Marine Teak Floor Material Crisis

Everyone loves a spotless teak deck. They look great on yacht shows and chic Mediterranean marinas and offer excellent anti-skid performance under the most demanding conditions.

However, the marine teak floor has its drawbacks. First, it won’t last forever, especially if a modern and possibly relatively thin teak deck is regularly scrubbed. In the most extreme cases, I’ve seen a deck lose a millimetre of thickness every year from scrubbing. Given the high replacement costs, this could have a significant impact on the resale value of yachts. The material also absorbs heat easily from the sun, In the summer of the tropics or the Mediterranean, it can be very uncomfortable to walk barefoot. This also helps to heat the interior of the ship.

But SYNBOATEK® synthetic teak PVC deck don’t absorb liquids and are therefore easy to keep clean as any dirt stays on the surface. another bonus is that damaged areas can be sanded back to reveal fresh material that looks new.

SYNBOATEK® is one of many firms to offer eco-friendly teak alternatives

From a sustainable perspective, teak is not so good either. A key problem in Burma is illegal deforestation. Burma is one of only four countries where rainforests are found. Unfortunately, the European Union’s ban on the import of this illegal timber has not stopped the trade, Court cases in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, among others, have demonstrated this after discovering illegal imports of marine teak floor.

As a result, the only way to be absolutely certain a source of teak is sustainable is to use salvaged material (or to ensure that the teak can be GPS-traced back to stump). But as you can imagine, each teak deck is tagged with a GPS location, which doesn’t seem like an ideal solution.

Teak is now considered a high-risk timber, We take our responsibility to the environment very seriously, so we are not prepared to risk using unsustainable wood.

Teak alternatives have been around for many years and are widely accepted. In many cases, they have several advantages over real teak, including a longer life span. Many ships can be made in factories to match templates or CAD files, This greatly reduces labor and installation costs, Customization can also be extended to trademarks and ship names.

If you feel the look and feel of a synthetic teak PVC deck is acceptable, try it once. You will find no difference between real teak and real teak. And there will be many new features that will help you save on maintenance costs later. If none of these existed, synthetic teak PVC deck would not have circulated in most markets in recent years.