cork for decks

Cork Decks

You are right on all points except cost. A quality cork decking surface will cost in the area of 80.00 sqft. We have been installing cork decks for 6 years. Cork has been in service on commercial ferries in Sweeden for over 10years. The passenger count is 6,000 per day and it takes two years for the decks to wear. Do the Math. Cork is the best covering material for a deck. It won't stain ( put it in grape juice for two weeks and wash it with detergent) It is resiliant, dent it and it comes back, if you have to repair it, cut the piece out with a razor knife and the repair will be impossible to find once the new piece is fitted properly. Marine Deck 2000 is the material,
It is a poly cork composite. It will grey out like any wood but during the first year, It will return to color The only maintenance necessery is washing, use Oxyclean for the best results. Harry Hunt www.marine-solutions.com

 

80 USD per square feet?

 

Apart from the problems with securing a sustainable teak supply, we also need to stimulate more markets for cork. Whilst this will keep the price high in the short term, it will also have several benefits in the longer term. Many conservationists are worried that if wine makers use more plastic corks or crown caps, the drop in demand for cork will make 'cork farms' around the med less economic. They will then fall prey to developers looking for land to build more villas and golf courses. (Obviously some countries have less rigid protection for their cork trees than Portugal).

So to help save the countryside, choose wine from corked bottles and if possible put cork on your decks.

Hurrah! Get drunk - Save the Planet!

 

That’s an excellent incentive to save the planet...or it is an excellent incentive to drink wine?

Who cares...both are excellent ideas

 

Cork Decks www.Marine-Solutions.com

I have installed cork decks on many vessels. The price installed has averaged 80.00 us. We can make deck panels from patterns supplied by the owner as well. We are mobile and travel anywhere.

Is there something more I can do to assist.

Please contact me through my regular e mail. harhhnt@aol.com if I can be of assistance.

 

Cork is in fact the best decking material. As an installer of cork decks I can tell you first hand, it is lighter than teak because you only apply a 3/8" thickness board. The rated wear tested life is 30 years, it is easily repairable,
and once repaired, the repair cannot be found. It is extremely dent and scratch resistant. It will bounce back, (recover) from a hammer blow. To have any effect on it, a sharp heavy object would have to be dropped on deck, If it were teak your finished. Live with the dent or have a difficult repair. Not the case with the cork. Battery acid will burn its surface, a light scrub with some sandpaper and its as good as new. High heels, spikes can't effect it. I kid you not. Take the challange, try and stain it. I have put walnut oil stain on it, grape juice, wine, acetone, alcohol, mineralspirits, motor oil, transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, whiskey, chewing gum, dropped starter motors, anchors, struck it with a sledge hammer, left it in my driveway for over a year, put plants on it in clay pots, had raccoons living on a pile of it, they love to chew it and deficate all over it, but it still cleans up with soap and water. To clean it of oil, stain, paint, mineral spirits works best. To just clean it oxyclean or joy dishwashing liquid. Once you have handled it as much as I you will come to understand what a wonderful substance this material is. www.marine-solutions.com Harry Hunt harhhnt@aol

 

Thanks for the input on the material, even if I am afraid that your "commercial" approach is not the right one for this forum. It is obvious that you have experience with the material and if people want your help, they will contact you. No need to "advertise".

About price, I was under the impression that this material is a lot more easy to apply than teak and that that would show in the final price.

How does compare in price a teak deck with a cork deck?

 

A prefab teak deck, that is, one made in a shop from a pattern generated at the boat, typically cost 100.00 US. If this same deck were laid on a vessel it would be considerably more. Can't say how much exactly. A deck laid on a vessel, would be done time and materials. 120-150.00 USD might be a good approximation.

The cork is far easier to work with, but recognize it is still laid first, then picked up and glued down, then corked, then sanded etc. There is still much of the same labor. The cutting of pieces is some what faster but the overall time is still significant.

There is no "cheap" alternative. Even the vinyl decks are costly.

The bottom line is, if your going to spend a great deal of money to install or replace a deck, you want to get the greatest value, and the cork gives that to you. 30 year life, as opposed to 12-14 with teak. Plus all the great benefits of the material. The synthetic decks do not compare to the cork product. If for example you have to repair one, large sections have to be replaced as it is impossible to really repair them. They cannot be sanded as one is led to believe, as the initital sanding is done in a single direction and this cannot be replicated with any hand sanding equipment. I have tried to replicate their sanded grain and cannot. By the way, Nail polish remover, acetone witll melt them.

I could ramble on for hours on this subject. I have been testing all of these products and can tell you first hand the cork material is the best bet. The vinyl decks are expensive and for that matter so is the cork. Cork looks the best, gives the best value, I have yet to find anything I dislike about it, and love working with the material.

The making of a quality cork deck is like fine stone work, it takes time, and experience to really do a quality job.

Heres a picture of the tools necessery to really do a cork deck.

 

Wow..this teak and cork deck is very expensive man, at USD100.00 to USD150.00 or even USD88.00 per square feet..! 1 tonne of Chengal wood is only RM8000.00.or USD2150.00, Chengal is as good as teak if not better.

 

This is a cork deck. No teak. What do you think it would take to mill the wood, lay the wood, make the border pieces and the hatch trim.
A ton of wood is just that a ton of wood. It doesn't make its self into a completed deck job. Then you can care for it the rest of its life. What ever floats your boat. Bottom Line, labor cost money, it depends upon where you are purchasing it. You get what you pay for, or for that matter what you work for.

 

Deck

Sorry I don't know how do cork when still in raw material form looks like, for wood it come in plank form as per your order, plane or not it's up to the buyer, you can run it through another type of machine to make the 'flower' on one side of the surface to make it non slip, any wood work hobyist can do it, very simple. Labour cost will add in to the total cost but I believe is not the biggest cost. How much is a tonne of raw cork ?

 

I have no idea what a ton of raw cork costs. Raw cork looks like tree bark but is very thick. Unprosessed it is useless. The cork planks cost 24.00 sq ft US when finished and ready for use. The labor to construct a deck in any material, is the greatest cost.

 

Cork

Thank you for your explanation.I'm used to a type of syntetic floor used for indoor courts and when cork quality are discussed here, I'm quite attracted because of cork character is quite similar to that sinthetic material.The only difference is the raw material cost.Looks like Cork is too expensive for my purpose. Thank you everybody.

 

I’m not sure I understand where all the labor comes in to lay a cork deck. I mean 100 to 150 dollars a square foot. That is just plain ridiculous; I can put up two carbon fiber masts and Kevlar sails for less than the deck covering would cost. What is the difference between marine grade cork and the commercial cork that is sold here in the states? It runs between 2 dollars and 6 dollars a square foot. Does anybody know of a supplier for marine grade cork? We need to hear from someone who has a boat with a cork deck.

 

Thought you all might like to see this cork deck

ETAP is now installing Marinedeck 2000 as standard equipment on their vessels.