The teak decks on Mirage are quite rutted where some of the softwood has been scrubbed away, leaving the caulking standing proud. I'd like to get this all flushed up.
Before I bought the boat, the previous owner had a lot of the seams repaired at great cost, however, there are lots that still need doing (especially at the very edges).
I do love the teak decks and wouldn't be without them (I know the come in for some flack being wafer thin), so I want to get them looking their best whilst preserving as much of the teak as possible.
The plan stands as this:
- Spot repair the decks using TDS (I got the hook and TDS seam sander for Xmas!) following this guide: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kv7Ez2gdw0k - I can get down at lunchtimes and spend an hour at a time doing this. I'll be pretty ruthless - if I am even slightly unsure of a seam, I'll strip it out.
- Once all the seams are done to my satisfaction (2026?? :) ) Sand back the teak decks to get them flat and true.
Some questions around this process:
- Do you need to use bond breaker tape at the bottom of the seams using TDS?
- Whats the best, least destructive, method of getting the decks flush? Carefully with a belt sander at 220 grit? Using a Fein with the triangle sanding pad to just flat off those regions? Use a chisel to take off the 'ridges' of caulking first?
And yes, I do have knee pads after painting the deck of my last boat :) (http://www.albinballad.co.uk/how-tos/paint-deck-outside-winter/)
Glad you have the knee pads - that would have been my first recommendation. Second the swear box which will allow you to save up for your kids' Xmas presents.
Practical things. The seams are shallow. breaker tape not needed - that is used on thick (9mm+) teak where it is important the caulking sticks just to the sides not the bottom to allow for movement. Not sure of your boat, but some early Bavs had ply backed panels and thin teak veneers, but you won't know how deep the seams are until you clean some caulking out. Depth of teak remaining will determine how much you can safely sand. Two schools of thought on caulking. One is over fill and sand off the excess other is to mask and remove tape before caulk sets. I tried both on my teak deck project (still got the hard knees after 8 years, even though I had toughened them up beforehand by laying a large decking!). I ended up preferring the latter mainly because the Saba that I used needed a lot of sanding. You will find that 220 won't make much of an impression - I used 120 on a belt sander. The downside of masking is that you have to deal with lengths of tape with caulking attached which have a mind of their own, particularly if there is any breeze. Gloves and a deep cardboard box alongside with a brick in the bottom to stop it blowing around I found the best way of taming it. Then let the caulk cure in the box and you can just scrunch the waste up.
Finally go easy on the sanding. The teak is poor quality plantation grown (what do you expect for the price), not very thick, and after all these years exposed to the elements will be impossible to get flat overall. Best you can hope for is keeping it looking respectable for another 10 years or so.
I've only got teak in the cockpit but I'd echo the advice given by Symphony. I do like the brick in the box: why didn't I think of that?
A minor tweak I've developed is to lay the caulk very slightly proud and then use the back of a teaspoon to run over the top of the seam. That removes any excess but also fills any little holidays you might have left in when putting in the caulk. Lots of paper towel and disposable gloves are useful to minimise the spread of the caulk: change gloves frequently and use the paper towels to keep on top of cleaning up as you go.
Thank you both - the masochist in me looks forward to this job - I'm sure such enthusiasm will be short lived once I get cracking :D.
I look at the state of my cockpit teak every so often, then decide that I'd rather go sailing.
one other comment on sanding - especially if you are sealing the teak. Don't sand! there isn't much there to sand but if you sand smooth as the caulking manufacturer generally advise for thicker teak you end up making the deck very slick. I had the yard re-caulk my cockpit when repairing a split strip of teak that was lifting and the result is a very slippery cockpit floor. I recaulked the remainder of the deck myself and tape every section off and removed the tape leaving the caulk standing proud, trimming the caulk where necessary. See attachments - taping and then caulking in sections. then cleaning, brightening and sealing teak after caulking.
Thanks for that - I will avoid sanding in that case!