Teak Deck - Caulking

[lawrence_craig]

Hi All,

I am in the process of recaulking certain parts of my cockpit. The boat is 13 years old (Bav46 2007).

The section nearest the bow is the most worn. The area near the stern is actually ok.

The dilemma I have is where I have a single line running bow to stern, do I replace the entire groove or do I just replace the front section (forward of cockpit table)? On the picture, the bottom of the picture is the bow section.

What I am reserved about doing the aft section, which seems ok, is having to sand everything down level on possibly thin, worn teak section.

Thanks!

[bletso]

Can't you just deepen the grooves with a router and re-caulk. That is what I had to do.

[Rucksta]

If you have enough groove depth to get adhesion.

Remove existing caulking and clean the groove.
A small chisel ground down to groove width works.

Where you wish to terminate the repair cut the good caulking with the chisel.
Consider an undercut to promote adhesion.

Tape the sides and squeeze in the caulking compound so the groove is slightly overfilled.

Finish the overfill with the back of a teaspoon dipped i solvent for your type of caulk.

A slightly concave finish is the result.

Remove tape before the caulk sets up.

As the caulk cures some shrinkage is usual.
If you get it just right the caulk shrinks flush with deck.

No sanding required.


To make a lot of extra work promoting adhesion
I've tried laying audio cassette tape in the bottom of the groove, (shinny side up)

The theory is without the tape the caulk adheres to the bottom of the
groove better than the sides and unequal expansion, boat movement
has the caulk sticking to the bottom and tearing away from the sides and eventually failing.

Use spray adhesive in the groove to hold the audio tape in place.

[lawrence_craig]

What I am asking in particular is:

should I do the entire caulk line or just remove old caulk to where it's good and just redo the bad bit?

[Rucksta]

Just redo the bad.

[Scubaseas]

Originally Posted by lawrence_craig

What I am asking in particular is:

should I do the entire caulk line or just remove old caulk to where it's good and just redo the bad bit?

Yes, just remove the bad bit. The new caulk will look old in now time. Only you will know where the line was from old to new and even then after a year you won't find it without looking hard for it.

[lawrence_craig]

Great, thanks a lot! Really appreciate it