I would like to make some repairs to the teak deck of my boat. Where can
I find some literature on the subject? I mean reliable web pages or
books regarding types and aging of teak wood, cutting, splines,
caulking, glueing and other technicalities alike.
Thank you very much
Daniel

In short, there are no reliable sources that I have found. There can be a
myriad of opinions on this subject and there are a myriad of wives tales.
Your difficulty is determining what is true and applicable in YOUR case and
what is not. However, there are certain guidlines that should always be
observed. In order to give advise, you must be much more explicit. The
following information would be very helpful:
Describe the current deck construction.
What is the hull material?
What is the observed faults with the deck now?
How old is the deck?
How thick is the teak planking?
How wide are the planks?
What caulking material has been used?

Come back with those answers and we can have a better discussion.
Steve


"Daniele Fua" wrote in message
...
I would like to make some repairs to the teak deck of my boat. Where can I
find some literature on the subject? I mean reliable web pages or books
regarding types and aging of teak wood, cutting, splines, caulking, glueing
and other technicalities alike.
Thank you very much
Daniel

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:01:29 +0100, Daniele Fua
wrote:

I would like to make some repairs to the teak deck of my boat. Where can
I find some literature on the subject? I mean reliable web pages or
books regarding types and aging of teak wood, cutting, splines,
caulking, glueing and other technicalities alike.
Thank you very much
Daniel

If you can locate back copies of Practical Boat Owner, a British
magazine, there have been several articles over the years of renewing
teak decks.

You can also research the Sika (the people that make Sikaflex) website
as they make adhesives and caulking especially for repairing/building
teak decks and have (I believe) some pretty explicate instructions
there.

In reference to types of teak, about all teak now comes from either
Burma or Cambodia as there has been no legal teak cut in Thailand for
years.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:53:03 +0100, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

In short, there are no reliable sources that I have found. There can be a
myriad of opinions on this subject and there are a myriad of wives tales.
Your difficulty is determining what is true and applicable in YOUR case and
what is not. However, there are certain guidlines that should always be
observed. In order to give advise, you must be much more explicit. The
following information would be very helpful:
Describe the current deck construction.
What is the hull material?
What is the observed faults with the deck now?
How old is the deck?
How thick is the teak planking?
How wide are the planks?
What caulking material has been used?

Come back with those answers and we can have a better discussion.
Steve


"Daniele Fua" wrote in message
t...
I would like to make some repairs to the teak deck of my boat. Where can I
find some literature on the subject? I mean reliable web pages or books
regarding types and aging of teak wood, cutting, splines, caulking, glueing
and other technicalities alike.
Thank you very much
Daniel


Actually, as I said in another post, there is information about how to
renew/replace teak decks both laid decks and overlays. Practical Boat
Owner, for one, has had several articles over the years.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)

The Grand Banks Owners website has had a number of threads over the past
several years on this topic although, of course, they are specific to GBs.
there is quite a bit of general information there, however.
Sandy

"Daniele Fua" wrote in message
...
I would like to make some repairs to the teak deck of my boat. Where can I
find some literature on the subject? I mean reliable web pages or books
regarding types and aging of teak wood, cutting, splines, caulking, glueing
and other technicalities alike.
Thank you very much
Daniel

Bruce,
I have read those article as well as others over the fullnest of time and in
every case that repair is touted as the best possible in the history of
mankind, but in every case there is no information on the success of that
same repair after a few years. This is the case I have made in my first
reply. Every repair is different and there are a myiad of products out there
to be used. Some are very good sometimes, under certain circumstances, but
rarely is any product good everywhere all the time. The ultimate test is
time. Every owner thinking of making a teak repair must search out those
repairs most like the one he is contemplating AFTER a few years of service.
Only then will he know the answers to his questions are viable. There is
just far too much BS advise out there for free for my liking. Been there and
been bit.
Steve

"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:01:29 +0100, Daniele Fua
wrote:

I would like to make some repairs to the teak deck of my boat. Where can
I find some literature on the subject? I mean reliable web pages or
books regarding types and aging of teak wood, cutting, splines,
caulking, glueing and other technicalities alike.
Thank you very much
Daniel

If you can locate back copies of Practical Boat Owner, a British
magazine, there have been several articles over the years of renewing
teak decks.

You can also research the Sika (the people that make Sikaflex) website
as they make adhesives and caulking especially for repairing/building
teak decks and have (I believe) some pretty explicate instructions
there.

In reference to types of teak, about all teak now comes from either
Burma or Cambodia as there has been no legal teak cut in Thailand for
years.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 09:25:45 +0100, "Steve Lusardi"
wrote:

Bruce,
I have read those article as well as others over the fullnest of time and in
every case that repair is touted as the best possible in the history of
mankind, but in every case there is no information on the success of that
same repair after a few years. This is the case I have made in my first
reply. Every repair is different and there are a myiad of products out there
to be used. Some are very good sometimes, under certain circumstances, but
rarely is any product good everywhere all the time. The ultimate test is
time. Every owner thinking of making a teak repair must search out those
repairs most like the one he is contemplating AFTER a few years of service.
Only then will he know the answers to his questions are viable. There is
just far too much BS advise out there for free for my liking. Been there and
been bit.
Steve

"Bruce in Bangkok" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:01:29 +0100, Daniele Fua
wrote:

I would like to make some repairs to the teak deck of my boat. Where can
I find some literature on the subject? I mean reliable web pages or
books regarding types and aging of teak wood, cutting, splines,
caulking, glueing and other technicalities alike.
Thank you very much
Daniel

If you can locate back copies of Practical Boat Owner, a British
magazine, there have been several articles over the years of renewing
teak decks.

You can also research the Sika (the people that make Sikaflex) website
as they make adhesives and caulking especially for repairing/building
teak decks and have (I believe) some pretty explicate instructions
there.

In reference to types of teak, about all teak now comes from either
Burma or Cambodia as there has been no legal teak cut in Thailand for
years.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)



First of all, I am assuming that you are talking about the teak
overlay on a fiberglass boat. NOT a solid laid teak deck on a wooden
boat.

I also noticed that you used the word "repair". I have been assuming
that you mean "replace" as I know of no good method of repairing a
teak on a fiberglass boat. In fact, if your deck is installed using
screws and it is in bad enough shape that you are thinking "repair" it
really needs removing and a good investigation made to be sure that
the deck structure is still solid.

If you elect to glue the teak down (and you are stupid not to glue it)
then there are multitudes of decks to look at. The people that I know
who are in the business (both in Australia and Thailand) use Sikaflex
adhesive and caulking and follow the manufacturer's recommendations.

The only decks I personally know of that had troubles were (1) an
Australian laid deck on a Super yacht using 3M 5200 (that may have
been past its "use by" date) - they flew a crew from Cairns to Phuket
to re-lay it, and (2) a deck laid by a Thai group that had never done
it before - they didn't do a good job in clamping and had a lot of
loose strips to fix.

Basically it is a pretty simple task, you are gluing strips of wood
down on the deck. The biggest problem is that you are going to have to
edge set the strips. i.e., bend them sideways. You need to devise a
good strong clamping system to hold the strips tightly until the
adhesive cures (a day or so, at least) which, depending on your boat
may not be easy.

Once you have the strips glued down you caulk the grooves and when
that is cured sand the whole thing smooth.

Here, and teak is not cheap here, the thinnest strips they will use is
6 mm (about 1/4") and the carpenters prefer to use (8mm - 3/8") or
even 12 mm (1/2"). I have seen articles in British books where they
cut a step on the edge of each strip to take the caulking but they
don't do that here. After all it is only 6 mm. they use spacers to be
sure that the gap between the teak strips is even and just caulk it.

Basically it is just a pretty surface, it contributes no strength.

Question: Have you contacted Sika for their recommendations?

For information only: the cost in Phuket, Thailand, using Burmese
teak, for 1/4" - 6mm teak deck is between 10,000 baht (US$ 333) and
12,000 baht ( US$ 400) baht a square metres.

I have a certain amount of experience in this kind of repair (I just
finished re-coring the deck on a 35 ft. power boat) and a Thai Boat
Carpenter who does quite a bit of work for me specializes in teak
decks so I can probably give you some pointers.

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)

Thank you very much for your interest. I try to reply your questions:

Describe the current deck construction.
It was made in 1978, probably with very high standards (Nautor's,
Finland), fastened with screws and, I think, probably glued.
What is the hull material?
Fiberglass
What is the observed faults with the deck now?
Several of the screws stick out of the surface, few planks are not well
fixed to the deck and water seeps under, the caulking is missing in
several parts. The worst part are amidship around the chainplates.
Overall I believe that the deck should be redone entirely sooner or
later but I believe also that with some work I could wait, say, 3-4
years before a major work and a major investment.
How thick is the teak planking?
It is quite thick: probably around 12-14mm
How wide are the planks?
around 43mm
What caulking material has been used?
I don't know

If you are interested, please look at the pictures posted in this page
http://g24met.phys.uniroma1.it/cache

Regards
Daniel

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:50:14 +0100, Daniele Fua
wrote:

Thank you very much for your interest. I try to reply your questions:

Describe the current deck construction.
It was made in 1978, probably with very high standards (Nautor's,
Finland), fastened with screws and, I think, probably glued.
What is the hull material?
Fiberglass
What is the observed faults with the deck now?
Several of the screws stick out of the surface, few planks are not well
fixed to the deck and water seeps under, the caulking is missing in
several parts. The worst part are amidship around the chainplates.
Overall I believe that the deck should be redone entirely sooner or
later but I believe also that with some work I could wait, say, 3-4
years before a major work and a major investment.
How thick is the teak planking?
It is quite thick: probably around 12-14mm
How wide are the planks?
around 43mm
What caulking material has been used?
I don't know

If you are interested, please look at the pictures posted in this page
http://g24met.phys.uniroma1.it/cache

Regards
Daniel

Your real task is to prevent deterioration of the structural deck. The
teak is just a cosmetic addition and contributes little but looks to
the boat. Teak isn't even particularly "non skid" when compared to
other surfaces.

Basically, any deck overlay that is fastened with screws will
eventually leak into the deck core and cause rot. Now, this is not a
overnight process and even if some moisture gets into the core it
doesn't cause instantaneous rot but it is not something you want to
happen.

If you have any areas where the plugs covering the screw heads are
missing or the caulking is missing then certainly those areas are
leaking. In addition it probably means that the overlay is getting
thin enough that more of the plugs are going to come out from time to
time.

I suggest that you try to locate a short section of decking, remove
all the screws and cut/scrape out the caulking and try to lift one
piece of the overlay. I suspect, from the screws, that you will find
that it IS NOT glued down but if it is glued down then you can remove
the screws, inject thickened epoxy to make a "epoxy nail" and insert a
new plug to fill the screw hole. then scrape out all suspect caulking
and recaulk.

If however, the strips ARE NOT glued down then you will need to remove
all the screws, remove the teak, plug all the holes in the deck, check
for soft spots in the deck, repair any found, replace the original
strips using an adhesive, plug the screw holes in the teak with epoxy
and a teak plug, recaulk and sand.

Or, you can decide to remove the teak, sand the fiberglass deck
smooth, plug the holes and possibly put a layer of glass cloth over
the deck, fair and paint.

In any case you are looking at a major project and, unless you do all
the work yourself, substantial costs.

The alternative is to do a cheap and dirty job of it by removing any
screws that have missing plugs, drill the hole in the teak a tiny bit
deeper, reset the screw with epoxy and replug the screw hole. Then
remove any defective caulking and recaulk and sand.

This is less work then doing the job correctly but will not correct
the problem, just postpone it. However, if you were planning on
selling the boat you might decide in favor of this scheme.

But, in any case, in my opinion you need to do something about the
deck fairly soon, say this year, to avoid further troubles.

I couldn't make out what type of boat you have but if it is a Nauticat
then it is pretty much a classic boat and assuming that the deck is
still structurally sound then it should be worth saving.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:00:16 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:50:14 +0100, Daniele Fua wrote:

Thank you very much for your interest. I try to reply your questions:

Describe the current deck construction.
It was made in 1978, probably with very high standards (Nautor's,
Finland), fastened with screws and, I think, probably glued.
What is the hull material?
Fiberglass
What is the observed faults with the deck now?
Several of the screws stick out of the surface, few planks are not well
fixed to the deck and water seeps under, the caulking is missing in
several parts. The worst part are amidship around the chainplates.
Overall I believe that the deck should be redone entirely sooner or
later but I believe also that with some work I could wait, say, 3-4
years before a major work and a major investment.
How thick is the teak planking?
It is quite thick: probably around 12-14mm
How wide are the planks?
around 43mm
What caulking material has been used?
I don't know

If you are interested, please look at the pictures posted in this page
http://g24met.phys.uniroma1.it/cache

Regards
Daniel

Have you considered removing the teak, and leaving it off? Many people do that
when they get to where it sounds as if you are now.


This was what I did with the 35 ft. motor boat I'm rebuilding and I
think it is the smartest thing to do. But some people like teak.



Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)