aris
New Member
We had a new teak deck laid on our boat, a "Malo" 34, during the winter of 2012/13 in the Mediterranean. Sikaflex was used to caulk the deck. It was kept under cover throughout the procedure. The guy who applied it states that the batch numbers were all in date and the company has said that there was no fault with the batch . However, during the heat of summer 2013 the caulking melted excessively, covering the deck, our clothes, towels and feet. It was a daily chore to clean all those up, before a repeat and the following day's damage occurred! At the end of the sailing season, the caulking was replaced and we returned with high expectations this summer, 2014. The caulker claims NOT to have used a solvent which the manufacturer stated will prevent the caulk from curing. Yet again, in the heat of this year's Mediterranean summer, the problem recurred! Eventually, I placed insulating tape over some of the worst areas. We are distraught. The caulker had already contacted the manufacturers who refuse to even examine the problem in situ. The caulker has now agreed has agreed to replace all the caulking yet again during this winter, but with another product. He has said that he will not, however, be applying it under cover, but at the rate of 3 lines each time on a dry day, in it's berth at the marina in the Balearics between November and March. The prospect of another 4 month long summer of misery and weeping caulking next year is seriously daunting for us. Is anyone able to advise 1) the correct method to remove the Sikaflex, 2) the correct product to clean up the adhesive from the insulating tape and residual sikaflex, 3)how to prepare the teak for re-caulking, 4)whether it is necessary to do the work under cover and out of the water and 5)which product to use for a boat spending all its time in the Mediterranean? Currently we have had no pleasure from our new, very expensive teak deck, which was to replace wood which had worn too thin. The current wood has now been sanded several times. We wonder whether the thickness will be any greater than when we first commisioned the work, by the time the problem has been solved!
