Cockpit Teak Removal

[JuanMarcos]

The teak planks in the cockpit of my Beneteau First 38 are way beyond salvaging, and I am planning to replace them with "plasteak".

I tried prying out a couple of planks on the sides of the stern lazarettes, and the stuff is VERY hard to peel off. I used a screwdriver, then a chisel, and even an oscillating tool, and some of the topcoat came off.

Has anyone done this before? Is there a simpler way to loosen up the wood planks? Would a heat gun help?

It seems tone that the final result won't be pretty and I will need to do some fairing before installing the "plasteak". Would polyester fairing compound be good for this application and will it keep water from seeping into the boat?

 

[DougM]

I don’t know if your teak seat inserts are different from those on my 323. The 323 seat inserts are simply one single sheet of what I would call plywood. The black caulk lines do not penetrate the bottom layer.

My experience has been that the panels come off easily as they are “glued” to the gelcoat. I was able to remove one of the panels that had started to detach by using a heavy piece of monofilament (like weed whacker line) to saw through the adhesive. After getting the panel off, I ground off the remaining adhesive residue using an orbital sander with an 80 grit pad, being careful not to dig into the gelcoat.

I did mine as a temporary repair, reattaching the original panel, and it has lasted. more than five years. I am now to the point of investigating replacement with a material called “SeaDek”

 

[TimFromLI]

DougM's weedwacker line reminds me. Harbor freight sells a windshield remover. It's a length of steel wire with handles on either end. I used it to saw through adhesive I glued wrong on a project. It worked like a charm, and did a nice neat job.

 

[SoSound]

@DougM that's a brilliant idea! Try searching for a wire camping saw. I also saw results possibly from a couple of electrical suppliers, their version had T handles instead of rings which would be a lot easier to work with for longer periods of time. I worked on a cockpit seat wet core project using a sheetrock saw blade screwed onto a flat aluminum extension that allowed me to get between the layers of fiberglass so I didn't have to cut it ALL out. Probably best to try to remove the teak from the adhesive and not tear up the gelcoat if possible. Go after the adhesive with the grinder or heavy duty abrasive disk once the teak has been removed. Good luck!

 

[Bruce Schwartz]

Hi
I accidentally spilled some diesel on one of the panels and the corner ( about a 1/3 of the panel) came up - so this maybe a easy way to get it off . unfortunately i am now trying to get the paney edge tacked down again with not much luck any ideas.

 

[JuanMarcos]

Hi
I accidentally spilled some diesel on one of the panels and the corner ( about a 1/3 of the panel) came up - so this maybe a easy way to get it off . unfortunately i am now trying to get the paney edge tacked down again with not much luck any ideas.

I suppose then that if I intend to take it all off, I would be able to clean that up afterwards with some king of diesel "antidote". You've given me hope. Thank you.