Synthetic decking on iron barges

[DBA Forum (B) - Debra Colley-Allerton]

Hello all
We have a 25m 100 year old tjalk with wonky, painted metal decks and are thinking of using a FLEXITEEK type product on some of the deck surfaces. If members could pass on their sage advice we would be very grateful. Nothing in the knowledge base. We have seen it on a new build (Lyneve) and it looked fab! Might not look as nice on an old tjalk...What are issues to consider such as:
Suitable for large expanses of very old iron
DIY?
General aesthetic
Life span
Removal at end of life
Cost vs painting
Other ?

Thanks in advance
Pete and Deb
Fairhaven

[DBA Forum (B) - Adrian]

On Tue, 16 Sep 2014 02:40:17 +0200, "DBA Forum (B) - Debra
Colley-Allerton"

Post by DBA Forum (B) - Debra Colley-Allerton
Suitable for large expanses of very old iron
DIY?
General aesthetic
Life span
Removal at end of life
Cost vs painting
Other ?

I have used a different solution - decking tiles.

These are 30 cm square hard plastic tiles, copiously pierced with
holes in an aesthetic pattern, with the walking surface kept above the
steel by a lot of little legs. Water passed through holes and drains
away around the legs. The clip together, and are easy cut with a wood
saw. Mine are mid-grey, but there were a couple of other colours.

I have found them to be excellent. Easy to fit, hard wearing, easy to
clean, and quick to take up. And I think they look good. I've had
mine for over ten years, with no signs of wear or distress.

Mine came from the UK DIY chain Homebase, which called it "garden
decking" and sold packs of ten for £5.

Problem solved, then? Ah, well ...

Homebase no longer sells this product. There is another supplier in
the market, Dri Deck, similar (but more aesthetic) tiles plus a range
of "accessories", in a rainbow of colours. However, it is (are you
sitting down?) an order of magnitude more expensive, about a fiver
*each* for the tiles! It is yachty, of course. Hard to recommend at
that price.

But I do think this is the right approach. I feel it is important to
be able to take decking material up (and replace it) quickly without
damaging it. And to me teak(ish) decks just don't look right on a
barge.

Does anyone know of any other similar decking materials on the market?

Adrian


Adrian Stott
Tel. UK (0)7956-299966

[DBA Forum (B) - Colin Stone]

Pete,

Agree Flexiteek looks good and as the black lines are not trad sealant, I don't think they'll degrade.
How well the stuff sticks long term would be my main concern?

You say the decks are a bit wonky - I guess you mean undulating. I guess FT would stick but as with all dissimilar materials unequal expansion and contraction of steel and plastic with temp variation will be its undoing. 10 year life?

Ask Flexiteek for details of their oldest fitout and try to contact to see how it has lasted.

Colin Stone
KEI
Sent via BlackBerry® BIS

[DBA Forum (B) - Roger Millin]

Yes, Adrian, look for Versatile which is identical to Dri-Dek but made in the UK. It is sold direct from the makers Industrial Plastics at their specialist site for the products www (dot) versatile-flooring (dot) co (dot) uk
They also sell on eBay and you need to look at both sites because sometimes the prices are slightly more beneficial on one site than the other, depending on colour. Versatile is completely complementary (interlocks) to Dri-Dek and another that existed a while ago called V-Dek.
The prices are usually between £2.80 and £3.85 per tile depending on the colour. They also do tapered edging and corner pieces to suit if you require them. The only slight disadvantage in really hot weather is that they tend to soften and squirm under your feet but recover well when cool. I have used them on several craft now and think that they are great in the right application area.
Roger

[DBA Forum (B) - Roger Millin]

Personally I would not use Flexiteak having had it on a wide beam here in France. It looked lovely when first applied but any less than thorough preparation of the underlying steel ends up with rust lifting the layer upwards and leaching out of the joints, and there are joints even if they are not immediately obvious. Then the problem is that some of the Flexiteak is stuck down hard where the adhesive is good and the underlying surface is good but the rest is lifting and leaching. This makes removing the stuff extremely difficult and it usually a scraper (very tough) and angle grinder job to get back to a surface where you can start again. I saw one on another craft that was fitted by the Flexiteak company itself and it was no different to that of mine because the underlying surface had no
t been well prepared by the boatyard. Suffice it to say that all the craft that were sister craft of mine, and dating from 2006 to 2009 build dates, have all, without exception to my knowledge, had
it removed.

I prefer something like Versatile mentioned in my reply to Adrian. Versatile isn't so good on steeply sloping decks because they tend to walk, particularly in the heat, but other than that I find them good and the steel doesn't sweat underneath them. They can be pressure washed to clean them and much of the underlying decks too.
Roger

[DBA Forum (B) - Adrian]

On Tue, 16 Sep 2014 19:28:16 +0200, "DBA Forum (B) - Roger Millin"

Post by DBA Forum (B) - Roger Millin
Yes, Adrian, look for Versatile which is identical to Dri-Dek but made in the UK.
The prices are usually between £2.80 and £3.85 per tile depending on the colour.

Better, but still damned pricey. The margin on this stuff must be
hundreds of percent. And why on earth should the price vary with
colour?

Homebase, come back. All is forgiven!

Adrian



Adrian Stott
Tel. UK (0)7956-299966

[DBA Forum (B) - Tim Hackett]

Check suppliers list as I think there is a discount for DBA, but I still recall they charge like a raging bull!

Tim

[DBA Forum (B) - Roger Millin]

I suspect that the price variation with colour will come with the differing production runs involved. Black, being the most popular colour, will be done in much longer runs (and is the cheapest) than all the many colour variants which will have individual short runs (and are more expensive but identical to each other in price).
That's just market forces.
Roger