Looking for Teak substitute

[Wayne Jolly]

I have been doing a bit of research on teak substitutes for boat decking and have found several, but I have not heard from anyone that has actually USED one of the substitutes. And I'm referring to real woods like Camaru, Ipe, even purpleheart and other real woods. Not the fake teaks. My son just picked up an old boat and has an area about 6'x8' that he wants to lay down decking. The cost of Teak now days is just plain ouchy.

So does anyone have any real hands on experience with any of these others?

Thanks,

Wayne

[David Helm]

I have used Ipe for decking. It works well in this situation. It machines well, but you want to have a respirator on when machining it. I don't know how well it will perform in a marine atmosphere, but it does perform well in the maritime northwest on land. The wood is very dense and strong.

[Bob Smalser]

A cabin sole from Ipe:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e239/Prestoboat/susanfromstepsforwardnice-72.jpg

Burmese Teak ranges from 45 - 61 lbs/cubic ft and Ipe ranges 66-75 lbs/cubic ft.

If you want to use Ipe in place of solid teak, and can adjust for the weight issue by planing it an 8th thinner and shimming the deck beams...it's more than strong enough. If your deck is teak glued to plywood, you'll have to live with the weight increase.

It is oily and water-resistant like teak. Not prone to rotting, it weathers to a soft gray non-skid texture like teak, and t'll stand up a better to scrubbing.

Other than the weight, there is no reason not to use it, as it is relatively inexpensive. Use carbide tools. But when it comes to fasteners - it's unforgiving. Predrill everything with the correct size bits, otherwise you may find it splits with no warning at all. No squeaking, groaning, increased resistance... just cracking.

[Jim Creech]

Consider Iroko ( African Teak). Same properties as Teak but about half the cost. The only real difference I have found is that the grain appearance isn't quite as pretty as Teak. This is probably the wood used most often when Teak trim is advertised.

[Kevin Groenke]

Jatoba?

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=138636

Similar to the others mentioned, sometimes difficult to discern from Ipe, not as slivery (it's a word now!) as Cumaru. Redder than the orange/russet of true Teak, but ages to a similar silver/grey.

[david halladay]

We have used ipe instead of teak. It is heavier, more toxic,cheaper, splits easier, doesn't dent as easy, and weathers well. David

[Wayne Jolly]

Well, after all of my son's insistence on real teak or mahogany, he has decided to use one of the fake teaks. Sheez!

Anyway, regarding some of the suggestions:

Ipe was just the wrong color for him. From the limited number of pieces that I have seen, it is just too red and too dark. Weight and hardness were not a significant issue since the area to be covered is small and the pieces would be machined to thin strips (maybe 1/4" thick and 2" or 2 1/2" wide) and epoxied down. No screws or nails of any kind. The silvering might be an issue though. From what I have read, it occurs more quickly with Ipe so would involve much more maintenance to keep it looking nice. Not really sure about that though.

One interesting thing about Ipe. Have you watched a show called "Life After People"? In one episode they talked about the decking on the Atlantic City waterfront being all done with Ipe. I am going from memory here, but I seem to remember them saying that the decking would still be discernible long after all of the casinos had fallen to the ground a thousand years from now. I would have thought that it would have all washed away by then.

I actually have some Jatoba (one board that was marketed as Brazilian Cherry) and it would definitely be the wrong color. I don't think it would have enough natural oil in it to last very long as a boat deck either.

Iroko and Camaru I have heard bad things about. I'm not sure if the things I have heard would matter in our particular application. One example, I spoke to my hardwood supplier who is a cabinet maker by trade about Camaru. He said he had one piece of it but never got a chance to work with it. He had it on a shelf and in a weeks time it has twisted so badly that it almost literally rolled itself off the shelf. It curled up so badly that he could not use it and so threw it away.

If this were my boat, I think I would just use fiberglass and gelcoat. Not exactly sure how to "non-skid" it without making sandpaper out of it, but I think that is what I would do. Relatively maintenance free and it should take the abuse fairly well too, and being white it would not get as hot in the sun. But it isn't my boat so . . .

Thanks everyone.

Wayne