Deck transplants

Teak decks are intrinsically woven into nautical tradition – but they don’t last forever. Synthetic alternatives are cheaper, more durable and easier to maintain. They’re also kinder to the environment.

Gulf Harbour’s Brin Wilson Boat Builders is the New Zealand distributor for Flexiteek, a textured PVC synthetic teak deck that resembles the real thing. Director Nick Saull says synthetic deck enquiries have tripled in the last year, which he attributes to New Zealand’s ageing yacht and launch fleets. Many of these vessels, he points out, are at least 30 to 40 years old and their teak decks have taken a hammering.

“Normal wear and tear has been accelerated by UV damage and also, perhaps unwittingly, by owners scrubbing and even sanding the decks regularly,” says Saull. These factors have reduced the thickness of the teak planks, which are usually glued and screwed to a plywood base.

“Typical worn deck problems include the caulking pulling out of the grooves and exposed screw holes. Water enters and the moisture becomes trapped between the plywood and the teak, leading to rot. In severe cases, too-thin planks begin to cup and lift off the plywood base.”

Replacing the deck is a labour-intensive job. The planks have to be prised or chiselled from the plywood, all the screws removed, and the substrate planed or sanded level in preparation for the new deck. The new strip planking, along with any borders and trims, must be cut to size, glued, screwed, caulked and sanded.

It’s a long, expensive process that will keep your boat out of action for quite a while. Preparing the substrate for a synthetic deck is the same as for real teak, but laying it is a different process.

SYNTHETIC DECKS

Several products are available in New Zealand – the previouslymentioned Flexiteek, manufactured in Sweden, and the Britishproduced Permateek, distributed here by Squires Marine Services on the Whangaparaoa peninsula. Both are composite PVC products and offer extensive advantages over real teak. Then there is Marinedeck, imported from The Netherlands by Bailey Marine. Marinedeck differs from most other composite decking systems in being cork-based as opposed to PVC.

The teak alternatives look fairly realistic and, because they’re textured to mimic real teak, they feel good underfoot, offering a secure, non-slip surface. They’re durable, robust products that require little maintenance – Saull reckons a synthetic deck will outlive the boat.

PVC is non-absorbent so diesel spills, blood, fish guts, wine and suntan lotion are easily washed off. A quick water blast will remove any grubbiness. The PVC is Uv-stabilised so the colour won’t fade.

The colours of synthetic decks range from tan to simulate freshly-cut teak to the silver-grey of weathered teak and plenty of shades in between. Caulking is available in black, grey and white.

For the creative types, there are non-traditional colours – like black strip planking with white caulking for a bathroom.

Note that the weathered teak option is particularly useful if you want to replace only a small section of an existing deck; it will blend in easily. Equally, if your budget doesn’t extend to replacing an entire deck in one go, you can tackle small sections at a time.

Every boat is different, so the decks are available with strip planking of various widths. The typical deck uses 45mm planks – ie, 40mm plank and 5mm caulk; but there are 60mm, 75mm and 100mm plank options. Margin boards of 45mm, 60mm, 75mm and 125mm are available to be laid around hatches and edges.

The product is 5mm deep, weighs 4.5 kg/m2 and offers good sound insulation properties – a reduction of up to 11db.

INSTALLATION

A major advantage of the synthetic deck option is its fast, easy installation: a simple kit project for a competent DIYER. The deck is pre-manufactured in large, perfectly-shaped panels like a jigsaw puzzle. These are glued to the plywood deck; no screws are required.

The decks can be fitted to almost any surface including GRP and steel and, thanks to their flexibility, the panels are easily shaped or contoured to a deck’s camber.

There are two parts to the panel manufacturing process. Firstly, the boat owner produces precise templates of the different sections and shapes for the deck, including borders and trims if desired. Then, the templates are handed to the supplier who manufactures the deck in sections, thermally welding the panels together. Thermal welding ensures the deck remains watertight.

The more accurate the templates, says Saull, the better the finished deck. “We can provide material for the template although the boat owner can use anything of his choice. But it is important to provide for a two or three-millimetre tolerance in the templates to allow for deck expansion on hot days.”

Panels are bedded down into a sealant/adhesive supplied with the kit. Saull says the DIYER needs to plan this process carefully.

“Don’t try to do too big an area in one go,” he says. “The sealant might go off before you get to it and compromise the bond. Smaller sections, one at a time, are the best strategy.”

For high-load areas such as under a winch, windlass or mooring cleat, an appropriately-sized area is cut from the deck and substituted with a nylon or Teflon mounting base of the same thickness. This panel is smaller than the actual base of the winch, windlass or mooring cleat so it remains unseen.

Saull points out that the intricacy or complexity of the deck’s design impacts directly on its cost. Decks which use simple up-

and-down strip-planking are cheapest – up to 60 percent less than the real teak alternative. Borders, trims and herringbones add to the cost. “A typical PVC deck generally works out about twenty percent cheaper than a real teak deck,” he says.

Indicative costs for a Flexiteek deck are about $635 plus gst per square metre. Squires Marine estimates around $795 plus gst per square metre for a Permateek installation.

Saull says a new Flexiteek product is to be launched at the Auckland On Water Boat Show in September. Flexiteek 2G – the standard product is Flexiteek 1G – is made from a slightly different compound and is 30 percent lighter with improved thermal properties. It reflects heat more efficiently so you can walk across it with bare feet, unlike a real teak deck on a blistering day.

For anyone in the market for a new deck, a final consideration for the synthetic option is eco-friendliness. Irrespective of whether or not you believe that deforestation is contributing to global warming, tropical teak forests have been decimated and sustainable regrowth strategies are in their infancy.

It is not inconceivable that basic availability, rather than the price barrier, will eventually force boat owners away from real teak decks.

TEAK FROM CORK

Marinedeck is manufactured by taking fine granules of cork, mixing them with a special binder and compressing it at high pressures. Managing director Terry Bailey says this process makes it very hard-wearing.

“The life expectancy is basically the equivalent of teak and but it’s about half the weight of teak and it doesn’t get hot like teak so even in summer you can walk on it in bare feet,” he says.

Marinedeck also has sound and thermal insulation properties which makes it popular with aluminium boats as it helps prevent condensation and deck-clutter sounds.

Bailey Marine can apply decorative shapes or logos of the boat, either electronically or manually. To create the teak pattern, Bailey takes a pattern off the boat and lays it out over the blank Marinedeck. “The planks don’t fight you like teak does because there is no grain,” he says.

The work is pre-seamed to hold it together, rolled up and installed with glue on the boat with minimal disruption to the boat builder.

Marinedeck can be either 6mm or 9mm thick. Smaller boats tend to select 6mm to save weight and cost, but Bailey recommends 9mm for bigger boats to ensure the longer life. It is used on Extreme, Everyman and Stabicraft aluminium boats. B

“…a final consideration for the synthetic option is eco-friendliness.”