No room for bungs

[LLCoolDave]

I'm having some teak work done on a 40 year old boat. It's been sanded enough times that the screws are flush with the wood. I think there is 1/2 inch of meat on the toe rails. With that much would left do you countersink and rebung or do I leave it as is? I am planning on leaving the teak natural so no additional sanding.

The previous owner just had the screws varnished over with no bungs

Thanks

[Bill O]

Is this the real question you are polling?
Are you ok looking at the screw heads or is it time for new teak on those toes rails?

[Tortuga's Lie]

If there's enough meat left to the wood, remove the screws, drill the countersink a bit further, replace the screws, then add a bung. If there's simply not enough thickness, I have used thickened epoxy with sawdust and/or brown tinting to cover the screws. The downside to that is if you ever have to remove the teak, you will need to drill out the screw because of the epoxy. I suppose you could use a brown caulk.....???

Hi Bill O.

[LLCoolDave]

Maybe a better question to ask is if we counter sink 1/4 is a 1/4 inch bung even useful or is it just cosmetic? Personally I don't mind the screws showing.

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by LLCoolDave

is a 1/4 inch bung even useful or is it just cosmetic? Personally I don't mind the screws showing.

Same thing I was thinking and never had great luck with thin "bungs" actually staying in spot for too long.

I suppose once it turns grey, the SS screws will blend in. There you go problem solved. Wish they were all that easy!

[Cheechako]

To look good redrill/csk and rebung should work with a 1/4" tall bung. Done it many times. If not much force fit, glue the bung in. On rare occasions I have resunk for a bigger bung and done that to repair a bad wood surface.
With thin bungs don't chisel, sand flush after glueing.

[model 10]

[QUOTE=Cheechako;To look good redrill/csk and rebung should work with a 1/4" tall bung.


You have plenty of time David, what with the pandemic and all

[guyrj33]

I suggest filling the screw heads with an easy to remove caulk and then painting the teak.

[sailing_gal]

If you just leave the screws there, with nothing covering them, it is a good place to develop a leak. If you have enough wood, I would second the suggestion to re- countersink the hole and put in the screw and install a bung- epoxy the bung on its sides and it should stick.

[chowdan]

I second re countersinking the holes with that much thickness and bunging it.

I have 10mm left and am rebunging mine.

If the toe rail is glued down(unlikely) you can just fill hole and put a bung in it and call it a day.

Unfortunately my decks are not glued so I have to keep screws otherwise I'd pull screws, fill with epoxy and cap off with a bung and never deal with it until it's time to pull the decks

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by sailing_gal

If you just leave the screws there, with nothing covering them, it is a good place to develop a leak. If you have enough wood, I would second the suggestion to re- countersink the hole and put in the screw and install a bung- epoxy the bung on its sides and it should stick.

Yes, and really, most of that type of trim is sealed down with caulking/sealant, so the screws often are not doing much anymore. So redrilling with a thin amount of wood left on the bottom isn't that bad a thing. (PS: in some situations you may have to use a new shorter screw)

[sailcrazy]

REbunging, even if they are thin, will certainly help with waterproofing the deck and keeping moisture out of your coachroof. And if you go barefoot ondeck (I always go barefoot when we're sailing), the teak deck gets hot in the sun....but the metal screw heads will get a lot hotter (don't ask me how I know!) Remove the scew, redrill a little deeper, reset the screw, and rebung-use epoxy if it's shallow or the wood is shakey. I've been told by other TASWELL 43 owners there are some really good craftsmen there is Rio Dolce....may be worth checking out?

[roland stockham]

It depends on the size of the screws. To stay put bungs should be about at deepas they are wide so 1/4 scew head countersunk to 1/4 inch would be fine but not if the head dia,eter is 1/2 inch

[LLCoolDave]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I decided to countersink and re-bed the screws. The crew is using epoxy mixed with sawdust on the bungs to bond them to the toerails. Looking good so far!