Well I've been unable to get much done over the past few weeks due to a bad back, but I'm finally starting to feel a bit better so I'm making some progress again.
The foredeck has a bad spot where the lifeline stantion was pushed through and had been patched with an ugly layer of epoxy that didn't do much except look bad. I used a heat gun to soften up the epoxy and then prised it up with a thin pry bar. I've scraped away all the soft wood and will allow it to dry out for a couple of weeks.
I must say I was a bit disappointed to find that the teak decking was originally only 1/4" thick and had been sanded down who knows how many times, leaving little more than 1/16" remaining. The teak was laid down on top of 1/4" of mahogany exposed to the interior, and then 1/4" plywood with a layer of fiberglas between the plywood and teak. Unfortunatly I think I will have to continue with the Cetol coating rather than leaving the deck natural since the wood is so thin.
This is the damage done when a lifeline stantion was hit hard and poked a hole through the deck. A bad repair alowed water penetration and the plywood under the teak began to rot.
The water eventually made it's way down to the oak beam and caused about 6" to rot. Forunately there is still enough solid wood left resting on the gusset support. An hour or so with hammer an chisel to cut out the rot and shape the beam for a patch
The teak appears to have originally been 1/4" thick but after who knows how many sandings and refinishings over the past 33 years, it is now only 1/16th". I've cut back the teak with staggard joints
A new peice of oak married to the original with epoxy and screws.
The deck is composed of 3 - 1/4" layers. Here the interior layer is in place and thickend epoxy has been spread on prior to installing the middle layer of plywood
Finally, new teak strips are screwed down to the new plywood. The screws act as spacers and pieces of "all-around" act as washers to prevent the screw heads from slipping between the boards. Next step is to fill the gaps between the boards and let it cure and then sand it all down to the level of the rest of the deck.
I can't believe that May is almost done and I'm still working on the deck.
The patch on the foredeck turned out not bad but we'll have to see how it looks once the CETOL is on.
I found 4 or 5 other bad spots that also needed patching, but none as bad as the foredeck.
