Which synthetic deck is most suited for your boat

On this page we describe which  of the decking systems done by Flexiteek will be most suitable for your boat. We are not comparing Flexiteek or Isiteek with any other type of decks, may it be teak. nonskid fiberglass decks carpets or any other deck cover. All decks have their advantages and disadvantages and we all have our individual likes / dislikes and budget. 

Definitions:

Welded Profile: A Synthetic Decking system where PVC strips have the edges shaped (chamfered)  for welding.... (Flexiteek)

Glue profile: A Synthetic Decking system where PVC strips have the edges shaped  (tongue and groove) for gluing.

Related information:

The strength of the hull of the boats is in proportion to the boat size, as the bigger the boat the more stresses exerted on it and therefore the material used is made stronger by varying the hull's thickness, adding reinforcements and using stronger hull materials. Boat design has to to allow for  hull flexibility, as too rigid a hull tends to be brittle, causing the hull to give at its weakest place.

The caulking (seams) on Teak decks installed on bigger boats, are wider and deeper then on smaller installations. Wider and thicker sealant  has on one hand more contact surface area and allows for more flexibility for boat warping  and expansion and contracting of teak. Individual plank width usually increases on bigger installations due to esthetics as; originally teak decks were the actual deck rather then a teak covering for the deck.Therefore, bigger boats used wider teak planks for the deck.

Composite PVC material (synthetic teak)  tends to expand in hot conditions and contract in cooler conditions. Since the synthetic decking panels are glued to the deck, the material is stressed internally and the variations caused by the change in temperature cannot be noticed or seen. This lengthwise expansion and contraction is not an issue on the seams but it causes considerable stresses on  synthetic teak decks at the margin boards. Expansion and contraction across the planks result in tensile (stretching) stresses on the seams, this stretching is combined with the hull flexing increases stresses. One should also consider resonance (vibration) being emitted from engines and sometimes loosely rigged sails and masts. These stresses often result in seams on glue profile to fail 

From the above one can see why the 'welded profile' is recommended for bigger installations. The seams on the 'glue profiles tend to not be able to withstand the accumulative stresses on bigger and wider installations. One should not get the impression that the glue profile deck will dismantle, even though the glued seams cannot be considered as heavy duty, the joints at tongue and grove have considerable strength. The weakest joints on the glue profile are across the marginboards.where the planks are butt joined (connected face to face).

Should the joints fail, the water getting through the glue profile decking system is unlikely to reach the deck straight away, as the deck is covered with glue/sealant, but it is probable that the adhesive used is permeable (porous). Water getting trapped in where the glue fails will take longer to dry, salt will attract more water and the deck will have salt patches (see image)  when the deck goes dry, making the glue failure easily noticeable. Also if the split is continuously wet or moist (salt attracts humidity), oxidization (Rust, corrosion) on metal hulls and osmosis on GRP (fiberglass) hulls can be initiated.

In the case of the fishing enthusiast, it is might be difficult or impossible to remove the fish deposits from the cracks.

In order to eliminate the disadvantage that the glue profile system has, we provide the service to finish off the binding of the decking panels at the margin boards. This service is optional.

Welded profiles have the advantage that the decking strips are placed against each other and rechecked for exactness, once decking strips position is satisfactory, the welding can be applied. Glued decking is a different system, the planks are glued together while they are being placed against each other. On smaller areas this might not be an issue, but on larger decks it can be quite tricky to get a good bond for the planks, as one needs enough time  to precisely place the planks together for bonding, enough time to leave the bond under pressure and one has to be quick as the curing time (pot life) of the glue is quite limited.

Please find below a comparison table

Information on Flexiteek boat decking here.