Caulking Vs Splines - any advice

[Seagreen]

Going to restore a hull, mahogany on oak frames with splines.
I can see daylight through one or two seams, not surprising as the boat has beem out of the water for 2 years. My normal reaction would be to caulk lightly, but I think that these seams should take up if really immeresed. I don't want to respline if not absolutely necessary, but I'd rather restore, not bodge. And as I'm asking this, you know I'm not an expert. Any advice please?

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[ccscott49]

My boat is splined iroko from new, I would re-spline, rather than put caulking in.

 

[boatbuilder]

Be carefull, put in a very light cauking till the boat is back in the water and swollen up. If you dont you may break fastenings and spring a plank if it has nowhere to expand.

 

[rjp]

I'm in much the same position as you with a Buchanan 32. I'm relying on the planks taking up as I feel that to re-spline with the hull dried out would only introduce further stresses when the planks swell. I did try running some water into the bilge and found everything watertight after a few days, so have some confidence this should be ok. You might try posting to the classic boat forum as there is much more wooden boat expertise there.

John

 

[Seagreen]

Thanks for the tip, I'll try the classics. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[nordic_ranger]

First off try tighting with wet carpet or sack cloth over an area for about a week wet it every day if possible and see what diference it makes before splining. Put in slack caulking first. Splining is a last resort in my opinion.

 

[ccscott49]

The thing is, splines should not crack, they were put in when the boat and timber was dry, so the boat has for some reason dried out even more than when the timber was new. The seal comes from the glue and some cotton in the bottom of the splines, I still maintain, remove old spline, refit new one with glue and cotton at the base, thats the right way to do it. IMHO

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Answered this in the Classic Boat forum

 

[Seagreen]

My gut feeling is to leave any resplining or recaulking till absolutely necessary. There's a deal of refastening needed and when the hull's ready, a dip in the slings for a day or so just to see if she'll tighten up ok. I'm lead to believe she will, but I never believe it till i've seen it!

If any seam is still weeping after a good soak, I'll caulk lightly. I personally think recaulking beforehand would be foolish as it'll add strain to the hull, and is "foreign" to the dynamics of the wood, and until proved otherwise, I'll sit watching the pumps for a day.

Thanks for all your advice.
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