Do the damn job Right,,,,,

[Ian Wright]

in case you don't read Misc.

An article on real laid decks. YESSSSS! not to say Yeeee Haaaa.
Read, Oh Thou Unbelievers, Read and Hear the Truth.
NOW will you listen to me?

IanW.

[Art Read]

Uhmmm... Didn't he say he spent the first few years in "denial", after having obviously having done it WRONG? But hey, it only took five full time caulkers, (what, a week?) to get it patched up! (For now...) ;-}

[ken mcclure]

Yep. Read it there and responded there. Here's the same response here, where it's probably more appropriate:



And the timing on that article was great, for me. I've been thinking a lot about deck treatment for mine, although I probably won't be working on decking until sometime late next summer or after!

I seem to remember reading somewhere that a laid deck would not be appropriate on a small boat - less than 30 feet or so.

Mine is 19 feet LOD. I'm uncomfortable with laying teak over plywood because of the fears of water being trapped between layers. Is it even feasable to consider a straight-laid teak deck with plank ends nibbled into the covering boards? With a 6'8" beam I think there may be too much curve to handle a sprung deck.

[Dave Fleming]

KM, get a couple of sheets of ply with one good face.
Paint them off white or as I prefer light gray and layout a pattern of the area to be decked.
Then experiment with various laid deck methods. Im thinking myself that a nice delicate looking king plank might look fine in that length and width.
But if ya don't go fer it then 409 the pencil lines and try another method sorta like doing lofting.
Nice indoor project for the inclement weather days,ya folla?

[Frank Wentzel]

I agree with Art. I read the article several times (a symptom of old age) and decided it was the best argument I have ever seen for teak veneer over a glassed-plywood deck. The fact that the author built a "colander" the first time and that it took the efforts of five professional caulkers (where could most of us find a professional caulker?) to make it right is frightening! To say that it is an economical decking technique is also hard to understand. If it is done as the article indicates, the job is incredibly intricate and time consuming. Materials costs would be high. In addition, it seems to me that a laid deck is an inherently leaky system that can only be sealed through extraordinary design, consummate craftsmanship and a Leprechaun's luck! http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/confused.gif

/// Frank ///

[ken mcclure]

Good idea. I'll plan on it, Dave, and thanks! Now then. If I'm planking with strips, and the deck beams are around 29" apart, I would think that I'd need 1/2" thick strips at least. (The design calls for 3/8" if you're using plywood.) What deck plank width would be appropriate? Too wide and they won't bend ... too narrow and the deck will be mostly caulking. My imperfect memory is also telling me that there is a 'standard' ratio that is used for deck plank width/thickness.

I'll be digging into my library for some info on this as well, which is probably where I should have gone to begin with!

[Dave Fleming]

Probably something like 3x the depth to start with or as wide as the Teak will bend.
I agree too many seams and its gonna look too busy.That is why the layout is worth while.
Get the proportions between the king plank and the others right.
Use some pine to experiment with or better yet some good Phil Mahogony something with flex near the Teak.
Thems is gonna be mighty fine caulking seams laddy buck. Might just go with the poly stuff and those one edged seams with square butts.
Seems like WB had an article showing that not too long ago. Give a looksee whilst your doing nothing.
http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/biggrin.gif

[This message has been edited by Dave Fleming (edited 11-01-2001).]

[Bob Cleek]

Gee, I'd rather be thunkin' cotton straight down on a deck seam for a month of Sundays than spend half the time wrestling strip stock down onto a bed of 5200! Caulking isn't rocket science. The real art to caulking only comes into play when the seams are shot or weren't made right. Then the caulker makes up for the planker's mistakes. Deck seams are the easiest caulking job there is, though. No overheads, no backhanded whacks, and you don't need too many irons to fit into the odd ball spots. As for cost, well... I've never found plywood that was cheaper than wood right off the tree, that's for sure! And, the amount of goo you have to spread to lay a veneer deck costs a mint as well. In the end, for all the more dirty work and money you spend on a sandwich job, you only end up with something that looks like what it really isn't. Now, laid decks have no business on a boat that is too small to carry them. I don't think you can expect to really lay a proper caulked deck with less than 1" stock. If the boat can't carry that scantling, then she ought to be "canvassed," in which case plywood with Dynel and epoxy is the best bet, unless you are a glutton for punishment. (Canvas with an underlayment of Irish felt must be used with a tongue and groove deck underlayment, to allow the underlayment planks to move. If you want to Dynel and epoxy a T&G deck, lay a 1/4" ply on top of it. The T&G moves and without the underlayment, the plastic will crack in a hot minute at the plank seams.) Nothing looks more out of place to a trained eye than a "planked" veneer deck on a boat that is too small and light to carry a proper planked deck. No?

[ken mcclure]

Ok.

I started another thread to draw a wider response, so I don't want to be redundant. But I'm slooooowly coming around to the point of view that says "It's ok to be an idiot, just don't show everyone else."

[Ian Wright]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Bob Cleek:
[B]As for cost, well... I've never found plywood that was cheaper than wood right off the tree, that's for sure.

>. As for cost, well... I've never found plywood that was cheaper than wood right off the tree, that's for sure<

I haven't done the figures for a while but 12 years ago a real laid teak deck cost LESS (just) than a teak on ply job, and if you have to pay labour costs the difference was even more marked.

IanW

[Bob Cleek]

You can say that again, Ian... but I guess you just did. Still is a lot more expensive, I'd reckon...

[Smacksman]

Most smacks lay the deck planking fore and aft and don't follow the covering board. This does mean that that filling pieces are needed under the hood ends for support but at least you can lay a 2" deck without a struggle bending the 4"x2" on edge and storing up a huge load of forces.
Half lap the butts seems to work well - better than a scarf which leaves a delicate feather edge for problems with later wear.

[Mirelle]

Half the art of caulking is to get a good thickness of cotton hard into the wide part of the seam; not a thin strand punched into the back of the seam.

(I'm still working on the other half...)