Patching very small bits of caulking in teak deck

[stuartwineberg]

The cockpit seating in my Moody has been replaced before I bought her. In 2 places there are gaps in the caulk about half an inch long. I am reluctant to buy a full cartridge of caulk for this. I have black sikaflex, could I use it for such a small repair?

 

[pvb]

Yes, you can try that. Ideally, you need to sand/clean the area before re-caulking. And, even more ideally, you should use Sikaflex Primer on the clean teak, but this is very expensive. If it's only a couple of small gaps, go ahead.

 

[jwilson]

On a similar tiny patch I used black PU40 (aka el cheapo Sikaflex) about six years ago, still there and near-as-dammit indistinguishable from the original caulk, which was whatever Jeanneau used when they built the boat. Mind you, given some of Jeanneau's economies, they may have used the same stuff with a French label.

 

[Yngmar]

Sikaflex what? If you mean the Sikaflex 291i commonly stocked in most UK chandleries as general purpose adhesive sealant, yes, as long as you stay in the UK it will last a few years (except perhaps if climate change brings more sunny summers like the last one). In high UV areas the stuff is surprisingly unfit for sun exposed areas. It started chalking off and leaving black streaks on fingers in under two years in the sun. No wonder nobody here stocks the stuff, they seem to mostly have MS Polymer based products, which stand up to UV much better, and seem otherwise just as good.

Sikaflex does have a deck caulking product, but then that's what you're trying to avoid, and there are better ones that do not require primer, making them easier and more economical to use. I had a tube of TDS-SIS 440 for patching some teak caulking, and that is showing no signs of decay in the same timeframe. If you want to save cash, a tube of MS Polymer sealant would likely be the best compromise between expense and durability. My last one was Sabatack 750XL (under £10), which was excellent and I aim to get some more for this winter's maintenance.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Thanks All - good advice especially about the uv degradation

 

[Little Dorrit]

Just a few points, I didn't get on well with PU40 but that was on larger areas; it didn't stick well to the teak, possibly because of the oil in teak. I have used TDS products but the best was the Sikaflex professional caulking product. Their latest formulation doesn't need a primer and is by far superior to anything else I have used. I'm going to try Sabatack 750XL. I have found that freezing the Sikaflex keeps it well so although expensive, in the overall scheme of things being able to keep it stored for next time makes it cost effective... when faced with the "ticking time bomb" that teak deck owners are faced with its the best option imho.