Deck fittings and leaks

[pcatterall]

Having just replaced the after deck and having noted that most of the water ingress seemed to orginate via deck fittings I am now faced with putting the fittings back and drilling holes in my nice new and waterproof deck.
Biggest concern is the pushpit/davit arrangement. There are 3 'legs' to be screwed down and the feet have never seemed to fit properly to the shape of the deck, there is no real possibility of bending them to get a flat fit onto the deck.
I am considering making hardwood blocks about 10mm thick shaped on top so the feet fit flat and just a few mm bigger than the feet with a chamfered edge to run water from the edge of the feet.
I can seal the blocks to the deck with some confidence and bolt the feet through.
Any views or tips appreciated.

 

[oldsaltoz]

What is the deck made of, this may help in answering your question.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[pcatterall]

Epoxied ply with TekDek on top

 

[pyrojames]

Bed the new fittings on StickyFlex but do not tighten them up initially. Let the Sticky fully cure, and then harden up the screws/bolts. This preserves a good StickyF gasket and stops all the sealant being squeezed out.

 

[pcatterall]

Dubious about bolting down direct there is almost a 5mm rise across the foot . If they fitted nice and flat to the deck then I would adopt standard practice as suggested.
Thanks

 

[Tranona]

Go the shaped hardwood block route. I have done this on my boat where the camber of the deck does not match the base of the fittings. seal both surfaces and do the usual two stage tightening procedure.

 

[oldsaltoz]

G'day Peter,

You need to protect the ply from moisture to avoid problems, one of the best ways to do this is to drill fitting holes oversize and fill them with an epoxy resin mixed with Micro-Fibres, NOT Micro-Balloons because they are not strong enough.

Give the drill a bit of a wiggle when you are through to create a wider section at the entry exit point, this ensures a solid plug shape. Tape the underside of the hole/s to prevent any mess below decks.

After the resin mix has cured, re drill the holes to just clear the bolts and seal them with a dob of sealant around the shank just under the head.

For a neat finish on any fitting that will not sit flush to the deck I would not use timber, it rots, stains and swells or shrinks.

Wrap the offending fitting in glad wrap and place it on a pad of epoxy mixed with Micro-fibres and form the outer edge to a 45* angled slope making a neat rot proof no maintenance pad. Clean off any excess with Acetone because this stuff can be hard to sand.

If you need to adjust the gap, use small stainless washers and wrap the bolts in glad wrap to make them easy to remove after the mix cures.

Hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......