Tips for applying new Sikaflex on teak decks

[JustinC]

Although my teak is right as rain, the Sikaflex between the panels is tired in some places, and non-existent in others.

I´ve bought the relevant Sikaflex to fill the gaps, but before starting I was wondering if anyone had any helpful tips /advice.

Electric tape to protect the teak and a confident squeeze to get the continuous line are my 2 main thoughts...

Thanks

Justin

 

[TamT]

Justin

There are good instructions for this on the Sika flex web site. Its a pain in the whatsit job. I laid a new pitch pine deck on my Grand Banks a few years ago so have a good handle on whats involved.

You need to get ALL of the old product off of both the bottom and sides of the seam. If you are patching in area,s trim the old caulking off at a shallow angle to increase the contact area to improve adhesion. Clean seam out with acetone. This dries up oils on the wood and livens up the old compound to improve adhesion. Install a breaker tape on the bottom of the seam. (Idea is the compound only sticks to the sides of the seam.) Use masking tape and remove before compound sets. You need to paint a primer on the sides of the seam and wait a bit before applying the compound. Wait a few days and sand down flush.

Try a small area first and see how you get on.

Good luck

Colin

 

[Hoolie]

I haven't applied Sikaflex to teak but I did patch up one of the windows. I had applied plastic masking tape etc but I chose precisely the wrong time to pull the tape off. It had partly set and came away with the tape in messy strings
I should have either taking it off when the Sikaflex was soft, or left it until it had set. I think you should try a small test area to find out the best setting time for your deck.

 

[BrianH]

Although my teak is right as rain, the Sikaflex between the panels is tired in some places, and non-existent in others.
I´ve bought the relevant Sikaflex to fill the gaps, but before starting I was wondering if anyone had any helpful tips /advice.

Electric tape to protect the teak and a confident squeeze to get the continuous line are my 2 main thoughts...

"Electric tape to protect the teak"
Absolutely NOT - use good quality, blue, masking tape and remove it before setting.

Cannot improve on TamT's comprehensive instructions, although I tend, with my everlasting and failing attempts to perpetuate my ageing teak deck, to skimp a bit - especially the breaker strip at the bottom of the seam - but I suffer for it by the new results breaking the side bonds within two years. The primer is important but not everyone stocks it (at least in my area).

Good luck, it's a terrible job and likely to make you swear never to get a boat with a teak deck again. Well, it did to me.

 

[chinita]

I did a big job a couple of years ago but the principles are the same even for smaller areas

I used a Fein Multimaster with the special tool to remove old sikaflex.

If there is not sufficient depth in the seam you need to route down to the original depth. This takes nerve and a steady hand!

If you have sufficient depth without routing, so much the better.

Most seams are 6mm wide, you need to then apply bond breaker tape (choose 4mm for a 6mm gap as it is a sod to get in place). The bond breaker tape is to allow for movement as the Sika is designed to adhere to two surfaces only.

Then use Sikaflex primer on top of tape. Apply goodly amounts of Sika. No need to mask.

When it has THOROUGHLY gone off and hardened remove excess with a Veritas Flush Plane. Be patient as, if it has not completely gone off you will rip it all out again and feel quit sick.

Good luck.

 

[grumpygit]

I did a big job a couple of years ago but the principles are the same even for smaller areas

I used a Fein Multimaster with the special tool to remove old sikaflex.

If there is not sufficient depth in the seam you need to route down to the original depth. This takes nerve and a steady hand!

If you have sufficient depth without routing, so much the better.

Most seams are 6mm wide, you need to then apply bond breaker tape (choose 4mm for a 6mm gap as it is a sod to get in place). The bond breaker tape is to allow for movement as the Sika is designed to adhere to two surfaces only.

Then use Sikaflex primer on top of tape. Apply goodly amounts of Sika. No need to mask.

When it has THOROUGHLY gone off and hardened remove excess with a Veritas Flush Plane. Be patient as, if it has not completely gone off you will rip it all out again and feel quit sick.

Good luck.

Fein Multimaster is a brilliant bit of kit for removing the old caulking as in the Ryobi battery powered mastic gun is great for replacing, less stress on your hands and a smoother controlled lay.
I would use masking tape and also use a spatcula and smooth over the groove, this will make a lot less sanding. Remove the tape sooner than later before it starts to skin over.
I would use the Simpson system (Bostik), it's kinder to the pocket and IMO a better product.
At the end of the day it's what ever works best for you........

____________________________________________________________________

 

[Beorma_Kate]

If it makes you feel any better (moral support n all), our winter job which we've just begun is re-caulking our entire deck (around 50 sqm of deck) and we are complete amateurs.

Luckily for us, our mate and fellow liveaboard here in Montenegro is a shipwright and has got us started off and this is how we are doing it (in sections):

1) removing old caulking, most of which comes out very easily as completely shot. For difficult bits, carefully remove by running stanley blade along edge, careful not to damage teak.

2) Using 6mm cutter blade in a router (we are using a laminate cutter as easy to work with), re-route seams (this is the hard bit as we cannot use a guide as the planks are curved (can't remember the term for this!). The existing seams are down to about 2mm deep as the (10mm) teak has worn down so that is the line we are working to. This is a tricky job and it remains to be seen how many times the router goes off on one and takes half the bloody deck with it.

The original seams are 4mm wide. It was recommended that we go up to 6mm.

3) Once routed, we have made a little hand-sander with 40 grit to get rid of any wobbles and smooth it out.

4) Mask off (blue masking tape), use 5mm bond-breaker tape (we are using fineline tape which works just as well apparently, is cheaper and easier to find here in this world of huge MYs), Sika Primer 290 in the seam, Sika 290 DC.

A small metal spatula good for running across the Sika.

5) Once all done (whole deck), sand it all down (belt sander and small orbital).

We are also taking out the screws where the plugs have gone (many) and replacing plugs (and maybe leave screws out, fill holes with bit of epoxy - deck is well and truly stuck down and screw holes are potential leak points into the deck core so the less of them, the better).

How this will all work in practice is another matter. So far we've only routed about 50 cm of seam so all of the above is pure theory at the moment. Any further advice always appreciated.

I will add photos when it is done (even if it looks terrible - as a warning to others!).

 

[vas]

2) Using 6mm cutter blade in a router (we are using a laminate cutter as easy to work with), re-route seams (this is the hard bit as we cannot use a guide as the planks are curved (can't remember the term for this!). The existing seams are down to about 2mm deep as the (10mm) teak has worn down so that is the line we are working to. This is a tricky job and it remains to be seen how many times the router goes off on one and takes half the bloody deck with it.

working the router on hand without a guide???
Surely there must be a way of getting some sort of guide for it, else you'll spend most of the winter doing the seams!
Any custom guide (4mm on the forward side and 6mm on the trailing) to help you keep the router in place? Could be as little as a small rod/bolt whatever secured vertically at the opposite ends of the router plate?
Dunno, I'm afraid it's going to be too hard to hold the router by hand only!

good luck!

V.

 

[wazza]

And another one to give you moral support.. I'll be doing the same this winter, albeit just the saloon roof, but still ALL the caulking will be coming out/off, will sand and re-caulk it. Lots of plugs to be replaced, and as above, I won't be putting the old screws back in, just epoxy and plugs.
Our deck is 30 years old so not too much life left in the old bugger..

 

[Martin_J]

Wait a few days and sand down flush.
Colin

When it has THOROUGHLY gone off and hardened remove excess with a Veritas Flush Plane.

5) Once all done (whole deck), sand it all down (belt sander and small orbital).

Any tips for those wishing to re-do the specific joint where teak and gelcoat meet - such as at the edges of panels in and around the cockpit on an AWB... ?

I guess it's a case of mask, sika, finger/spatula then remove tape immediately.... or is there a better way to do this particular join. I don't like the idea of sanding the teak<->grp interface!

 

[chinita]

working the router on hand without a guide??
V.

Not a full blown router - more a trimmer. Easy to make a simple fence/guide from ply and 2X2.

 

[chinita]

Any tips for those wishing to re-do the specific joint where teak and gelcoat meet - such as at the edges of panels in and around the cockpit on an AWB... ?

I guess it's a case of mask, sika, finger/spatula then remove tape immediately.... or is there a better way to do this particular join. I don't like the idea of sanding the teak<->grp interface!

Sand the whole deck with a floor sander if you wish but it will only look pretty for a matter of a few weeks and you will have eroded precious material.

The Veritas flush plane is razor sharp and will adequately slice off the proud caulking down to the level of the teak, finish off with a light sanding.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-veritas-flush-plane-prod20245/

Regarding the teak/gelcoat interface, I had a similar problem but was dealing with teak/steel. It is just a matter of doing as you have suggested but being very careful.

 

[Blue5]

working the router on hand without a guide???
Surely there must be a way of getting some sort of guide for it, else you'll spend most of the winter doing the seams!
Any custom guide (4mm on the forward side and 6mm on the trailing) to help you keep the router in place? Could be as little as a small rod/bolt whatever secured vertically at the opposite ends of the router plate?
Dunno, I'm afraid it's going to be too hard to hold the router by hand only!

good luck!

V.

Spot on, make up a wooden base for the router with a couple of guide pins or short timer blocks each side of the cutter, it will work with curves.

 

[philip17]

2 years ago I had to replace 95metres of caulking where the groove had worn down to only 2mm deep and less. I tried various forms of power tool to route out the groove to 6mm deep but by the time that you set up the guides (dificult on curved planks) the best and fastest method was Mr Stanley Knife (with a lot of sharp blades) and a 3mm chisel. the sides of the existing groove act as the guide for Mr Stanley to cut down and the chisel just chops out the teak at the bottom. It is very fast and you do not risk damaging the sides of the groove with a power tool that jumps the guide.

 

[zefender]

nightmare job

Whilst on holiday in the Summer, I thought I'd be able to sort my knackered caulking on odd free days. In reality, I made a terrible mess, stepping on it by mistake, pulling up the masking tape too early, too late, failing to squirt the black stuff smoothly etc etc. I then looked on the web for estimate of the time involved and, coupled to my own so-far experiences, estimated it would take about 80-100 hours to do properly. I then paid someone to do it for me! 40ft boat inc cockpit, cost me about 4000 Euros. A lot of money but it looks a darn sight better than if I'd done it, even if I had the time. It's not a difficult job but needs patience and organisation. Good luck.

 

[melandnick]

Hi
I am about to do the same and would recommend SIS 440 instead of Sika (I know you already bought sika but may be of use to anyone else doing this)
Its gets a good write up and goes in without any primer (needed with sika)
Buy direct from the importer and give them a reason to give you a trade discount and its less than half the price of sika in the chandlers.

http://www.teakdecking.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=featured&Itemid=107

You will need loads of GOOD masking tape.
Buy direct from 3m online at stupid cheap prices:

http://www.3mselect.co.uk/p-1373-3m-scotch-water-resistant-blue-masking-tape-25mm-x-50m-roll.aspx

You will need lots of acetone as well and you can get this very cheap from fibreglass supply companies in 5l containers.

Ryobi cartridge gun is well worth the few quid they cost and you will get most of it back when you sell it on ebay after.

Good luck and hope this helps a bit.

Nick

 

[Forbsie]

Don't forget to have a couple of packs of baby wet wipes handy to get the stuff off your hands/tools.

 

[dt4134]

I found it hard to stop the primer getting under the masking tape even though I used the blue stuff.

I ended up buying half a dozen small paint brushes from the local model shop. They worked pretty well to apply the primer to the seam without getting any on the teak surface itself.

 

[chinita]

Don't forget to have a couple of packs of baby wet wipes handy to get the stuff off your hands/tools.

Baby wipes! To remove Sikaflex!!?

Don't think so. If it does, imagine what it would do to a nippers arse!

 

[Forbsie]

Baby wipes! To remove Sikaflex!!?

Don't think so. If it does, imagine what it would do to a nippers arse!

I think it's more the moisture. If you can keep your hands free of the stuff, it reduces the transfer onto other areas. I only suggest baby wipes coz they're the cheapest and I've found them to work. Invest a euro or two and give them a try.