[petermac]

I own a 1980 Sloop which has teak decks and I am concsidering removing them altogether.
If I were to remove these myself,

1. What tools would I need?
2. Should the boat be hauled out?
3. How much time am I looking at?
4. What preparations should be made?
5. What level of experience is needed?

Assuming I can remove the existing decks, should I then turn to a marine yard for any core repairs, reglassing and application of non-skid?

1. What budget should I be looking at?

I would appreciate any advice and if anyone has budget experience with this particular type of project in working with a yard, I would appreciate knowing what the hourly costs were by task that were charged by the yard (or can be expected to be charged by a yard).

Peter

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Peter:

I''m curious, what make boat do you have?

We recently removed decking from our Little Harbor 38 and replaced the teak on one side which was in poor shape, and reused the old teak on the otherside. We were pleased with the results, but it takes a lot of time and determination.

We expected to find a lot of core problems but luckily that didn''t prove out.

A cordless drill is indispensable.

Mate''s book "From a Bare Hull" had good info. We used West System epoxy along with self tapping screws to replace the boards. The boat was on the hard, but I don''t think that''s necessary.

Bob

 

[petermac]

Dear Bob,

I own a 44 Cheoy Lee Perry Design. I appreciate your book referral. Presently, I am torn between removing teak and replacing with non-skid. Deck core I believe is in good shape. Your Little Harbor sounds like a beauty...Ted Hood?

Regards,
Pete

 

[TSOJOURNER]

Peter:

Hood does a nice job with his boats. This one really sails well. It handles well with just the two of us.

Most of the deck bungs showed signs of water underneath. We pulled boards up in the forepeak and found very thin mastic like compound underneath. The boards came up easily. I was torn between tearing them all up and using high build paint for a non-skid deck or replacing the boards. My wife didn''t like the idea of sitting on sand so we went the teak replacement route. If you''re at all handy with tools it can be done, but it does take time, and it''s amazing how much more solid the deck feels.

Bob

 

[TSOJOURNER]

i recently removed the teak decks on my choey lee 33 offshore. it is quite a job. The deck needs to be kept dry while the screw holes are open. If water gets in, you will never get it all out, and it will damage wood all the time. Mine were in terrible shape so it was not too hard to get a nail bar under the planks. I just popped each screw up as i came to it. you will chamfer the holes anyway to fill them properly. some screws broke leaving the shaft down in the fiberglass. I forced them out by smacking a heavy screwdriver into the deck at an angle about 1/4 inch from the screw. What you want to anticipate is that it will be very very very messy. My decks were set in what looks like pine tar rather than a nice polysulfide. But, having said that, my boat is a '72. I had some core worries, so after i had all of the screws out, i dried it out for a week or with a heater on in the boat and fans keeping the air moving over the deck. Then i injected Rot Doctor and later resin. Then i chamfered all of the screw holes a second time to make a good surface for the resin to hold, and finally i filled all of the screw holes with west system. Good luck.

 

[camaraderie]

Rugely...welcome....but you need to look at the dates of the posts you are replying to and read this!
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39379

 

[Rockter]

petermac...

Same dilemma for me, this time on a Union 36.
Decision has been made. Crowbar up the old decking, but keep it... it has many uses. Pull the screws. Enlarge the holes, let it dry, fill the holes, fair it, re-paint it.
The deck will not leak then, methinks.
It will be a big change to the appearance, but I cannot tolerate the leaking decks anymore.

 

[sailingdog]

rockter-

The OP is over seven years old, and if he hasn't removed the teak by now, he's probably never going to. Also, Petemac only posted twice on Sailinet, both times in this thread over SEVEN years ago.

BTW, if your deck is cored, you may have to do bit more than that, since it may have some rotted core sections.