Jim,
I am working with teak decks, but this is not by any means to promote my
business, just give some ideas to solve your problem.
Teak decks typically leak from two reasons, 1. teak plugs/ screw holes or 2.
caulk between teak failed.
If you hose your deck and look when it is drying you can see problem spots
as they will remain wet way longer than surrounding areas, example if teak
next to seam stays wet longer than other areas, seam failed and water gets
in. If plugs over screws are loose they usually have black mildew ring
around.
Now you say subdeck is plywood, and I am sorry to inform you that it will
rot, for sure over the time. I have never seen teak plywood with all teak
wood plyes in it and even it would be all teak ply, it will delaminate over
the time if it stays wet. So whatever you do it is best to do sooner than
later.
If you know that your problem is caused by screws/plugs and your deck is
otherwise in good shape, you should not need to remove teak, but simply
remove all teak plugs ( best tool for this is cutter by
www.hougen.com/cutters/sheetmetal/Rotacut.html ) and countersink holes
little deeper, replace all screws and dip new screw to teak deck caulk to
seal hole around screw and re-plug every screw hole. If plug is properly
glued in with epoxy water will not get in and the leak is eliminated for
many years.
If your seams are bad you have much more work to save your deck because bad
seams need to come out and teak edges have to be cleaned to bare teak and
then re-caulked. Re-caulking is very difficult to do and makes sence only if
you really have lot of teak left.
Good luck for your project
Best Regards,
J.T.
www.TeakDeckCompany.com
Custom Teak Decks and Ready to install Teak Deck Panels for Boat Owners,
Builders and Professional Installers
"Jim" wrote in message
nk.net...
....Ken wrote:
Have you considered glueing a new teak deck (3/16" thick strips) on top
of
the old one ?
My decks are in pretty good shape. The teak is plenty thick and there are
no problems, except for the 2000+ screw holes in the deck.
Over the years some screws have worked loose. When the deck is flooded
some water finds its way below the wood and into the screw holes.
I have fiberglass decks with a plywood core, typical construction.
Fortunately the wood core is all teak, so rot may not be a problem.
The water soaks the wood and washes out the glue, then eventually finds
it's way through the inside layer of glass and leaks coffee colored water.
Cold wood tea.
I've been draining these voids, finding the wet screw and injecting epoxy
into the screw hole, then redrilling and putting the old screw back.
Every screw in the deck is 7/8, so no long ones have been added.
I figure that I'm in for a lifetime of fixing little leaks unless those
2000+ screws go away.
When it stops raining maybe I'll change my mind.