Sea Deck

[Dougcole]

We have synthetic teak flooring on our cabin soles, NuTeak, which is quite similar to Plasdeck. I love it for that installation, and have considered it for our cockpit. As I said, I had seadek for almost all of the exterior decks on the old boat, and have it in a few places on my flats boat. I also have Seadek on the treads of our FB stairs (also for our Lab) and strips of it on the gunnels of our Mainship where you typically step aboard.


Here is how I would compare the two:


The synthetic teak materials look much more like real teak. That's great in some applications, not so much in others. For instance, teak would look stupid on my poling platform, or as a random strip on a gunnel if there were no other teak decks on the boat. Seadek blends in more from an aesthetic standpoint.



Seadek provides considerably better traction than the synthetic teak products that I have seen. It's not just the texture, the softness helps as well.



The synthetic teak is more durable.


Synthetic teak is about twice the cost and considerably more complicated to install. Seadek can be cut from sheets or you can template the area you are covering and send it off to the company who will laser cut it for you, adding borders etc.


The decks on our old 1973 Gulfstar were in terrible shape cosmetically when we bought the boat. They likely had rot issues which were repaired by a PO. No rot was left, but they were VERY rough, uneven, discolored and downright ugly. A repair would have meant tackling a really big, somewhat costly project, which I was not ready to do on that boat at that time. So I covered them with Seadek. It looked and worked great. I think the roughness of the decks would have shown through plasteak unless I sanded and faired them.



You can get all kinds of colors and patterns in Seadek. Some of them are garish but different people have different tastes. It's not really meant to be an exact imitation of teak. As I said before, many people don't like the look of teak decks.



Both are good products, IMO.

 

[backinblue]

Thanks Doug, good info. My only comment, not having any experience with SeaDek, is the traction of the PermaTeek decking I had installed is very good, especially when wet. Much better than the original molded nonskid

 

[Bill The kid]

Having sea deck installed on swim platform, cockpit and upper helm. This is a little the cart before the horse I have already put a deposit down...
question is on maintaining and cleaning sea deck.. any suggestions
Pending your expert guidance,
Mike and the Admiral Karen

i put my sea deck down my self it good great . the only think on my dark color when it is wet the brown for the sea deck get on your feet, hands and close then i get all over the boat . i guess it is like a new red shirt done put it in with whites . i hope it stop soon thanks Captain BRrrrrrrr

 

[backinblue]

never heard of that. Maybe the OP should re-think the product?

 

[Scottwb96]

In case nobody has said it, Simple Green is all you need... blood, oil, wine, ground in grease, etc. it ALL comes out very easily with S.G....
FYI, you can also buy the flooring and do it yourself for a HUGE fraction of the "name brand cost"...
FYI, DO NOT get the non-striped versions!!! They become very slippery when wet and sun tan lotion (spray) gets on them...

 

[backinblue]

Just brings back to mind something a wise coast guard taught me in class. When buying something for a boat, always buy the best piece of equipment available for the intended purpose.

I realize that is not always possible or necessary, but it does make a point. You get what you pay for. Be careful where you skimp when it comes to your boat.

 

[BrianSmith]

We had SeaDeck added to our swim platform about 4 years ago, and we LOVE IT! Soft and grippy, easy to clean (even when it gets oily, greasy, bloody, etc.), and no signs of it coming unglued with lots of traffic on it. If I had a sailboat, I'd want it on every exterior deck surface just for the grippy-ness.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Question. I see you are in Florida. in direct sun does it get hot to the feet?

 

[Frank60]

I have SeaDek on my boat that was installed by a previous owner. After living with it for almost 4 years, here's my take on it.

1. It is nice on bare feet and looks great. It can get very hot in the sun though.
2. Nothing seems to leave permanent dents such as chair legs, etc. After the pressure is removed, it springs back after a few minutes.
3. Chair legs or anything sliding over the edges can damage the edge of the decking. For example, when you have multiple pieces to cover your aft deck, you don't want chair legs sliding across the edges of the pieces. Mine have been damaged from that, but I was able to carefully trim away some of the damage. We now have a piece of carpet to cover the SeaDek in our cockpit which kinda defeats the purpose of having SeaDek in the first place.
4. One of the biggest downsides is that physical damage cannot be repaired. You just have to replace the piece which is a real hassle. If the SeaDek is more than a few years old, the color fades such that a new piece will not match.
5. After about 5 to 7 years, the glue bond seems to break down. I've been removing, cleaning old glue and re-gluing pieces constantly. The process to do it right is a significant hassle, but I've gotten pretty good at it now. I complained to SeaDek who told me this was to be expected after that timeframe.
6. If the SeaDek edges are adhered to non-skid gelcoat vs smooth gelcoat, water will get under the SeaDek. This will hasten the failure of the glue. It can also cause some dirty water to squirt out the edges when stepped on. Ideally the SeaDek should span any non-skid and be adhered to smooth gelcoat. This is not always possible on a larger area where it takes more than one piece of SeaDek to cover the area.
7. It can be cleaned with almost anything as it is very durable from that standpoint. I use non-skid deck cleaner or boat soap. Stains can be removed with soft scrub.
8. Anywhere that the SeaDek goes into an inside corner, the gelcoat reflects and concentrates the sun and will cause the SeaDek to begin curling on the edge in the corner in a few years.

The net is that you need to be careful not to physically damage it and be sure that it's installed properly such that the edges are adhered to smooth gelcoat whenever possible. Plan on the glue bond starting to break down after 5 to 7 years requiring pieces to be re-glued.

 

[backinblue]

Thanks Frank. Wouldn't it make more sense to invest a little more and get one of the better synthetic teak products that more closely resembles real teak and is much more durable and attractive? Unless you are on a strict budget or have a boat without much $$$ value, why would you want this product?

 

[Frank60]

Thanks Frank. Wouldn't it make more sense to invest a little more and get one of the better synthetic teak products that more closely resembles real teak and is much more durable and attractive? Unless you are on a strict budget or have a boat without much $$$ value, why would you want this product?

I wouldn’t want SeaDek again. I don’t like anything that is easily damaged and can’t be repaired. I’d investigate other alternatives. Frankly for our next boat, I’m leaning towards the simplest maintenance approach. Maybe just non-skid that’s durable, repairable and easy to wash down.

 

[Mark P]

I installed Sea-dek on my old boat's cockpit and bow area. It was a SeaRay 280 SLX. The swim platform came with it when bought boat. Boat say outside in saltwater 24-7-365 for about 5 years. The material held up well, but a portion that was under the windshield was damage by sunlight magnification effect. I had to replace that piece. Basically, the adhesion let go. Hope this helps

 

[backinblue]

I wouldn’t want SeaDek again. I don’t like anything that is easily damaged and can’t be repaired. I’d investigate other alternatives. Frankly for our next boat, I’m leaning towards the simplest maintenance approach. Maybe just non-skid that’s durable, repairable and easy to wash down.

There are a few very good synthetic teak products that are exactly what you say, as well as being more functional (less slippery) than non-skid as well as being more attractive. Do a little research online. I chose Permateek which I think is one of the best, but certainly not the only choice. I used this company and they put a couple pictures of my boat on their website.

https://www.northcountryboatworks.com/permateek?lightbox=dataItem-k228d7h41

https://www.northcountryboatworks.com/permateek?lightbox=dataItem-k228d7h5