Sanding or cutting back Hallberg Rassy teak deck caulking

[mocruising]

Hallberg Rassy do not use sikaflex when laying their teak decks. They use a material (?) which is more rubberised. The caulking on my decks is now proud of the wood by upto 2 mm so need cutting back. (Boat 11 years old) The guy who was going to do it has not come accross the material used by HR and can't sand it or cut it with a cheese slicer. Any ideas on how it can be done.

 

[DickB]

I used a belt sander (very gently) to take off the proud caulking. It worked very well but you do need to take care...

 

[pvb]

I've tackled the job myself, about 6 years ago, and it requires a lot of patience! I found that the best tool was a small craft knife - the type which uses surgical scalpel blades. By laying the blade horizontally on the caulking, and then sliding it along, keeping it pressed against the teak, the excess caulking can be sliced off fairly neatly. It takes forever, because there's seemingly miles of the stuff.

In the process, it's inevitable that some of the caulking will be pulled out of the grooves. Hallberg Rassy used a silicone rubber caulking, so don't be tempted to try to replace caulking with Sikaflex! Only use a silicone rubber caulking.

After cutting off the excess caulking and replacing missing bits, I tidied the deck with the careful use of a small belt sander. I stress the word "careful" - if you try to get a perfect deck you'll just end up removing too much teak.

Finally, treat the deck with Boracol, and repeat the Boracol application every 6 months or so.

Here's what my deck looked like afterwards...

 

[Blue5]

Have you tried contacting HR, I am sure they will be able to address the problem and advise.

 

[saltwater_gypsy]

A really sharp chisel is the best tool for the job.

 

[rogerthebodger]

The old type router plane may be a safer bet

web page

 

[michael_w]

A Fein Multimaster, fitted with the chisel/blade is ideal for this job. If you need to remove the caulking, Fein make a special cutter, which makes life so much easier.

If you've got a lot of area to do, and your boat is ashore. your knees and back will appreciate it if you work from a staging alongside rather than kneeling on the deck.