wearing and lifts the appearance of any vessel especially where resale
value is important. This is a big subject so I have restricted it to just
showing the basic technique involved with the work.
You can either have the planks running fore and aft in a straight line or curving to follow the line of the gunwale. Both have their advantages and drawbacks with regard to the fitting process so there is nothing to be gained by choosing one over the other apart from the appearance that you find most pleasing.
Where deck paint has been previously used, this must be removed along with any other single pack finishes on the deck. Properly adhered two pack polyurethanes and epoxy coatings can remain. Curved Dek-King.
Fore and aft Dek-King.
As with every job the first stage is the preparation. In this case it was necessary to first sand the deck and then to fill all the low spots to give a flush finish.
These are the basic deck materials: From left to right: Extra wide King-Plank without caulk edge – ‘Tee’ section caulking strip – intermediate strip with one caulk edge – outside strip with one rolled edge and one caulk edge. Stelmax clear adhesive for joining strips prior to laying – black Sealtack 750 for bonding decking to the deck and additional caulking.
One of the new extrusions we are using on this deck is the gunwale capping. This is a large and very substantial section with a lip designed to cap off the gunwale and finish the edge. Due to its very newness we were supplied with unsanded sections which look exactly what they are, plastic extrusions!
The majority of sanding can then be completed by running the belt sander along the section while firmly attached to the bench. Detailed finishing is performed with the belt sander clamped to the bench and the section finished freehand as per pics’ 6 and 7.
Once each section had been prepared the previously sanded deck was dusted off ready to begin the fitting work.
However, once sanded with a belt sander they are instantly transformed into very convincing teak sections.
As we are using these heavy sections they are the first to be prepared and laid. We begin by cutting a section to length and then screwing it to the bench ready for sanding.
The ends can then be roughly shaped and we find that a small ‘Surform’ plane is an ideal tool for this job.
The section is then finished by hand ready for fitting. In our case we decided to use several short lengths with gaps where the fairleads are situated. The other option is to have one single length but as the fairleads were already fitted with stainless steel deck edge protectors we decided against that option.
The first section to be fitted is placed in position and the edge marked onto the deck.
For this project the sections are then screwed to the deck using stainless steel self tapping screws. Beads of Sealtack are gunned onto the deck to seal beneath the edges of the section and to bond it to the deck.
Note: If the section is to bonded and not subsequently
screwed then the entire area will need coating with Sealtack in the same way as the decking strips.
A rubber faced mallet is then used to bed the section onto the sealant to ensure a good bond.
The remaining sections are then fitted in the same way.
Once all sections are completed on both sides the next step is to begin laying the actual deck.
Note: If the gunwale cappings are not being used
then the deck laying work begins here with the cutting and fixing of the deck margins.
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PO Box 674 Freshwater 2090 or call Matt on 02 9938 4933The first step is to measure and mark the centre of the fore cabin in preparation for laying the margin sections that edge the deck.
Note: If we hadn’t used the gunwale cappings for the
outside edge a margin would have been laid on the outside edge as well.
It is then necessary to mark the corners and find the centre of the angle between each cabin face. This is easily done by marking a line perpendicular to each cabin face and then halving it with a centre-line. It is necessary to allow for half the width of the caulking strip before cutting the decking to length, as will be seen in a moment. You can see the marks used at each corner. The choice is then to either make up cardboard templates for each section or cut each length slightly oversize and mark it directly off the lines on the deck. We tend to use the former as it is less wasteful.
The decking strip can then be cut using the tool of your choice. We like to use a pair of large tin snips, but a craft knife is equally suited to the task.
A short piece of ‘caulking’ extrusion is offered up on the end of the strip. This is what the allowance mentioned earlier is for.
The template can then be used to transfer the angle and length to the Dek-King.
The caulking extrusions can then be cut to length. In this case we find a craft knife to be the most practical.
Once a line of decking strip has been cut to length, a pencil along the edge needs to be drawn as a guide when applying the Sealtack adhesive.
The area is then brushed off to remove all dust and odd bits of trimmed-off decking.
The Sealtack is then applied by gunning it in lines along the marked deck area and then evenly spread using a notched tiling trowel perpendicular to the length of decking.
The first section of Dek-King can now be carefully laid within the marked area.
The previously cut caulking piece is slipped under the end of the decking strip and the whole process is repeated for the next section of margin.