A Deck Dilemma

[ron ll]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Goodbye pretty plank deck. 😕

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[cstevens]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Hello winter cruising with a dry bunk!

[ron ll]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Hello winter cruising with a dry bunk!

Yes indeed! I keep finding more things that are going to be a whole lot simpler when it doesn’t rain inside the boat.

[ron ll]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

The fun part. (Heck, it’s all fun.)

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[ron ll]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Yikes. It’s going away as I’m dry fitting more pieces.

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[Pelirrojo]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Looks great. A refinement we developed doing a ton of these was to fasten the plywood down with narrow crown staples in a pneumatic stapler. They pull great and it is way easier than needing to try to use weights or temporary screws with washers. I have always laid the ply in epoxy not having to rush to use screws makes a big difference. I also like to add half round or coved trim bedded in sikaflex around the edges of the bulwarks after glassing to help cover the glass edge. A few months after I did Auklets deck, John told me that he though it had a small leak. Turned out the overlay deck was so tight he was getting condensation forward for the first time in 20 years of ownership.

Nicholas

Nicholas.

[Boatbum]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

I might wear a pre-distressed leather bomber jacket bought off the rack at Macy's (well, no - I wouldn't, but never mind) but I would never say that it is anything other than an imitation of the real thing. Just because it looks the same and it's made of the same material, doesn't mean it's "real". Again, I don't mean any slight to teak-over-plywood decks in their proper place. But that place is not on a real work boat. My two cents. Other people may reasonably disagree. And I'll admit to being a work boat snob here. I am not ashamed.

I bet TDS would make a deck out of fir as well and then it would look a proper work boat

[ron ll]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Thanks Nicholas. I’ve done the last two decks with the pneumatic staples and it has worked great. I usually go over the ply with a rubber mallet before stapling to help insure it is well bedded into the thickened epoxy. I like your idea of using a cove piece at the bulwarks. I was going to cove with epoxy fairing compound but I think your bedded cove might make any future repairs to bulwarks or sheer planks easier. Do you glass up on the bulwarks or stop the cloth at the flat surface?

[Pelirrojo]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Depending on what size cove is going to look right, I usually carry my glass go up a 1/4, of 1/2 on the bulwark, I find its easiest to use tape to mask of the area above so that I can lay my glass a little past where I want the actual boarder to end. Then once the glass is mostly cured I razor knife off the excess. I also typically try wet out the cloth with fairing compound at the same time so that I don't have to do a whole second fill after washing the blush off. I find doing the decks sorta satisfying because you know you're adding years of life to the boat.

Nicholas

[pcford]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Bruce calls it strip planking. If the seams are routered out to a bit wider than the widest gap, the splines glued in, should work OK.

Nonsense. Ever look at a boat with splined hull? I guess not. Unless the boats environment is carefully controlled, the same forces with be at work. Also this deck is far too thin to function as a laid/properly caulked deck.

[ron ll]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Far too thin? This deck is 2” net thick x 2-12” net Shaw Island fir. How thick is a properly laid deck?

[pcford]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Far too thin? This deck is 2” net thick x 2-12” net Shaw Island fir. How thick is a properly laid deck?

Sorry. I was referring to image #16 of Whizbang's deck. Looks like it is 1" nominal. Far too thin. It will never be tight.

[ron ll]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

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[Geftb]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Hey Ron, a shame to lose the ol’ deck look but I get it.
are you going to reef the old seams and epoxy them or just go over the top as is?

steve.

[chas]

Re: A Deck Dilemma

Splined hull, perhaps not such a controlled environment. Seems to work well, although it’s only been 75 years so far! / Jim
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PS. Would that work on a traditional laid fir deck in the PNW climate, not be my first choice. I might lay that ply over the fir decking shown with sub-floor adhesive to allow for the subsequent movement of the original decking during periods of high humidity.