Repairing Ripped-Out Screw Hole in Teak

[msulc]

We have canvas fasteners that are attached to the teak on our boat.

One of the screws was ripped out of the wood on our recent trip south.

Was wondering how anybody would recommend repairing and strengthening the place where the screw was ripped out of the wood so we could put another screw into the same spot? Also wondering what brands of products you would recommend?

Thanks!!!
Marty

[rhr1956]

Drill it out, glue in a hardwood dowel and re-drill your new screw hole.

[mike d.]

I would get some teak and make a plug. make the hole larger and a little deeper. then mix the epoxy wet the hole and the plug and then push the plug in the hole. if you make the plug a tad smaller then the excess epoxy will squirt out

[David M]

Use clear epoxy around a teak plug. The plugs are readily available. There is no fabrication involved other than making it flush with the existing wood after the epoxy has cured.

There are different sizes to choose from. Drill a hole the same size as the plug, put epoxy in the hole ahead of time, completely coat the plug as well and then gently tap it in with something like a rubber mallet.

Do not make the pilot hole in the teak plug too small or you risk cracking the new plug.

[GordMay]

Threaded insert, & machine screw (rather than wood screw)?
➥ Groov-Pin - Tap-Lok Wood series provides strong threads in one step in hard or soft woods

[Bergovoy]

Originally Posted by rhr1956

Drill it out, glue in a hardwood dowel and re-drill your new screw hole.

+1

they sell dowels all over.. and actually, I am not sure it needs to be hardwood dowel... most any dowel glued in will be good, especially if you are going to re-drill it...

I would also suggest getting a slightly longer, thicker screw... just one sized larger over all will be fine, or if you have room for a much longer screw, then better yet...

if you cant find a dowel, you can just shove wood chips/slivers into the hole with some wood glue. use a hammer to tap the wood chips or dowel into place after filling the hole with glue...

when drilling hte hole out and prior to glueing, blow out the what you can to make sure you can get hte dowel in as far as it will go...get a dowel that is slightly larger then the hole you drilled and whittle it down to a point to drive it into the hole...

They also sell a corrugated metal that can be cut with scissors and you kinda roll it up like a straw and slide it into the hole, but i am not sure how well that works as it is metal, and salt water and all that...

[msulc]

Thanks for the input. Is there a specific kind of expoxy you would recommend?

I also wonder if I glued in some type of "harder" wood than teak if it would last longer? I actually have teak bungs already for our teak deck.

Gord, I looked at that site. Looks interesting but I can't reall figure out how it works

[David M]

You probably want to use teak again just for cosmetic reasons. The teak will be strong enough as long as you have enough surrounding wood left.

West Systems has a Part B that is clear called 207.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by msulc

...Gord, I looked at that site. Looks interesting but I can't reall figure out how it works

Per instructions for a 6-32 bolt/machine screw, drill a 0.172" diameter hole, at least 0.344" deep, and insert the TapLok. I’d use an epoxy adhesive to provide additional security.
Now you have a 6-32 internal (female) thread which will accept a machine screw or bolt.

[zeehag]

use a clear epoxy and , if you have any sawdust from TEAK then add it as a filler instead of the west stuff-- that turns white and you will have a cap looking like mine afore i rescued it. try to make the crews become a part of the repair so you dont have to redo those-- if you use a plug, it DOES need to be teak-- is a very hard wood and loves salt water.... thrives on it.....
better yet is the plug david m suggested-and as gord suggested----my repair is a permanent deal-- screw is epoxied into the site and the teak filler is same color as your cap.

can you relocate your snaps to fiberglass rather than wood caprail?? i see your cap becoming realllly funky if this is continuous-- this will happen again in htis boat's life... to prevent, might make fasteners go into something less pricey and hard to repair than teak.... just my humble-or not so --opinion, as a teak lover.....

[brankin]

Only one thing to add to zeehag is to notice the grain of the wood and align the plug grain to the base teak. Job done ...this thread is complete!

[msulc]

Thanks again! Any idea if any of the "repair" packs sold by west system or anyone else would work well with the wood? Like the Gflex or G5? I would like to avoid having a lot of epoxy sitting around on the boat. I am guessing I need to mix the the resin and harderner per spec.

It would be pretty hard to move the snaps from the wood now, but next time we need one it would definitely be a good idea...

[brankin]

Any of the little 5 min plunger type epoxy will work just fine...home depot has a good selection and cheap. The key is to mix it real good.

[zeehag]

just remember if you add the west(WHITE COLORED) filler , the end result is WHITE spot-- with the teak sawdust, is TEAK colored. any epoxy should work--i have used many kinds on my formosa...i just dont mix 'em in the same area...yet....

[Bergovoy]

if the wood is going to be exposed then yea, definately find some teak plugs or scrap wood to try to match/blend the wood.

(I assumed the hole was going to be reused and not be visible again and was just looking for something 'structurally' sound)