Hiya ebb!
It's the photo's that make the edges look that way, especially in the manual. Because of how both the .jpeg and .pdf formats/standards use compression of data to reduce file size, they make straight lines look not-so-straight (the technical term would be anti-aliasing, I believe, see link for examples). In real life, the edges are very clean, and very straight - much straighter than any saw cut I am able to make!
I took these pics to try and demonstrate that for you, since I have some of the product. Although you can see the edges aren't *perfectly* straight, looking at the scale of the unevenness compared to the size of my fingertips, any unevenness is very small, on the order of the grain of wood, it would seem. The boat I saw this stuff being installed on was not yet 'grouted' (that's not the proper term, but I don't know what is - Mike?), so I don't know if that would show any obvious 'flaws' in the straightness, but again - I think you'd have to look very closely to see if there were any.
And while of course such close inspection can't hide the fact that the decks are not teak, the color of the material - again in real life vs photographs - is very close to that of fresh-sawn teak. When I first saw it from ~20 feet away, it was hard to tell a difference. Later, I held my sample up against the teak toerail of a brand-new Beneteau I'm commissioning for comparison, and it was very close in color.
So, No, it isn't teak, but it looks somewhat like it, and though perhaps as expensive initially as teak is, a lifetime of 30 years with little to no maintenance - or even ten years - would make it a lot cheaper overall. Assuming of course that it does indeed require less maintenance, almost none, as according to the manufacturer. I realize that Of Course that is what they are going to say/claim..., but since this material is very much more waterproof than teak, I think there likely is something to that claim. Not absorbing water would help greatly with expansion/contraction, which is what would seem to be the cause for teak (or other wood) decks to age and eventually start failing.
It certainly looks better than astroturf. ;D
I don't know if I'll be able to afford it, but it seems to be one of the best options I've seen for covering the decks, which in itself is an idea I like. Keeping the sun/heat/cold off the decks, less glare on the eyes, a good non-slip surface - it has many elements of the Holy Grail of Deck Surfaces.
Reply With Quote