Saloon Door repair or replace?

[Andydent2000]

Reposted from Practical Boat Owners Reader to Reader.

My Powels 46 has had its saloon door replaced sometime in the past. the original would gave been verticle and you can feel the original runners under the trim just inside the current door.

the current one is leaking quite badly and i am considering repair/replacement.

i think one of the main reasons is that the door is installed at an angle and was never designed to be installed like that.

The rain water is coming in through the vertical seal between the sliding glass panels. It is also collecting in the bottom seal and pooling despite drainage slots being cut in the rubber.

Trouble is i don't know of any design that would a) fit and b) be water tight if we leave it at an angle.

What would you do? My gut is to replace with one that fits back in the old vertical position. I have checked and the drains are intact.

 

[kashurst]

can you post some pictures of the bottom track with the door open and the door closed? may be able to help then.

 

[jfm]

Yep need loads more info on the precise problem

I doubt the angled mounting per se is causing the leak. If you installed the door vertically and the rain hit it at an angle it should still seal. I can see how the angle would cause pooling at the bottom channel but that can be fixed by installing drains (with pipes under the deck to route the water away).

Judging by the pic, refitting the door vertically is a massive job in terms of finishing the deck. And you'd need to a buy a new door anyway. So a better answer is leave it angled but buy a whole new watertight door from www.Trendmarine.com that is designed to fit at an angle and still seal. Trend are leaders at this. Your current door might have been made by a domestic double glazing firm, alas

A lip at the top would help, big as you can, to direct heavy rain away from the top seals. you could have that custom fabricated in bright polished ss for not too much £££ or Trend would include it in a new door custom made

Just from the pic I dont know how you think it was originally fitted vertically. The step down to the saloon starts immediately, so if you fitted the door vertically you would be trying to stick some of the bottom edge of the door frame to fresh air wouldn't you?

 

[Andydent2000]

Thanks I will give them a call. The original door ended on the bottom step and was inside where this one has been fitted.

The drains and pipes for the old door are still under the bottom step.

As for the deck - well it's not easy to see from this picture but there is a single strip of the original teak before you hit the tek-dek and one of those is split. No idea why it was left like this - the previous owner had the deck fitted - presumably because the old one was leaking. Too bad he didn't fix the problem.

The supporting strut underneath is spongey and needs replacing. I'm guessing this will be quite disruptive in any case so was going to do the lot at the same time.

 

[jfm]

The original door ended on the bottom step and was inside where this one has been fitted.

You mean the old door was much taller, and the bottom of the old door was at the bottom of the 3 steps down to the saloon, ie it was roughly level with the saloon floor? So there was a big "pit" just aft of the door that could fill with 20 gallons of water and relied on a drainage system? Blimey! I'd keep the arrangement you have now, only get a better door unit from Trend or someone

 

[rafiki_]

Another vote for Trend. Ask for Robin Thatcher. All round good egg.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

A bit of a left field suggestion but Fairline Turbo 36s used to have angled patio doors like that and many were fitted with a canvas pram hood over the sliding part to stop rain falling into the saloon. Maybe something like that might help to stop the door from leaking? Obviously the ideal solution is to replace the door and frame but that sounds like megabucks