Problem with teak deck caulking

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KevB

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Hi,

The caulking in my teak decks (in the cockpit of a motorboat) has become soft in that it it rubs off on anything that touches it leaving black marks all over the teak and clothes. the problem has got worse over the years, so much so that I now have to have a carpet down covering the teak. It's especially bad in warmer weather.

So rather than me having to dig it all out I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of something that may re 'cure' it.

All suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Kevin.
 
I have found that running a sharp knife down each side of the corking then easing from the end with a screw driver works. Once you've pulled out a couple of centimetres its just a matter of using the screwdriver and pulling - if you are lucky the whole strip will come out.

Sikaflex 290 - messy and expensive stuff at £18 a tube. On the plus side it is self leveling to a degree so no need to smooth with your digits!. Leave to go off then sand to finish.
 
Monique said:
Yep ^^^^

Teak is my ticking time bomb...:mad:
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Teak deck WAS my ticking time bomb too... I got rid of it!

However, if the caulking is 'giving way' in the heat in small areas and the teak is still good I guess there is only one answer.. get the caulking out and re-do with a quality product.

Getting it out is not easy. In my experience it needs very patient scraping, cutting gouging out by hand or by machine. I did use a special tool with my Fein Multimaster to cut out the caulking when I wanted to seal the deck before basic sea trials previous to me taking the boat out for a refit.
The Fein tool really needs a fence of material to run against and depth guage fitted, otherwise it can wander and not stay in the grooves and not cut to the correct depth easily.
However, again, with extreme patience, it does do the job....but practice on scrap before attempting the job.
good luck
S.
 
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KevB said:
The caulking in my teak decks (in the cockpit of a motorboat) has become soft in that it it rubs off on anything that touches it leaving black marks all over the teak and clothes. the problem has got worse over the years, so much so that I now have to have a carpet down covering the teak. It's especially bad in warmer weather.
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Yes, it obviously has to be replaced. But don't necessarily assume you can use Sikaflex, as suggested by others. Your original caulk may be silicone based, in which case Sikaflex won't stick to the grooves very readily unless you spend a lot of time cleaning each groove with sandpaper and acetone.

I'd suggest you ask Sessa what sort of caulk they used on your boat, and ask them why it might have degraded. You say it's worse in warm weather, but there are thousands of Sessas happily floating around the Med, and presumably they don't all have sticky caulk.
 
pvb said:
Yes, it obviously has to be replaced. But don't necessarily assume you can use Sikaflex, as suggested by others. Your original caulk may be silicone based, in which case Sikaflex won't stick to the grooves very readily unless you spend a lot of time cleaning each groove with sandpaper and acetone.

I'd suggest you ask Sessa what sort of caulk they used on your boat, and ask them why it might have degraded. You say it's worse in warm weather, but there are thousands of Sessas happily floating around the Med, and presumably they don't all have sticky caulk.
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+1
 
pvb said:
I'd suggest you ask Sessa what sort of caulk they used on your boat, and ask them why it might have degraded. You say it's worse in warm weather, but there are thousands of Sessas happily floating around the Med, and presumably they don't all have sticky caulk.
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I did ask both Bates and Sessa in Italy, neither could give an idea as to why it's happened or had seen it before.

looks like I'll be doing a lot of scraping..
 
KevB said:
I did ask both Bates and Sessa in Italy, neither could give an idea as to why it's happened or had seen it before.

looks like I'll be doing a lot of scraping..
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If your chalking has gone soft/sticky it is normally attributed to some chemical being used to clean the deck for that honey colour that some like..... Personally I like mine to be grey and salt water is all that is needed.

Once you have repaired the seams keep all chemicals away from the deck.

Tom

PS. You have my best wishes, I have some deckwork to do this winter, mind you mine are almost 40 years young
 
So I have got more teak on my boat that a Burma rain forest and after 15 years it needs a little work, mainly because the caulking has become proud. I realise that in the end I am going to need some new knee caps and a surgical brace for my back but is there an easier way of taking off excess caulking or is a chisel the best way?

I will no doubt need to renew or replace parts of the caulking with something, probably Sikaflex but using it was described to me as akin to a baby learning to feed. It will end up around your hands, face and hair and not where you want it. Is there any tips for doing it properly or should I book a barber now to cut all my hair off?
 
Nostrodamus said:
So I have got more teak on my boat that a Burma rain forest and after 15 years it needs a little work, mainly because the caulking has become proud. I realise that in the end I am going to need some new knee caps and a surgical brace for my back but is there an easier way of taking off excess caulking or is a chisel the best way?

I will no doubt need to renew or replace parts of the caulking with something, probably Sikaflex but using it was described to me as akin to a baby learning to feed. It will end up around your hands, face and hair and not where you want it. Is there any tips for doing it properly or should I book a barber now to cut all my hair off?
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Check with Oyster what the caulking is. It may not be Sikaflex but something like Sealine Alkoxy Silicone as used by HR. A belt sander will take off clear areas of proud caulking but chisel or Stanley knife blade needed for tight spaces.
 
Nostrodamus said:
So I have got more teak on my boat that a Burma rain forest and after 15 years it needs a little work, mainly because the caulking has become proud. I realise that in the end I am going to need some new knee caps and a surgical brace for my back but is there an easier way of taking off excess caulking or is a chisel the best way?

I will no doubt need to renew or replace parts of the caulking with something, probably Sikaflex but using it was described to me as akin to a baby learning to feed. It will end up around your hands, face and hair and not where you want it. Is there any tips for doing it properly or should I book a barber now to cut all my hair off?
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Are you sure you really need to lower the surface of the caulking? if it is proud it should begin to wear down with foot traffic, you may find that if you try to plane it it will come out, if it does it needs replacing.
Replacing with Sika DC, my way, - ensure grooves are well cleaned out and dry, prime with Sika DC primer, use plenty of broad masking tape carefully aligned and rubbed down properly either side of the groove, put it on in about one metre lengths or it will be difficult to handle cleanly as you take it off; it will be quicker in the end. Take care cutting the nozzle on the gun to give the required size of bead, be prepared to throw away nozzles and replace when they gets dirty. Apply the bead leaving it slightly proud, cutting the end of the nozzle right makes a big difference here. Let it go off just a bit then smooth with the back of a sharp broad chisel wiping frequently, (rolls of kitchen paper and buckets to throw it in) strip the now mucky tape immediately after smoothing and put into the waste buckets. Do no attempt to do too much in one session, only what you can easily reach, go away for the day as soon as you have finished.
 
Nostrodamus said:
is there an easier way of taking off excess caulking or is a chisel the best way?
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Hi
the caulking materials do vary in their composition.
When making my deck 'good' for a while to do sea trials, I found that a very sharp Stanley blade in a decorators type holder made life a bit easier. It allowed the blade to be horizontal with the deck. I still used a slicing action and went very carefully.

I also used an electric hand plane but the blades do need to be sharp.... and remember my deck was soon to come up so I wasn't too bothered about superficial damage.

Knee pads are a pain to wear but even more so if you have nothing. I also used one of those gardeners knee foam knee pads which was good but perhpas a cheap camping mat would be o.k.
 
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Quandary said:
Are you sure you really need to lower the surface of the caulking? if it is proud it should begin to wear down with foot traffic, .
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All methods of taking the top off the caulking, if sitting proud, may loosen the caulking altogether. All boats appear to be a little different I think.
If the caulking is proud then traffic on my old deck did cause the caulking to come loose.
 
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