Posted by Scott Andrews on March 24, 2000 at 12:05:03:
In Reply to: My two cents on deck color posted by Lisa on March 24, 2000 at 08:29:02:
: Guys, I'm still quite a newbie so maybe I'm missing something here, but I visited the Queen Mary in Long Beach twice last year. Wouldn't her decks approximate what the Titanic decks would have looked like? I'll bet I have pictures somewhere.
: Lisa
It's possible that you could use the Queen Mary's decks as a model, but you'd need to verify a few things first. I'm not certain of this, but I believe that her decks are teak, an oily wood which has a different appearance than pine. Teak was used in some of the margin planks surrounding the deckhouse roofs on the Olympic-class ships and it has a markedly different appearance from the long leaf yellow pine decks below. Though there's no way to know for sure, the teak in those O-class photos was very likely natural or may have been lightly oiled.
Teak is generally not coated with paint or varnish, except in cases where the wood has become very weather-worn and they are trying to do a cheap cosmetic fix. I've seen the decks of some older cruise ships which have been varnished for that very reason. The downside of this is that once varnished, they require constant re-varnishing due to wear from foot traffic and failure of the varnish to stay adhered to the more oily woods like teak. Additionally, once varnished, decks become as slick as greased lightning when wet, creating a safety hazard.
Regards,
Scott
PS - Do not take the name "Yellow Pine" to mean that Titanic's decks would have a decidedly yellow cast. This is just the common name of that species of wood. While it does appear slightly more yellow than other pines, it really looks more of a light tan, which once weather becomes bleached with a decidely gray tone to it.