Epoxy Fiberglass craftsman wanted

[asburyjohnny]

I have a 33' sailboat with teak deck. I'd like to install a fiberglass epoxy coating over it to seal the wood and screw holes to prevent further water seepage into the core. I am looking for someone experienced in this type of fiberglass/epoxy use to do the work. I am located in NJ. Any suggestions?

[sailingdog]

Why would you want to do this? It would add a lot of weight to the boat. What would make far more sense is removing the teak deck entirely, since many boats with teak decks had the teak deck installed over a fiberglass one.

It would help if you said what kind/make/model boat it was, since someone here may have some experience with it.

[asburyjohnny]

It wouldn't add a lot of weight. The deck is narrow, 10' beam, and most of the deck is taken up by the main cabin. It's a Cheoy Lee, hence the water problem. Don't want to lose the teak look with removal. I figure to re-caulk, replace missing bungs and add the fiberglass/epoxy, with some non slip in various areas.

[bljones]

Generally, epoxy and teak don't get along real well, which means you may have a bigger problem 2-5 years down the road as your epoxy coat delaminates and lets water in but won't let it escape. It is also going to make your decks wicked slippery, unless you add a non-skid additive, and then you decks will just be really ugly.

[souljour2000]

From what I have read and some limited personal observation....Sailing dog and BJ are telling you the gospel...apparently teak is just too oily of a wood to make a good mate to epoxy....teak seems to do best when left alone or treated with teak oil or varnish in areas which are not leak-prone...places you can re-coat every year like a few new coats on a grab-rail (after sanding).

Decks would seem to be subject to great potential for water entry...then your teak will wet-rot with no oxygen in the wet cavity...that's at least what I have heard from several sources in here or other reputable online forums...and after some experiences with teak over the last few years... I'd personally tend to agree with those conclusions...good luck..

[hellosailor]

Johnny, that's a butcher job and no craftsman will touch it. Anyone who will touch it, won't be a craftsman.

When you have a leaking teak deck there's only one thing to do and that's to remove the teak, all the teak, and then either rebed it properly or strip it off and reseal the fiberglass beneath it.

Either way you need to remove all the deck hardware and do a lot of labor, and the "remove all the teak" part doesn't have to be skilled marine labor, just any careful carpenter or manual laborer.

Anything else is a kludge job, and is just going to delay the inevitable while wasting your money.

[Faster]

Definitely throwing my vote with the crowd.....this plan is a non-starter.

[Flybyknight]

Originally Posted by souljour2000

From what I have read and some limited personal observation....Sailing dog and BJ are telling you the gospel...apparently teak is just too oily of a wood to make a good mate to epoxy....teak seems to do best when left alone or treated with teak oil or varnish in areas which are not leak-prone...places you can re-coat every year like a few new coats on a grab-rail (after sanding).

Decks would seem to be subject to great potential for water entry...then your teak will wet-rot with no oxygen in the wet cavity...that's at least what I have heard from several sources in here or other reputable online forums...and after some experiences with teak over the last few years... I'd personally tend to agree with those conclusions...good luck..

My sentiments exactly.

Dick

[catamount]

asburyjohnny, you say you don't want to lose the "teak look" -- so you're hoping the epoxy sealer (with fiberglass cloth?) will be a clear coat? and still be non-slip? Like the others, I think you are asking for the impossible.

If you want the non-skid properties and the look of a teak deck, then you need .... a teak deck! If the one you have now is leaking, then the proper repair is to pull it all up and re-do it. Lots of people before you have decided in the end that it just wasn't worth it, so they pulled up the teak and replaced it with something else (for example, treadmaster). There used to be an article on the old SailNet by Sue&Larry documenting their teak deck removal and replacement project -- found them, here:

Part 1: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/buying...eak-decks.html

Part 2: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...r-nonskid.html

[sailingdog]

The OP still hasn't said what kind of boat this abortion would be inflicted on.