teak deck caulking

[BartW]

This winter we would like to sand the teak deck (take off 1 or 2 mil) and then make new 5 x 5 mil caulking grooves with a cutter,
but how to fill these caulking grooves of a big surface ?
I Would like to re-caulk the complete teak deck

placing masking tape accurate along the grooves is a huge and terrible job, isn’t there a more clever method ?

I see two solutions,
1) Placing the masking tape before cutting the grooves, but then the edges of the cutted tape need to remain clean
2) First do the caulking (with spilling) and only then take off 1mil of the teak surface

Anybody experience with this ?
How is the caulking actually done on new teak on a new boat ?

 

[andy59]

When i have seen it done Bart , they normally caulk the joints slightly proud of the surface and then when dry carve the worst of the exess of with very sharp chisel and then sand to the final finish .

 

[MapisM]

First do the caulking (with spilling) and only then take off 1mil of the teak surface

That's the most common practice for re-caulking, afaik.
Apart from the removal of 1mm of teak: that's quite a lot, in fact.
A much more superficial sanding should be sufficient.

 

[BartW]

Apart from the removal of 1mm of teak: that's quite a lot, in fact.
A much more superficial sanding should be sufficient.

in some area's where the teak was much exposed, and less polished
the surface is rough, and not flat anymore, so that a removal of quite some old teac is necessary to get again a nice flat surface,
perhaps even more then 1 mil...
but luckyly thats is only on a few small area's, around the winch fe.

 

[BartW]

When i have seen it done Bart , they normally caulk the joints slightly proud of the surface and then when dry carve the worst of the exess of with very sharp chisel and then sand to the final finish .

Andy, do you know how they avoid spoil on the teak surface along the grooves
I' ve been told they always use masking tape (for small repairs)

 

[MapisM]

in some area's where the teak was much exposed, and less polished the surface is rough, and not flat anymore

I see. Well, that's a separate issue from caulking as such, though.
But definitely it's a good thing to do both together, 'cause caulking requires some sanding anyway, and the less wood you remove, the longer the deck will last of course.

Re. masking tape, I've never seen it used.
They just squeeze "stripes" of caulking inside the grooves, let it dry out, and then remove the excess as Andy said.
Any excess which goes over the teak surface will not penetrate anyway, at least not more than what should be sanded afterwards, to finish the job.
For minor repairs it's maybe worth masking, also because you don't want to sand the whole deck after repairing a small area.

 

[BartW]

in some area's where the teak was much exposed, and less polished
the surface is rough, and not flat anymore

this is a picture from a sister ship Nefertari,
Blue Angel is not as bad, but it shows what I mean

 

[jfm]

Bart, you don't use masking tape. You let the black caulk spill messily all over the deck, then let it dry hard, then you sand it off. That's the only feasible way to do it, and it is perfectly normal procedure. Also you must use special tape at the bottom of the groove, before you put the caulking in. There is a good article and pictures in this month's Sailing Today magazine, including ideas on how to set up a router to make the grooves. I will mail it to your office address on Monday

 

[ccscott49]

Bart, you don't use masking tape. You let the black caulk spill messily all over the deck, then let it dry hard, then you sand it off. That's the only feasible way to do it, and it is perfectly normal procedure. Also you must use special tape at the bottom of the groove, before you put the caulking in. There is a good article and pictures in this month's Sailing Today magazine, including ideas on how to set up a router to make the grooves. I will mail it to your office address on Monday

Could you somehow send the router details to me also, I have the same job to do.

 

[wazza]

Bart, you don't use masking tape. You let the black caulk spill messily all over the deck, then let it dry hard, then you sand it off. That's the only feasible way to do it, and it is perfectly normal procedure. Also you must use special tape at the bottom of the groove, before you put the caulking in. There is a good article and pictures in this month's Sailing Today magazine, including ideas on how to set up a router to make the grooves. I will mail it to your office address on Monday

And me too please as I'm going to also be doing a similar job, well the whole coach roof on our Najad 343 will be stripped and re-caulked..
Btw I'm thinking of buying a deck cutting tool (feins is the only one I've found, the has this deck blade) it looks as though it takes the caulking up with ease, as manually, I'm having problems

 

[ccscott49]

And me too please as I'm going to also be doing a similar job, well the whole coach roof on our Najad 343 will be stripped and re-caulked..
Btw I'm thinking of buying a deck cutting tool (feins is the only one I've found, the has this deck blade) it looks as though it takes the caulking up with ease, as manually, I'm having problems

Fein is the only way really, saves a lot of time, they make blades in 3, 4, 5mm (AFAIK) so choose the one most suitable, but they are expensive!! I also use a narrow sharp chisel to get any residue or into corners where the Fein wont reach. Deepening the grooves is going to be challenging, (to say the least) that's why any tips would be appreciated.

 

[wazza]

Fein is the only way really, saves a lot of time, they make blades in 3, 4, 5mm (AFAIK) so choose the one most suitable, but they are expensive!! I also use a narrow sharp chisel to get any residue or into corners where the Fein wont reach. Deepening the grooves is going to be challenging, (to say the least) that's why any tips would be appreciated.

I agree, deepening the grooves are going to be difficult, I have to do that too.. but buying the fein will also be difficult, at those prices..
I was thinking of using a dremel to deepen the grooves, probably not a good idea but not really there yet, as I still have the problem of the miles of caulking I need to take up.. but I thought its better to get the info whilst its out there

 

[gjgm]

I ve only done small areas, but I suggest if you dont mask and the grain of your teak is quite raised, either mask or sand it a bit first or there is going to be a hell of alot in the grain.
Masking is so easy, I cant see the issue unless you are doing large areas.
There are some good guides on the web/youtube.

 

[burgundyben]

Route it, recaulk it, sand it.

Its a horrid job and why I wont put a teak deck on the fablon express.

I redid my cockpit boards, you need to be very careful about cleaning the grooves and preparing them, if the new caulking doesn't bond well to the sides of the planks you are back to square one.

 

[Hoolie]

There was a recent thread on the Liveaboard forum on this topic here. Some other ideas/links

 

[ccscott49]

I agree, deepening the grooves are going to be difficult, I have to do that too.. but buying the fein will also be difficult, at those prices..
I was thinking of using a dremel to deepen the grooves, probably not a good idea but not really there yet, as I still have the problem of the miles of caulking I need to take up.. but I thought its better to get the info whilst its out there

I'm considering a rotozip also, sort of midway between a router and a dremel, I have all three! and a fein and yes, they are not cheap!
Also thought a biscuit jointer, might do the trick, set to the right depth and running along a curved guide board. My brother used a battery circular saw, with two blades in it, made a good job! Decisions, decisions!

 

[T1ony]

decking

Hi, you only need a hooked tool or a chiesel to take out the old caulking, most of it is 5mm, once you have removed it, you need to use 5mm tape at the bottom of the joint as the caulking needs to be flexable, only seal on two sides you also need to prime the old teak before you apply the caulking so as to make a good seal, use tape before caulking then use scrapper to take off excess leave to go hard then sand, if you look on youtube you will see how to do it properly, if you botch it you will only be doing again next year.
T1ony