Workshop: Teak deck renovation - How to join the joints of your old deck covering

Hauke Schmidt

· 12.05.2023

Workshop: Teak deck renovation - How to join the joints of your old deck covering

Photo: Morten Strauch

Joining joints: Replacing a defective teak deck can quickly become a total economic loss. Repairing with epoxy resin is an inexpensive alternative as it permanently bonds the battens to the deck. Our photo tutorial shows how to do it

Ship-like, non-slip and elegant - for many, a teak deck is still the epitome of a boat deck. But over the years, this dream can easily turn into a nightmare, as the wooden deck is a wearing part. Its service life depends heavily on the quality of the wood, professional installation and maintenance. But even if everything runs smoothly, a major overhaul is due after 30 years at the latest.

The joints often show signs of disintegration much earlier. Water penetrates and the bars warp, rot from below or are pulled off the deck by the frost in winter. The deck of our 35-year-old workshop building was in a similarly desolate state. The joints were brittle and detached almost everywhere, and the wood was heavily weathered and washed out. The foredeck looked particularly bad. The fish was cracked and individual bars had bulged.

Costs for the teak wood

The first reflex: Everything has to be new! But that would make the boat a total economic loss, because teak is expensive and the installation work takes a lot of boat builder hours. If you order a new teak deck with a thickness of 10 millimetres from a shipyard, you should expect to pay around 2200 euros per square metre. Added to this are the costs for removing the old covering and preparing the surface. If you calculate with the approximately nine square metres of teak deck on our example boat, it quickly becomes clear that a new deck costs significantly more than the entire boat is worth.

Most read articles

So first check what can still be saved. The cracked fish has to be replaced, but the remaining substance is not bad: the bars are still 7 to 8 millimetres thick. A conventional overhaul with flexible joint sealant is still out of the question. Not only would the joints have to be milled out, but all the curved bars would also have to be replaced.

Procedure for refurbishing the teak deck

Subsequent bonding of the teak deck with epoxy promises significantly less effort. This creates a solid unit that is also bonded to the plastic deck. A similar process is used in the construction of regatta yachts. In order to keep the weight increase due to the wooden deck as low as possible, the teak is integrated into the structure of the deck and laid with black-coloured epoxy resin. The matching adhesive is available as an epoxy filler paste from Yachtcare. 500 grams of the UV-resistant substance costs around 30 euros. Eight tins were needed for the deck of our boat. Together with the other consumables such as sandpaper and the flexible joint compound for the transition to the superstructure, the refurbishment cost around 500 euros.

Although the teak deck is not new after the treatment, it should not cause any more problems for the next ten seasons.

Photo instructions for renovating a teak deck

Original state

The necessary tools: There are various techniques for removing the old grout from the deck. We worked with a multimaster with a saw blade and special tools that we sharpened ourselves. Suitable blanks are chisels or simply a flat bar corresponding to the joint width. They are sanded with an angle grinder or a grinding machine

2 Images

Photo: YACHT/H. Schmidt

After 35 years, the teak deck is in need of renovation. The joint sealant has torn away and some of the rods have come loose.

1. prepare joints

The remains of the old sealant and the wood are removed down to the plastic deck.

Use the Multimaster to saw along the edges of the joints. Also cut through the underlying wood down to the GRP. Hold the saw blade at an angle to create a slightly V-shaped cut

Now the rubber and wood have to be removed. In contrast to the chisel, the bottom edge of the self-made tool is not pointed, but slightly rounded, so it does not drill into the wood, ...

... but slides over it and only removes the old joint sealant when sliding. This also reduces the risk of damaging the flanks of the bars, which would lead to uneven joint widths

We use a self-sanded hook to remove the wood residue sticking to the bottom of the joint. This is pulled through the joints and tears off the wood in coarse chips

The width of the hook should correspond approximately to the joint width. If you don't want to build the tool yourself, you can also use the TDS grouting hook, but this is actually intended for the joint sealant

6 Images

Photo: YACHT/H. Schmidt

2. levelling the teak deck

The epoxy resin would collect in depressions, they must be sanded away

The batten clearly shows how differently the wood has weathered and washed out from decades of scrubbing. The epoxy resin would form lakes in these valleys, so they have to be levelled out

A sanding board with 40-grit paper is used to create as flat a surface as possible. An eccentric sanding machine would easily sand waves into the deck, so it is better to work by hand

Levelling creates a lot of dust, the sanding board should be equipped with an extraction system. After grouting, the deck is sanded through again, so it is sufficient to remove the coarse indentations

Screws that are not recessed deep enough are also exposed during sanding. They damage the paper and have to be removed. If they do not come loose, a hammer blow or heating with a soldering iron will help

To get the screws deeper into the wood, the holes are re-drilled. A template with a suitable hole guides the Forstner bit from the outside, as its centre point does not fit into the old hole

6 Images

Photo: YACHT/H. Schmidt

3. filling and sanding

The epoxy paste bonds the rods and GRP to form a solid unit and the deck is sealed again

After sanding, the deck is cleaned with an industrial vacuum cleaner. Then carefully mask off all open edges, such as here on the anchor locker. The epoxy paste would otherwise run out of the open joints

The compound comes in 500 gram containers and is mixed by weight or volume. Consumption depends on the joint cross-section. With a width of 5 millimetres and a depth of 8 millimetres, ...

... one pack for about twelve metres of joint. The paste is worked in quickly with a trowel. The deck can be grouted wet on wet, but it is also possible to proceed in sections

Sometimes the resin sags a little, so you should check the freshly filled joints several times for imperfections. As long as the working time of the paste has not expired, it can be reworked

If the air pockets only become apparent later or during final sanding, this is also not a problem. After sanding with 120 grit, the imperfection can also be filled afterwards

6 Images

Photo: YACHT/H. Schmidt

Minor repairs to the teak deck

A major refit is not always necessary. Signs of wear and tear can easily be repaired by yourself. The teak deck will then be fit for many years to come

Cutting joints:

Protruding joints tear off easily and prevent rainwater from running off. The wood suffers and algae grow

The protruding sealing compound is cut flush to the height of the teak rods using a sharp cutter blade (wide version)

Re-sanding: Grit no coarser than 120. For large areas, eccentric or belt sanders make the work easier

3 Images

Photo: YACHT/H. Schmidt

Spot repair:

If an air pocket is found in the joint sealant during sanding, open it with a chisel, clean it and tape it off

To repair, use a compatible material and apply generously so that the hole is filled completely

An old bank card is also suitable for removing the tape. Remove the adhesive tape after it has hardened. Then sand over

3 Images

Photo: YACHT/H. Schmidt

Beautiful patina on the teak deck

Photo: YACHT/H. SchmidtOne Boracol treatment per season is enough to enhance the silver patina of the deck week after week

To protect the wood from fungi and algae, treatment with Boracol is recommended. This wood preservative produced by Lavtox (approx. 80 euros/5 litres) does not attack plastics and potting compounds. It is applied generously with a broad brush. After drying, the wood does not show the treatment at first. However, algae and fungi are killed and washed out by weathering over time. The effect is enormous: once applied, the deck becomes lighter from week to week without any further action until it has reached an even silvery colour. Side effect: As algae no longer forms, scrubbing is required much less frequently and the wood does not wear out as quickly.

Also interesting:

Home

Workshop: Teak deck renovation - How to join the joints of your old deck covering

Costs for the teak wood

Most read articles

Procedure for refurbishing the teak deck

Photo instructions for renovating a teak deck

Original state

1. prepare joints

2. levelling the teak deck

3. filling and sanding

Minor repairs to the teak deck

Cutting joints:

Spot repair:

Beautiful patina on the teak deck

Also interesting:

Most read in category Equipment