Why Teak decks?  How are they being attached?

         I hadn't planned on having teak decks because of so many

Randal, TEAK DECKS? Do you know what you're getting yourself into? As someone who had a love-hate relationship with teak decks for 15 years on two fiberglass Grand Bankses, here's my take. The upside: Teak decks look terrific when new or newly sanded, and the non-skid they offer is the best--easy on bare feet and knees, and good holding on Topsiders even when the decks are awash. The downside: Expensive to install, hard to install properly, extra topside weight, a magnet for heat in tropical waters, LOTS of maintenance, and the potential for problems, especially on a metal boat. If the decks are not fastened and bedded properly, it easy for water (and salt) can be trapped in pockets beneath, opening the door to rust (steel decks) or corrosion (aluminum decks). After just a few weeks in the sun, your pristine honey-colored decks will begin to turn grey--say goodbye to that warm tan look and hello to grey (some people choose to call it "silver") and grimy. Many owners opt for two-part chemical cleaners which bring back the original color but erode the soft grain of the teak, exposing more surface to the sun and hastening wear. After the first two-part chemical treatment you'll say, "Yes! This is what the decks are supposed to look like." But in a few weeks the honey tan will be replaced by grey once more, and it's back to the two-part cleaner. The more two-part you use, the more of the teak you lose and your decks become very rough, sometimes splintering in places. Eventually they will have to be sanded down. If you have refinishers who know what they are doing, you'll lose about 1/16 to 1/8 of the teak deck's surface with each sanding; less expert refinishers take off more and there are lots of hills and valleys. The teak deck planks on my boats were screwed to the fiberglass deck, with the screws countersunk in holes which were plugged; wear, chemical treatments and sanding over the years exposed several hundred of the screwheads; each exposed screw had to be removed, its hole rebored, a shorter screws put in place, and its hole re-bunged with a teak plug. I know of several Grand Banks owners who became so unhappy with the continuing maintenance required by their teak decks that they paid to have them removed, refinishing the fiberglass decks with non-skid. In short: been there, done that, learned my lessons the hard way, all of which makes me wonder why anyone without buckets of money and full time crew would even consider teak decks in a cruising boat! A cruising boat is for cruising, not maintenance, and teak decks require substantial maintenance--time and money that IMHO is better spent elsewhere. It's been a week since my Nordhavn 47 shipped from China, and the only external teak it has is a cap rail at the aft end of the cockpit. The cap rail will be sanded, primed, and coated with Awlgrip during commissioning. No more external teak for this guy! --Milt Baker, N47-32 Bluewater >Message: 10 >Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 18:17:12 -0400 >From: "Randal Johnson" <RJohnson@roanokewreckrepair.com> > > Why Teak decks? How are they being attached? > > I hadn't planned on having teak decks because of so many >posts in the past that described the maintenance. However, when we >arrived at the yard in late November Bill had just completed putting the >teak decks on the 55' Diesel Duck. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. My >immediate reaction was whatever it took to maintain this, it would be >worth it. > I don't know which method he uses. I own an auto body shop >and we use stud guns to attach studs to dents and then a puller to pull >them out. I've heard of one method where on metal boats you use a >similar device to weld studs to the decks and fasten the teak to that. >Good question.