Replacing trim around rod boxes
 

My teak is cracked and doesn't look good anymore and I was thinking of redoing it with a PVC material. Has anyone else done this and what type of material did you use and where did you get it? I looked at some stuff at Home Depot today that looked okay... just needs to be ripped to the right width, then routed on edges and for thickness where it overlaps the rod box. Any opinions on using this stuff or is there something better I should use? I haven't seen starboard in thin sheets but I'm sure it's available, but probably at a premium price.

My concern would be if the material was UV stable.

Well, opinions are cheap! Here's mine:

It assume you already have the tools to rip and route the PVC material, and its cost does not seem high. Compared to the cost of teak, and the amount of work required to maintain teak, it seems like a fairly inexpensive experiment even if it lasts only a season or two. Try it and see how long it lasts.

Be aware that routing plastics will require sanding. The speed of the router bit will generate a lot of heat, and cause the plastic to melt. I have cut (using a circular saw) and routed plexiglass, that's how I know. That is why sanding will be required.

Even if you have to buy the tools, it would be worthwhile experimenting with the PVC first, That's because, were you to so it in teak, you'd have to buy the tools anyway. And teak is not cheap!

In my boat I removed all the teak! I fish and have no time for maintenance! A bottle of bleach a brush and hose is all i wanted to do!
Starboard is the way to go if you can find a outlet in your area. West Marine will be highway robbery!
We have a place here that I bought sheets of it for my boat!

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buy one plank of epe' decking, rip to size, replace all the teak trim with it

I am doing the same on my rebuild. Absolutely no teak! I hate the stuff after all the time and effort and money I put into completely replacing all the teak on a 250 Sportsman just to have it look like crap three weeks later. NEVER AGAIN! We have a place here in Pensacola called Creative Acrylics that is supposed to have good prices on starboard. Either that or use fiberglass covered wood then painted.

Can't find epe decking on google. I imagine its just some sort of pvc deck material. I would be looking for something nearly 1.5" thick, that way I could rip 3/8" strips that were 1.5" wide.

I hadn't thought of UV, but am looking for a different product now. I don't wanna be doing this twice!

aw, i think spare meant ipe, it is a type of hardwood, very similar to teak. i have teak on mine and re coat it every 5 or 6 years with the cetol system. holds up very well. if you want to go the plastic route, how about trying a piece of the aztec composite decking. cut strips and then do the router thing.

yeah, what he said!

Due to not being able to find starboard locally at a reasonable price, I decided to buy some teak and put my woodworking skills to the test. I started with a 6" wide board of 4/4 teak and made a few cuts of differing depth and thickness on a tablesaw to come out with notched strips. Then routed the edges with a roundover bit. Next, I marked and cut the angles using the old trim as a template. Tomorrow I'll mark and drill screwholes or make new screw locations. Sand a bunch then oil twice and they will be ready to install. The long pieces did not come out nearly as nice as the short ones pictured, but it's better than the 30 year old stuff.

For anyone's future reference, a board of 6/4 thickness (1-1/2") would make this job much easier. The thickness of the 4/4 (1" thick) board was not wide enough to create the strips, so I had to cut the board tall on the tablesaw. Routing the edges would be much better on a router table, as well, versus the handheld routuer in the pictures.

teak
 

Glad you chose teak, it's not that bad.

I'm a woodworker at heart & although teak is a bit hard to work with it lasts almost forever. I refinished mine when I bought the boat 12 years ago, & they just need redone now. Varnish just looks cool, the wood doesn't need it.
I have some teak I salvaged off a yacht that washed up at my place after Katrina, so I'm covered for the next redo!