[glossa]

I'm trying to decide if DIY installation is worth the time and effort. I've priced PlasTeak at about $8K for the custom-made mats, or $5K for the DIY rolls of material that you join together similar to hardwood flooring (but more complicated). If anyone has actually tried this, I'm wondering if it's practical for a 50 foot sailboat with kingplanks an all sorts of other interesting patterns to make.

It seems like all the posts are about which brand to buy but none about actual installation.

I was originally thinking about replacing the old teak with Kiwigrip but am concerned about the aesthetics, not to mention resale value.

 

[glossa]

Thanks Jeff.

I will note that my boat had decks that still had molded in non-skid, and which had been painted previously painted. So this may not fully apply to your case.

Are you saying that you were able to salvage the molded nonskid underneath your teak? That would really be my preference but I think it will get damaged when I remove the old teak not to mention all of the grooves will be be filled with adhesive.

 

[glossa]

Thanks again. I have already contact Beneteau and confirmed that there is molded nonskid beneath. Most sources say it is not salvageable. I might try removing a small section to confirm this.

 

[glossa]

They said they used a product called PU-50 to glue it to the deck, as well as a ton of screws to hold it in place for gluing. It's a one-part polyeurethane, similar to 5200.

 

[glossa]

We had the boat shrink wrapped so we can start on removal in the PNW winter. Either way, the teak must come off; it's too far gone. We knew this when we bought the boat and it was priced accordingly. However, if we go the synthetic route, I need it on to create the patterns. I think that's where removing a small sample is probably the best way to start. I was thinking about starting with the coach roof section on the foredeck. It's maybe 50 sqft.

I will have to check out Gibco Flex Mold.... Would be great if it could reproduce the factory nonskid look.

Initially we were leaning towards painted nonskid, which I think would meet our needs. But I also want to do what's right by the boat and future owners, if that makes any sense.

 

[glossa]

Photos of our deck. I'm still researching products. If replacing all of the decks with synthetic is too costly, I'd at least like to do the coachroof. I'm also looking into the Gibco Flex Mold. They actually have a product called ReDeck which is basically sheets of nonskid that you epoxy onto the deck and then paint.

 

[glossa]

Update. I finally tried removing the teak this morning. We removed all of the caulking and most of the screws and today I tried removing the teak using an oscilating tool and a scraping blade. It was a complete fail. The planks are bonded so tightly to the gel coat that the blade was ineffective. I tried the hammer and chisel approach and it just cut into the gel coat. Fortunately I only managed to destroy a few square inches.

I think my next attempt will be to plane it off using a power planer. Wish me luck.

 

[glossa]

I think we've finally come up with a system that works. First step is to plane down the planks as much as possible without disturbing the gelcoat. Then, using a heat gun and the oscilating tool, cut horizontally under the planks to release the bond. Thinning the plans with the planer allows the heat to loosen up the bond, making it easier on the blade. It's tedious, but seems to be working. I will have a huge mess on my hands when the teak is gone. I'm hoping to find a chemical I can use to clean out the remaining adhesive from the surface. I'm sure whatever we use, it will be toxic and potentially combustible and with the shrink wrap, there's no ventilation.

Also, all of this work is currently taking place above my 16yo daughter's stateroom. She says that the planer noise is ear-shattering from below.

 

[glossa]

I found out today it's going to take about 16 weeks to get the synthetic teak mats through production. I've already started removing the decking, which could mean no sailing this summer! Most of the molded nonskid seems to be intact so I'm seriously thinking about filling the screw holes, cleaning it up and making due with the crappy nonskid this summer.

 

[glossa]

We're making progress on the teak removal. Snapped this photo tonight. We using the same process of planning down the planks so that the heat from the heat gun can soften the glue. Then chiseling them loose in sections using the oscillating tool. We've gone through four flexible scraping blades so far; they break due to the heat and pressure. They're about $16 each. Today, we tried using these cheapie rigid scraping blades from Amazon. I bought a 20 pack for about $20. They work so much better! You just have to hold the blade mostly horizontal as opposed to the flex blades that require more of an angle. I'm saving the border pieces for last because they are harder to plane and will require more concentration to avoid damaging the raised surfaces. Also, according to Plasdeck, there is no need to sand down the molded nonskid since the glue will work its way into it. But I still need to figure out how to chemically remove all of the old glue. I also got the digitized pattern of the new deck today. Too bad it won't arrive until Summer is over.

 

[glossa]

We scraped off the last piece of teak today on the coachroof (saving the bow and side decks for next winter). Now I am using the oscillating tool w/ scraper blade to remove all of the left behind excess glue. This just leaves behind the stuff in the nonskid grooves, and with some sanding, I think the surface will be sufficient for laying down the synthetic.

The immediate priority is to seal up the 100's of screw holes which go into the core. Even though the boat is shrink wrapped, rain travels down the mast and then forms a river across the newly scraped surface and many exposed screw holes. I'm going to ream them out tomorrow, dry them out using a heat gun, and then squirt in some penetrating epoxy.

Obviously our boat lists to port because the water from the mast always flows to the port side. This also explains why my son's room has moisture problems and my daughter's doesn't.

I tried to make a catchment system to collect and drain off the rain water (see photo) but it was a failure. Water seems to go everywhere but the catchment. However, once I seal off the screw holes, I no longer care about the water.

If your deck is not covered, don't attempt removing teak if you expect rain any time soon.

I also ordered a paper template of the deck pattern from PlasDeck, which I will dry-fit to the deck for one last time before I put my deposit money down and get on the production schedule. This is not a mandatory step but for $200, it's a good insurance policy to make sure everything lines up. It gives me the chance to make final alterations in the event some of my lines or measurements were off.