Teak and Thiokol: which polysulphide product?

[antoha]

hello,

I am in the process of rebuilding my sliding companionway hatch; I let it go too far and while the wood is still good, all the black stuff between the teak planks needs to be replaced. so i'll strip the varnish, clean it all out, and then rebuild: repair wood if necessary, sand, fill in the seams with caulk, wait to cure, sand off excess caulk, varnish, reinstall on the boat (the hatch is already off the boat and in the shop).

question: which brand/product should I use for the black caulk between the teak planks? (I suppose it's the same stuff as on teak decks, and I don't need nearly as much, the hatch is roughly 3'x3').


searching for "teak and Thiokol" seems to bring to heated discussions almost as bad as those "which anchor" threads: you hear people swearing by 3M 101 or life calk or sikaflex, and just in the next thread you'd have people swearing at these same products; same goes for the methods (caulking gun, cotton, what not). what is one to choose? one part or two part? paste or self-leveling? (summers are short, I would prefer not to wait for 10 days for the thing to cure, nor can I wait till end of season.) which brand? I've read good things about teakdecking systems sis-440, but it's not polysulfide.

thank you!
anton

[Terra Nova]

One of the best products I've used for caulking teak deck seams has been that from Teak Decking Systems.

[CAELESTIS]

I second the TDS product. I had my entire deck sanded and recalked using TDS.

Their cleaner is the best as well.

[antoha]

Thank you for the suggestions. I need to varnish over it (the hatch is part of bright work), and they don't really recommend varnishing over their deck caulk, I called them. Any other products?
Thanks again!

[bletso]

What I did was to coat it with Smith's penetrating epoxy. It is like water. Just keeps the teak from oxidising.
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