Keeping up Appearances - Part Seven

Just about everything we own needs cleaning. Boats are no exception. Removing grime from a fibreglass cruiser is relatively easy due to its smooth surface, although it still involves a fair amount of effort. However, if you are blessed (some might say cursed) with teak decks, the cleaning is more arduous.

This month I thought I'd look at how best to maintain and preserve a teak deck - the pride and joy of your "pride and joy".

Generally, a timber deck has a shorter lifespan than the rest of a boat. If given proper care and maintenance, and if laid as described in last month's article, teak decks can be expected to last 10-15 years. Sure, some vintage boats still have their original teak decks, but investigation would probably reveal that their timber is over 2in thick and of a quality no longer available.

The modern board is probably only half-an-inch or possibly even three-eighths of an inch thick and has been laid solely for its looks. In such cases, the quality of the wood is often suspect. So if you want to get the maximum life from the deck, you must take care of it.

Let's start at the beginning. Assume the deck has just been laid, the shipwright has just removed the dust from the final sanding, and you've just handed over the cheque. As you hose the deck down, the water flushes away the debris and the true beauty of the timber is revealed. I personally know of few things to rival the appearance of a wet, freshly laid teak deck. The character of the timber, starkly bordered with black sealant, and the curves and kerfs of the boards as they emphasise the lines of the boat, are truly something to behold.

If only it stayed like that. Well, it can. There are systems on the market, mostly oil-based, that seal the wood from the elements and maintain the beauty of the grain. But people who have used these systems tell me they are lots of trouble and deteriorate over time.

If you use these systems and your decks are exposed to a high degree of ultraviolet - and let's face it, Australia has that in abundance - you may be making a rod for your own back. In Europe it may be different. The choice is yours.

All I can suggest is that you investigate the brands on the market, and if that is the road you want to travel, then go for it.

Personally, I allow Mother Nature to weather the teak to a soft silver colour. This results in a deck surface that, with a minimum amount of maintenance, still draws admiring glances.

CONFRONTING THE ENEMY
The biggest enemy of a teak deck is dirt or grime, which forms an abrasive surface over the timber. In combination with people walking on the deck, this removes a surprising amount of timber over the years.

Of course, the high-traffic areas of your boat are the worst affected - especially those places where feet pivot on the deck. Even the soft sole of a boating shoe acts like abrasive sandpaper in these circumstances.

One answer to this problem is to cover these areas with something that will protect the deck. Small mats are OK, but a more attractive solution is grating made from the same timber as the deck, in this case teak. If you are handy, you can make these yourself. As they use very little material, they don't cost a lot to make. Alternatively, any small cabinet-making shop will be able to price them for you.

I have successfully used grates on my boat. On the bottom of the grate, I position rubber discs to raise it from the surface of the deck. These self-adhesive discs are available from any hardware store. They allow the water flow under the grate and prevent the build-up of dirt.

Providing your boat is all fibreglass and rot is not a problem, the best method of keeping the deck clean is fresh water, and plenty of it. Otherwise use salt water, which is a mild bleaching agent and therefore helps maintain that soft silver colour.

Over time, fresh water will not be enough to clean teak. Every six months or so a thorough scrub will be necessary. Proceed with caution, as all cleaning generally involves some removal of the surface. This, of course, accelerates the wear of the deck.

Most of the time I just use a mild detergent and a soft brush. I always scrub across the grain of the teak, because if you scrub with the grain, the softer part of the wood is more easily removed. The surface then becomes a series of deep valleys and high peaks. Some boards will be more prone to this than others, depending on what part of the log they were cut from. You will soon get to know these problem areas. The best thing is to scrub them lightly.

TWICE-YEARLY BLEACHING
On the shelves in the chandlery you will often come across containers of Teak Brightener or something similar. These are very good but expensive. Personally, every year or so, I give the decks a once over with either oxalic acid or a strong solution of chlorine bleach. These achieve the same results but are much cheaper.

Both are potent chemicals and should be handled with the respect they deserve. Strong chlorine splashed into an eye will immediately cause a painful blister to form. The irritation as it heals is almost beyond belief. I sure have suffered for my boating pleasure over the years!

Nowadays I approach the task with a little commonsense. I wear a face mask and heavy-duty industrial gloves that reach past the elbows.

First, wet the boat thoroughly. Remember that both of these chemicals are powerful bleaching agents and will react with most surfaces they come in contact with. The last thing you want is to have bleach streaks all down the side of the boat, and the best way to avoid this is to keep the sides wet at all times. This way, if any bleach dribbles down, it will be diluted.

I work with a bucket, a sponge and a little detergent too. This produces a sudsy mix that helps ensure all the timber has been covered.

Work on reasonably large areas and apply the solution evenly. Don't, for instance, stop halfway down the sidedeck, as this may lead to one half being more bleached than the other. I leave the solution on for about 10 minutes, depending on its strength, then hose off. If your deck has been very dirty, the results can be spectacular and well worth the effort.

Don't overdo the bleaching - no more than twice a year - as it seems to soften those problem boards we mentioned earlier. But this may be my imagination; sometimes I think the word paranoia was invented at the time the first teak deck was laid. Remember, too, that harsh chemicals are not the best thing for the sealant between the boards, particularly for older decks. It's a judgement call.

POPPING PLUGS
As the years pass, wear will start to erode the deck. The first manifestation of this is generally when plugs start to pop from over the fastenings. These plugs are small dowels of timber inserted into the hole made by the fastening. The dowels are then epoxy-glued into place and sanded level with the board. The final thickness of the plug is the effective wear-thickness of the deck. This is generally around three-sixteenths of an inch thick, perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less, depending on the savagery of the final sanding.

Plug popping first occurs in high traffic areas, and that's why I suggest protecting these areas. This extends the life of the deck by years.

The repair action in this instance is fairly straightforward. Remove the fastening from the deck, drill the hole slightly deeper and reinsert the screw. Make sure you use the correct-sized speed bore, which is a straight-sided wood drill Cut a new plug and glue it into the hole. When the glue has cured, pare the plug flush with a sharp chisel. Don't use sandpaper, as the area is thin enough already.

If the problem is acute, and the deck is on its last legs anyway, I leave the fastening out altogether, drill as deep as possible, squirt in epoxy glue and bang down a plug. Of course, this only leaves the original glue to hold the board in place, but after all those years, I hope it doesn't want to move much anyway.

When you have to resort to this, the deck will soon have to be replaced. But I got another two years out of mine before the evil day could be put off no longer.

Another repair that is occasionally required is if the sealant releases from the sides of the deck boards. This usually happens to small areas at a time. Full deck reseals are rare - usually they only occur if the original job was sloppy.

I use the tang of a file, bent over and ground to the thickness of the seam. Rake out all the defective sealant and remove debris from the groove. Follow the manufacturer's instructions with regard to priming.

I generally mask each side with masking tape. This reduces the amount of sanding necessary at the end of the job and minimises the removal of the precious deck.

Sometimes a split board has to be replaced. This job is best left to the experts. In my case, I had a split king plank on the foredeck repaired. Many shipwrights specialise in this sort of thing.

First, the shipwright removes the offending plank with the aid of a small trimming router. The area underneath is then cleaned and all traces of the old glue removed. The shipwright then makes a template of the plank using scrap plywood before fashioning a master template, which is worked on until it fits perfectly. Using the master template, the shipwright then cuts a new plank from a piece of quarter-sawn teak.

You must use the best quality timber possible, as the dimensions of the board are quite wide and poor wood will only split again. The new board is epoxy glued and screwed into place.

After curing, apply the Sikaflex sealant into the grooves. Leave this to cure for a week then sand it fair to the deck. The repair will take six months or so to blend into the rest of the deck.

REPLACE OR REMOVE?
If you happen to own a boat where it's no longer possible to prolong the life of its teak decks, a decision has to be made: replace or remove?

Replacement involves huge sums of money, typically over $800 per square metre. If this is beyond the budget, removal is the only option.

Tearing up a teak deck almost brings tears to my eyes, and depending on the glue used in the original installation, it can be a difficult and expensive job in itself. You must remove every fastening and seal all the holes with epoxy. Often the whole substrate needs grinding and sanding to bring to an acceptable finish.

Sometimes a completely new deck in the form of glass and resin must be applied. This is then filled with filler and faired smooth. What you put on top of this is up to you. I have seen cork sheet laid, but it leaves a bit to be desired. I would just paint with a good non-skid deck paint and leave it at that. At least it will be easy to maintain.