Teak Decking

Modern Teak Laying

Modern teak deck layouts tend to have fewer joins than older ones, related to the width of the teak planks installed. In earlier times the standard width of teak planks layed used to be 25 to 30mm, wheras today the standard is 40mm. This makes the teak deck look more spacious, tidier and the color and quality of the teak used comes far better into its own.

Depending on the customer's demand, we use teak planks with a thickness of 10mm or 12mm. All planks are laid individually and are permanently glued to the deck structure. Screws, pins and other fastening aids are not used, which gives the finished deck a homogeneous appearance and provides maximum protection against water ingress into the deck structure. For this process, we only use caulking and adhesive compounds from the brands SIKA or BOSTIK. Design and shape can be individually adapted according to customer requirements.

If the use of the yacht or operating time creates a problem when making the teak deck, our team can create custom made teak panels in advance to save time during the installation of the teak deck.

Making templates of the deck areas out of 6mm marine plywood, the teak is then laid out and caulked together in the workshop before the panel is glued onto the deck in one piece. This process is much quicker than the conventional method and reduces the thickness of the planks to 8mm. To achieve a perfect bonding of the prefabricated panels to the deck structure, either special weights or a vacuum bag are used until the adhesive has fully cured out, depending on the installation location and weather conditions.

Precision Teak Fitting

The biggest challenge for the team when laying a new teak deck is making sure that the teak looks symmetrical. The very nature of boats means that their decks are never 100% symmetrical, especially when there are hatches and deck fittings to work around. So, we take care to lay the teak with the utmost precision. Sometimes this means to sand just 1mm off each piece of wood to reduce a margin across the whole width of the boat to make sure it matches on both sides of the yacht. Care is also taken to ensure that placement of the snape joins are uniform and follow the natural flow of the deck.

The Finishing Touch

The deck is then left for two weeks to cure before the team sands it back to 120 grade grit using orbital sanders. This gives the new teak deck the final finish before the deck fittings are put back in place.