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Joined: 05/09/2008
Posts: 30
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Hi, our decks are getting quite moldy. I hoped the salt water on deck during the Atlantic crossing would get rid of it, but it didn't. Anyone got any tips? We would like to keep the scrubbing and two-parting to a minimum, as the deck is only 9mm thick.
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 1029
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Hmm...Lets see. Mold.... Bleach ain't bad..... regular old Clorox diluted in a bucket of water, spread with a soft brush then strong back scrubbed with a 3M pad on a stick, will give you the same affect as saltwater and sunlight. Best to prevent mold. Only two things cause mold. Drinking beer sitting at the dock for to long and allowing fresh water...rain...to pollute your deck or by washing down with fresh water and soapy water . If you must sit at the dock its always best to drink Budwiser and seal your deck to keep them watertight . Teakwonder....Semco...whatever, does the trick. . Beware of soap damage when scrubbing down ... Soap is a wetting agent.. attracts moisture, promotes mold. Its a base chemical on the PH scale.. Your hands get slippery and your scrub brush becomes difficult to drive . Don't wash your decks with soap !!!!If you must wash with soap then follow it up with an acid....teak cleaner is two part for this reason. Acid could be vineger, Ospho.... Generally you Only use soap for scrubbing out Potatoe chip, BBQ Rib , hair gel , barf, chicken wing oil stains .... and douse an acid wash to neutralize. Absolutey nothing wrong with salt water and sunlight for creating the " white" look on decks. To Avoid tiresome scrubbing, always carry on with full sail on transatlantic trips . The combination of hard working sailors in seaboots walking the wet decks, flying fish impacts, burning sunlight and millions of liters of seawater will gently wash the decks and give you the South of France WHITE deck look without driving a scrub brush at beer oclock. And 9mm decks ? thats thinner than the stack of invoices I got for the last bottom job. ............... I used to think 20mm was thin.......Yikes !!!!!!!!!!!!
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Joined: 19/06/2008
Posts: 6
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I am not a big fan of using bleach to cure the mold problem, reason being is that the bleach will eat into the seams of the deck and actually bleed black from the caulking all over anything that touches it. I have sealed my teak with Semco (natural) and it has been very good. I have not had one single spot of mold ever since. Although sealing the decks on larger boats can be very labor intensive, it is a fail safe way to ensure they will not harbor mold. I happen to love the way Semco looks and it helps keep them stay clean too! I usually have to add a coat (after 4 originals) once every 6-8 weeks to keep them looking in top condition. good luck!
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Joined: 16/04/2009
Posts: 155
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Hey All,
Hmmm, 9mm (.35 inch) thick? Time to replace the decks. That will also get rid of the mold problem.
ATB-
The Slacker
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 1029
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Good advice from Scottytheyachty....those teak sealers really do a good job and prolong the life of your teak. Ive been using teak wonder for a long time....insignificant teak erosion and I haven't scrubbed the decks in a few years . Some captains complaint that the colour is not natural, some captains complaint about everything. Owner thinks it looks great and saves him having to throw a few seabags of cash at a new teak deck every ten years.. If your sailing with "veneer" teak decks ,give em a good scrub,a bit of attention with a vibrator sander clad with 80 grit then a few coats of sealer and you will wonder why everyone doesnt do the same thing...
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Joined: 07/08/2009
Posts: 3
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We have a shed load of teak.....no idea exactly but on a 140m boat all of the decks are teak. all we ever use on it is fresh water and brown doodlebug pads. For the majority of it we use floor buffers with the pads on the bottom and then do it by hand next to the superstructure and stairwells etc.
If we get some stains, food, sun lotion etc the K2R goes on and the stains come out.
No 2 parting, no sealers.
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To take care of teak you must first have a job ..... and if you don't know how to care for it .... you'll soon be without one!!
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Joined: 05/09/2008
Posts: 30
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Hi junior, scotty,
Thanks for your advice. I will stop using soap on the teak, give the deck a good two part and look into using a sealer. Anyone around in Palma who uses Semco or Teakwonder? I would like to see what it looks like.
I'm afraid I can't do much about sitting on the dock for too long. And budweiser? Thats like sex on the beach: f***ing close to water.
The deck is only a year old by the way. It is "veneer" to save weight.
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Joined: 01/06/2008
Posts: 1008
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Clean your decks and mop them after every rain and fresh water washdown of the boat with salt water. Mold will not grow in salt, it requires fresh water.
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 1029
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If its a new veneer deck, its best to give it a vibrator 80 grit sand....gently, dont try to remove all the grey teak..only smooth the deck and rubber...then give the deck a hands and knees scotch brite , two part teak cleaner routine...then seal... Teak mildews fastest when the deck is rough...all the roughness holds the morning dew and takes hours to dry.
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/1038/boatshoesi.jpg
The pictures are three year old teakwonder over 1993 laid decks,150 days a year at work, always covered in flying salt water, ham and cheese sandwiches , dried up jellyfish and shriveled flying fish...the deck has not been two part cleaned in three years.
As you can see there is abit of Orange in teak wonder...Semco has a bit of brown to its color. Both look good. Both retard erosion and UV damage to the teak. Teak wonder seems to be more widely available.
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3518/doublecoveredmorring.jpg
By the way..there are two types of teak...FEQ Rainforest teak and plantation grown teak. If you have plantation teak, it lacks the tight grain structure and might mildew faster.
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any thoughts on scrubbing with Tide w/ bleach? We do this to bring the color back out instead of 2 parting... I am still kind of a newbie deckie and pretty much on my own so any advice is great! I have been told to do this on the both boats I have worked on. It definitly brings the color out but I am now worried a bit worried after the "dont wash with Soap" comment.
thoughts??
T
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 1029
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Well...soap is OK... works great....as a matter of fact I always use laundry soap and a scotch brite for heavy deck cleaning...the secret is to bring the Ph wood of the surface back to normal so that you don't attract moisture mold..hence acid as the second step...vinegar could be the acid. Test a scrap of teak... wet with soapy water...let it dry in the sun...then look at it first thing in the morning, after dew point....it will be wet again. Neutralize it with acid...try it again and presto...dry next morning....
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Joined: 05/09/2008
Posts: 30
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Somebody told me Semco makes the deck slippery. Did anybody have the same experience?
We have crew sliding around the foredeck during races as it is, don't need anymore slipperiness...
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Joined: 14/01/2009
Posts: 1029
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I doubt it. No Problems with teak wonder. Semco very similar. Wear a good pair of sailing shoes....Don't know if wet weather gear ass's slides on the stuff. Two part teak cleaner will remove the sealer fast if you don't like it. Originally I only sealed the teak decks when winterizing the yacht...now I Use it permanently. Only valid complaint is that by darkening the teak you attract more of the light spectrum and raise the temp of the decks. Not a concern if your working the yacht hard.
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Joined: 21/09/2010
Posts: 196
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Take on large bucket with hot water, add dishwashing detergent either powder form (cascade) or liquid form. Stir well until all detergent is dissolved. Apply the solution with a deck brush, working in the same direction along the grain. The detergent is alkaline based, and will leave the teak looking like new after scrubbing and a good rinse.
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Hey wrench, that is the generally adopted common method in yachting. Point here is that it is not the correct method for maintaining teak it is what the owners and captains want. The with/against grain is a whole other can of worms. With grain erodes, cross grain opens the caulk and lets water get under the deck and rust out your hull and soles. Lose lose really. Second growth teak is even worse. The growth rings are farther apart and hence they have a softer pulp.
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Sometimes what looks like mold is actually the remains of a diesel spill not taken care of right away. They look the ame.
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Joined: 21/09/2010
Posts: 196
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Be careful over-oiling the teak decks with diesel. You may induce all sorts of problems from high sulphur, high cetane fuels with a low flash point. If your captain is in the habit of stamping his feet when addressing the crew, he may spontaneously burst into flames when he creates compression-ignition under foot.
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Joined: 14/11/2010
Posts: 1
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I'm dealing with a teak deck that was given two coats of Watco oil and is now as dark as walnut with shiny spots wherever there was tight grain. Is this simply a sanding job, or should it be two-part acid washed to begin with?? The teak is old with an irregular surface where the soft grain is worn.
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Joined: 01/06/2008
Posts: 1008
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That's normal for an oiled deck. With time and washing/water flowing across it, it will bleach back out. If there is an issue with it the owner doesn't like, you can use any 2-part system to restore it to bare bleached wood.
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BLEACH!!!
You Cowboys if i saw anyone using bleach on my decks he would be over the side! TCP 100 from teak decking systems is the best product for teak, if you need brightening use a very light dilution of oxalic acid 1cup:bucket, rinse like a maniac and then rinse again, if you really love your decks, lightly sprinkle bicarbonate soda over them and rinse, this is to neutralise the acidity of oxalic acid, always pull and mop dry your decks.
Scrub AGAINST THE GRAIN, with a coarse scrubbing pad, the standard being 3M doodlebug brown pads, NEVER use hard brushes to scrub decks or scrub with the grain, doing so reduces the life of a deck dramatically. 2 step cleaners are old fashioned and cause brutal damage to metal paint and skin, if you can, stop using them.
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Scrub with grain and replace teak. Scrub against grain and replace teak and substrate below. Use oxalic acid mixed with warm water, spread it around and let it sit 10 to 15 minutes never let it dry and keep paint rinsed. Lightly scrub with blue grade doodlepads with and across grain. Rinse, rinse rinse. Then dry off decks. Fresh water and rain water are bad as mentioned, so is letting soapy washdown water sit on the deck. Let the product do the work instead of eroding grain and separating caulk causing water to get under the deck and rot you out.
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Joined: 08/03/2013
Posts: 1
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Any way you slice it, keeping the teak looking good hard, backbreaking
work that eats up way too many labor hours that would be better spent
elsewhere. Can't help with the deck - it is what it is. But for cap
rails, toe rails, transoms, bulkheads and brightwork in general, check
out airteak. Wax it once a month or so and you're done. Looks really
good too. Even side by side its almost impossible to tell the
difference. Happy scrubbing
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Joined: 05/06/2008
Posts: 83
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TCP 100 teak powder or if its bad use bleach...all those knobs on about bleach being bad for decks need to know that EVERYTHING is bad for teak decks...it's just a matter of the less of the evils and what works. 1/2 bleach to 1/2 water won't damage seals (unless there bad anyway) and it will only strip the wood just as much as TCP would...keep it simple.
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