Teak Decks on GRP Yachts

Most yachts and boats today are made of GRP. GRP construction methods have revolutionised boat building. But there are also important things to consider with this material!

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Humidity measurement on a Farr 60
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The finished teak deck on the Farr 60
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Typically, a high-quality teak deck gives a GRP yacht a luxurious appearance, and not only quality manufacturers Hallberg-Rassy, Najad, Oyster, Contest and many others are aware of this. They equip their new boats with noble maritime decks right from the shipyard.

But even the glass-fibre-reinforced GRP that is considered easy to maintain and the sandwich deck constructions that are common today are susceptible to moisture penetration, and many an improperly installed teak deck has ended the life of an expensive yacht prematurely.

Challenges with marine decking on GRP

Traditionally, decks on GRP yachts are either screwed through the upper GRP layer of the sandwich deck or hundreds of holes for auxiliary constructions and tensioning devices are drilled into the previously sealed GRP deck during deck construction on site. If, after years, a leaky seam occurs, the water sooner or later finds its way into the sandwich core, which dissolves and loses its adhesion to the GRP layers: the deck delaminates.

Such damage is unfortunately frequent and hardly any older yacht with a screwed deck does not show increased values in a moisture measurement of the sandwich deck. Symptoms that can be avoided by choosing the right deck construction.

It's all about protection

When building and installing our modern teak decks for GRP yachts, we specifically address these challenges. On the one hand, we glue the decks exclusively to prepared and sealed GRP surfaces, and on the other hand, our teak decks have an epoxy resin moisture barrier built in, which reliably prevents any penetrating moisture from leaking through the teak deck and reaching the actual boat structure.

With a modern teak deck, you can enjoy your GRP yacht carefree.

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Damage to GRP: A leaking teak deck has trapped moisture in the balsa wood sandwich core of this Najad 34.
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Leaking deck seams of a teak deck glued directly to the GRP have caused the delamination of this upper GRP layer. The former position of the deck seams is clearly visible
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Our GRP yachts references

Teak decking revolution

Permanent protection through a moisture barrier

Conventional construction: The teak deck is glued directly to the GRP. Moisture (blue) can penetrate through damaged deck seams into the laminate and the sandwich core and attack the deck structure (yellow, white).

Our construction method with a moisture barrier: Moisture that penetrates through a damaged deck seams is stopped by the epoxy resin moisture barrier (green). The GRP deck remains permanently protected.