1968 GB42 teak deck removal help

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GrandWood

Senior Member
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Jul 16, 2022
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Currently negotiating on a boat, and the teak decks are pretty worn, reading survey, it’s teak laid on plywood.

Seen many GBs were they have removed teak and glassed over the deck, but I believe those I’ve seen have been newer GBs with glass under the teak.

With plywood once the teak is removed, do you glass over the plywood to seal up the decks? Or is there another way to repair um.

Thanks
 
I am sure that can be done. However wood and 'glass flex in different ways.
 
The teak deck on a GB woody is a lot thicker than its younger glass siblings. I have heard the deck was designed as an integral structural component. I would be reluctant to remove the deck. Can the deck be renovated; refastened, plugged and re-seamed?
 
The teak deck on a GB woody is a lot thicker than its younger glass siblings. I have heard the deck was designed as an integral structural component. I would be reluctant to remove the deck. Can the deck be renovated; refastened, plugged and re-seamed?

The teak is in rough shape, really worn. The decks are not leaking, I just thought I would be able to remove the teak and glass over the plywood, or maybe epoxy the deck and then some good paint.
 
Either proposal (glass over ply or glass over laid-teak) is going to be a significant undertaking, and the long-term success of it will be largely determined by how well the ply/wood can be prepared for epoxy adhesion, and by how you handle the termination of the glass. Do you simply abut the cabin side and bulwarks and maintain a very good caulk-joint or do you run it up the cabin side and bulwarks a few inches? how much do those joints move, and are you going to try to accommodate that movement or prevent that movement?


Glassing-over traditional wooden construction can be very well done, or it can create more problems than it solves over the long term, it's all in the details.
 
In case the teak is structural maybe something like spraying bedliner over it. There is a member here that did it and said it worked great. PassageMaker Magazine did an article on it a long time ago. Search for bedliner on deck here.
 
In case the teak is structural maybe something like spraying bedliner over it. There is a member here that did it and said it worked great. PassageMaker Magazine did an article on it a long time ago. Search for bedliner on deck here.

And being an all wood deck it might actually work. On teak over glass by the time you would consider bed liner the core in the glass layup is likely rotted away. Covering it up won't fix it. On the plywood deck if the ply was compromised you'd likely be able to tell from underneath.
As said above on the wood boats the teak was thicker than on glass. Before just ripping it up I'd do some probing to see how thick the remaining teak is and do I dare to plane, grind, sand down to good material. I've seen people rent a floor sander for that, made the job go pretty quickly.
 
The article on the bedliner said he sanded it to get the caulk flush but that was all.
 
Theres no soft spots in any of the main deck, broker told me the teak was rough, really worn. If I can save it I would much rather it stay.

Just checking all options, if I sanded pulled out the old caulk and put new, that would be the best. Just prolly have to lower fill spouts in the deck.
 
Is it missing a lot on bungs? That happens after too many sandings. But if there are few missing sand it, you can decide to keep or not after that.
BTW, the older GB teak decks were bedded into a goop making leaks less likely. But that process also makes a mess of plywood when teak removed. Those that removed reported flex in ply so the teak was part of the structure.
There used to be many threads on topic and some considered laying a plywood over top of teak and then glassing, none reported doing it.
Like the bedding suggested ply over glassed is also an option
 
Is it missing a lot on bungs? That happens after too many sandings. But if there are few missing sand it, you can decide to keep or not after that.
BTW, the older GB teak decks were bedded into a goop making leaks less likely. But that process also makes a mess of plywood when teak removed. Those that removed reported flex in ply so the teak was part of the structure.
There used to be many threads on topic and some considered laying a plywood over top of teak and then glassing, none reported doing it.
Like the bedding suggested ply over glassed is also an option

Broker said there were missing bungs, just have to get a visual, see how bad they really are.

Only pic of the deck I have shows the recessed cockpit, and it’s painted, no teak there. So seems it can be removed and painted. I wouldn’t mind saving what’s left of the teak decks though. They’re not leaking, so dust um off with sander and see how they look like ya say.

I could see if they are really thin, sanding down even more, and then glassing over that might be a good option.
 
Broker said there were missing bungs, just have to get a visual, see how bad they really are.

Only pic of the deck I have shows the recessed cockpit, and it’s painted, no teak there. So seems it can be removed and painted. I wouldn’t mind saving what’s left of the teak decks though. They’re not leaking, so dust um off with sander and see how they look like ya say.

I could see if they are really thin, sanding down even more, and then glassing over that might be a good option.

If you sand to "new" wood, you will likely sand through a few more bungs. remove the screws and put in new bungs. Screws were there to hold the boards in position while the bedding material set, so haven't had any reason to hang around for a very long time. All the screws have done in decades is provide potential for leaks. Better if they are gone.
 
If you sand to "new" wood, you will likely sand through a few more bungs. remove the screws and put in new bungs. Screws were there to hold the boards in position while the bedding material set, so haven't had any reason to hang around for a very long time. All the screws have done in decades is provide potential for leaks. Better if they are gone.

That sounds like the best way yet, like was said previously here, drill down into the ply for the new bungs, little epoxy in bottom of holes, the sand smooth?

Careful not to go threw the plywood, very careful.
Believe I can do that.
 
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