

[micah719]

Oh, yes. I have found that Finns don't play around when it comes to building most things. Click on the 52 images link under my name to see the glory of their work.

Ooooh yes indeedy. Nice interior Finnish. Heheh heh, get it? Finn-ish? Haha...ha......hm. Oh look at the time, it's late....must be off....

[cburger]

It all depends on how the initial install was performed as well as how the decks were maintained. The teak decks on my 35year boat are as good as the day they were laid. And yes I have the thousands of screws through the underlayment. 1" old growth teak over 1" of fiberglass and marine ply subdeck. Decks were all bedded in Thyocol. The way we checked the decks on survey was to get to get our heads under the deck, on our boat the fiberglass under the teak was not painted and translucent, you can very clearly see the nice golde color of the ply through the resin, when water is getting into ply it will turn a black color. There is no question that teak decks require way more attention than glass, spent months reseaming, noew there are just beautiful.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by amiuda

Thanks for all the feedback! It came in handy today. I looked at a Tashiba with teak decks and a few screws were uncovered and right up at the surface of the teak. Too much sanding? I took that as a sign and did indeed, run away.

One more question for all that have survived redoing teak decks: assuming a deck has life/thickness left in the teak, does it have any impact on future difficulties if the teak is screwed down into solid fiberglass strings rather than cored decks?

My first thought is that there might be decreased risk of rot, but probably not a big difference in the headache of replacing the deck eventually??

Thanks again - input from people with experience is extremely helpful.

Assuming your screwed on teak decks would be 5/8 thick or more.... I see no need for core under at all or strings for that matter. and... you would know right away if any screw started to leak! The other thing is , most those Taiwan boats are heavy built (what they lacked in finesse they made up with glass!) I wouldnt doubt if the decks are as thick as any non teak deck boat or thicker....