Author Topic: Teak Maintenance  (Read 5639 times)

sailprincess

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Teak Maintenance
« on: March 18 2016, 21:13 »
I think most of us have teak cockpits and some of us have teak decks as well. We have both on our 2002 Bavaria 40 and I don't think it was ever touched by previous owner (we bought in 2014). The black caulking is standing proud of the teak and the teak is a bit jagged (read: splintery!) in a few places as well. What does everyone do to maintain the teak on their Bavaria? We don't want to varnish anything, but would like to take good care of it. :)

Yngmar

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Re: Teak Maintenance
« Reply #1 on: March 18 2016, 21:40 »
Teak decking, seats, etc. is meant to go grey. You clean it preferably with saltwater (fresh will do in a pinch) and a brush, scrubbing perpendicular to the grain, never along the grain. Ideally you do this as rarely and as gently as possible, because each time you scrub it, you're irrevocably removing some of it. You can then spray it with a biocide (Patio Magic, Lidl's Baufix or similar) to keep green growth off it for a while, which extends the time between scrubs. Some people oil theirs or "restore" it with expensive 2-part acid products, but those people also eat children.

Caulking standing out of the teak can be cut or sanded down, but that's hardly worth it as the teak decking on Bavarias is fairly thin and by the time your caulking sticks out significantly, you'll soon meet the plywood base it's glued on (you can check how much remains in some areas by removing a deck fitting to expose the edge). When that happens, it's time to renew it, which is a rather lengthy and expensive job. Or get rid of it, although you'll then have a most awful time trying to clean the glue off the gelcoat underneath. Or put on PVC fake teak (Dek-King, Plasteak, etc.), which looks dreadful and wrong but lasts forever.

Exterior teak trim (anything you don't sit/walk on) can be treated in exactly the same way and left grey, although it will last much longer if varnished. That means either taking the bits off, or masking them off to do it in place. Varnish over epoxy will last even longer, but can be tricky to apply and has various ways of going completely wrong. You can also use a modern hybrid coating like International Woodskin (formerly/elsewhere known as Cetol), which is easier than varnishing and protects the wood, but doesn't look quite as nice. You can also oil your teak trim, but real teak oil is very dear, which is why most "teak oil" products are made of mostly linseed oil and kinda suck. Oil will need redoing regularly, a good varnish job will last a few years and longer with more coats or an epoxy undercoat. In each case you'll want to sand, dry and clean the teak before protecting it.
(formerly) Sailing Songbird  ⛵️ Bavaria 40 Ocean (2001)

Spirit of Mary

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Re: Teak Maintenance
« Reply #2 on: March 18 2016, 21:55 »
HI,
My BAV 38 is year 2003 and has a teak deck. It is only used in the Med. In 2008 when I bought the boat the caulk (Sikaflex)showed the first signs of detoriation with strange enough some spots of softening and some spots of hardening. In 2013 I replaced all the seams with a caulk based on modified silicon brand TDS. The Sikaflex is Polyurethane based and less UV resistant.
Leaking seams in the med is not as worst as in North of Europe because of the frost there. The frost causes the teak to loosen from the underlayer material. In my case the underlayer is a thin hard plastic. In 2002/2003 Bavaria changed from "waterproof" multiplex to this hard plastic. The multiplex has the disadvantage not to be full waterproof underlayer. Watertight seams are therefore very important. Further the Bavaria teak is very thin and maybe in your case due to wear around 4 - 5 mm left. The seams are wearing less and are standing proud? to the wood. Cleaning only by brushing square to the seams, otherwise the soft wood is removed and you get a jagged? surface. No varnishing, maybe teak oil if you want some more teak coulor.
Ger

tiger79

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Re: Teak Maintenance
« Reply #3 on: March 18 2016, 22:08 »
I think most of us have teak cockpits and some of us have teak decks as well. We have both on our 2002 Bavaria 40 and I don't think it was ever touched by previous owner (we bought in 2014). The black caulking is standing proud of the teak and the teak is a bit jagged (read: splintery!) in a few places as well. What does everyone do to maintain the teak on their Bavaria? We don't want to varnish anything, but would like to take good care of it. :)

Whatever you do, you need to be very gentle, because the teak was fairly thin when new, and will be even thinner now.  You can remove the excess caulking by cutting it off with a small scalpel-like craft knife, a process which will take a long time but will do minimal damage to the teak.  Then you can gently sand the surface to even things up, but be very gentle indeed.  When I did it, I used a lightweight DIY belt sander with fine-grade paper.  Then treat the teak with Boracol, which is an algaecide and fungicide and will let the teak weather to a silvery grey.  Don't ever scrub it - just wash now and again with a sponge.  A lot of the "dirt" which people try to get off teak isn't dirt at all, it's tiny mould spots, and Boracol will stop these forming, so it'll look cleaner.  You need to repeat the Boracol treatment every 4/5 months.

I spent a lot of time sorting the teak deck on my last boat, a Hallberg-Rassy, and vowed that I'd never again have teak!  My new Cruiser 37 has DuraDeck, which looks good and doesn't need maintenance.

abouttime

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Re: Teak Maintenance
« Reply #4 on: March 19 2016, 19:10 »
Quote
...Or put on PVC fake teak (Dek-King, Plasteak, etc.), which looks dreadful and wrong but lasts forever...

It's obviously a personal judgement but I'm not at all sure the new 'fake' looks dreadful at all. I've looked at many suppliers and the colour range, look and even feel of the latest options seem pretty attractive to me.

My Bav 40 was build in 2001 and I've owned her from new. The teak deck is on its last legs. I've had it re caulked two years ago as the caulk had deteriorated from UV. Oddly, the cockpit is fine it's just the decks that have suffered.
I have considered going back to plastic decks, relaying the teak or the laminate. I'm leaning towards the laminate. One thing that surprised me though is the weight of laminate decking, which I think is going to work out heavier than the engineered stuff on it now.

tiger79

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Re: Teak Maintenance
« Reply #5 on: March 19 2016, 20:47 »

It's obviously a personal judgement but I'm not at all sure the new 'fake' looks dreadful at all. I've looked at many suppliers and the colour range, look and even feel of the latest options seem pretty attractive to me.


I agree, I reckon the DuraDeck fake teak on my Cruiser is a fairly convincing finish.


PagetalPaul

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Re: Teak Maintenance - Replacing
« Reply #6 on: July 29 2018, 21:58 »
We looked carefully, and then took the plunge - we have got "gulps" FAKE teak decks!

One year on and what can I advise? They are easier and quicker to clean, with no hassle for new crew as to which way to scrub; they are less slippery for deck shoes than teak - whether wet or dry underfoot; it they do suffer damage, a scalpel sorts it out; it is 3 to 4 mm thick, and the same colour the whole way through.

And another strange thing - we have had more compliments about how we keep the teak looking so well (we chose the colour carefully) in the last year, than we have ever had in the 18 years before that. Boat = 34, on water October 1999, and still going strong!!!

Neil

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Re: Teak Maintenance
« Reply #7 on: August 07 2018, 14:39 »
Boracol twice a year, and leaving it alone otherwise works well for me.

tckearney

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Re: Teak Maintenance
« Reply #8 on: August 07 2018, 21:49 »
Hi pagetalpaul   come on give us a price !  and boat size.  I've been looking at it