I have rejuvenated or replaced dozens of aged teak decks in the last ten years. I have also removed 8 teak decks and replaced with painted non skid.
Many teak decks that were installed 20-40 years ago were screwed down with bedding compound. The planks were machined with a rabbit cut in one side to receive caulk. With this rabbit the planks were simply pushed tight to each other and screwed down. The disadvantages to this method are the screw holes and that when the deck wears thinner the caulk seam disappears. Newer decks were bedded with epoxy or A 5200 like material but still with screws and bungs.
The older caulk materials did the job for a while but eventually the caulk will start to break loose from the seams allowing water entry. Once the water is in the seams it can migrate through the dried bedding and enter the core through one or more of the multitude of screw holes. Water can also enter through the bungs as they start to fail. The apparent water leak can be many feet away from the point of entry.
Many folks install new teak decks with epoxy but still use screws with flat washers installed between the planks for both spacers and clamps.Once the epoxy has kicked, the screws are removed and the holes are sealed and the seams are caulked.
When we install a new deck we don't make any holes whatsoever in the sub deck. I don't want anything to do with the liability. We use spacers made of starboard to space the planks and 25lb bags of lead shot to hold planks down. If the deck is of straight laid planks we will build the deck in panels of 24" or narrower and hold the planks together with caulk. With sprung decking we usually install 2-3 planks at a time on site.
To achieve lateral pressure and alignment we use super glue to install guide blocks and blocks to wedge against. Once the epoxy has kicked we remove these blocks with a chisel and sandpaper.
On a deck that has enough thickness remaining but the caulk seams are shallow and the screws are starting to show we have small circular saws with a special shoe on them and a wider blade to remove the old caulk, saw the caulk seam deeper and clean up the side of the caulk seam. WE have right and left handed saws and we have some small router sleds for smaller areas. There are always some small areas that have to be completed by hand with knifes,chisels, and small side rabbit planes.
We use either Teak Decking Systems or Maritime Wood Products deck caulk. We have had very good luck with both of these products. We never use bond breaking tape on the bottom of the seam. This has never caused any problems for us. The planks are securely bonded with epoxy and the caulk is very flexible.
When a deck is too far gone to refurbish we will sometimes replace it with a painted on non skid. We remove all of the screws and usually saw across the planks every 1-2'. This will help the planks break loose. We use big slicks and an electric jack hammer with a 3" chisel with the bevel down to remove the old planks. Then we will grind the deck smooth and clean and fill all of the screw holes. It is important to fill the screw holes and seal any imperfections in the sub deck before rain or dew contaminates them. We are careful to plan for this and will remove and seal sections and seal as we go.Then we repair any damaged sections of the sub deck and apply a layer of 1 1/2" chopped strand mat. We then apply fairing compound over the mat and sand/fair the deck for primer. We use epoxy for all of this work for its superior secondary bonding characteristics.
Once the deck is faired we then proceed with the paint process. We use Awl Grip and their nonskid additive. We use a blend of the fine and the coarse. WE will paint the entire deck without nonskid and then tape off the areas we want to leave glossy and apply more paint with the non skid additive. We spray it when possible because it is easier to obtain perfect results. Many time spraying isn't an option and we must roll it on. You can achieve the same results by rolling but it does require skill. Spraying or rolling it is important to keep the nonskid well mixed throughout the application.
All in all there isn't anything too too hard about the process but the better your tools and skills the quicker it goes. It is a fair amount of work.
New decks cost around $90-135 a sq ft. Refurbishing is usually about 40-60% of that and replacing with painted nonskid is about 60-75%. Hopefully this will help someone, David
www.boatsmithfl.com