Preparation for Teak Deck

                                   Preparation for Teak Deck Installation

Due to the removal of the original teak deck between the sub deck and the deck house a gap remained.

This gap needed to be closed before the actual installation of the teak deck could be started.

There were two options discussed to close the gap, one was to fabricate a teak plank which would be slide under the deck house and at the same time would be a “guide” plank where the teak deck planks would be fitted against, the challenge here was that the gap was bigger than the new to be installed teak plank 12 mm compared to the original 16 mm. Second option was to fill the gap between the new sub deck and the deck house with a mahogany filling plank.

The last option was chosen.

Since there is some damage to the deck due to the removal of the teak planks it was decided to place a slightly thicker filling plank than the actual width of the gap.

First step was to fabricate a filling plank bearing in mind that the gap was around 16 mm, original thickness of the teak it was decided to make the filing plank 19 mm thick, this way approximately 4 mm was removed from the bottom side of the deck house, 1 mm for the thickness of the multi tool saw-blade.

Since there is an angle between the deck house and the actual deck, angle measurements were taken before the actual filling plank was made, bearing in mind that the filling plank should make a 90 degree angle with the sub deck.

With the filling plank prepared approximately 3 mm was cut from the bottom side of the deck house with the multi tool, using as a guide the to be installed filling plank.

In my case also the inside support planks between the deck house and the actual deck

beams were mainly rotten away and it was decided to completely renew these planks as well.

When these planks are removed the deck house is more or less loose from the actual deck construction and can move downwards and outwards. This might result in that when the filling planks are glued in position that the deck house will not be in the original position anymore. Therefore several temporarily supports were installed between the deck beams and the deck house. After these supports were insalled the complete plank was removed.

The new filling plank was fitted and glued in place with two component epoxy glue with an added mahogany pigment to match the color of the wood installed

To make sure that the glue line would be minimal pegs were installed to push the filling plank against the original deck house. Also the filling plank was installed in such a way that it slightly was sticking out of the deck house.

After curing of the glue the filling plank was sanded smooth with the deck house in the same angle as the deck house, this means a small part was removed from the filling plank at the top, but not at the bottom.

The reason that the bottom should not be sanded is that the bottom side of the filling plank should be with a 90 degree angle with the sub deck for proper installation of the new teak deck as can be seen from below picture

When everything was sanded and protected with linseed oil the result is more than satisfying in my opinion, also the next picture shows the teak plank in front of the filling plank under the deck house.

A new plank between the deck house and the deck beam was installed inside and plugs which was fixed in place with news screws and plugs.