Teak Deck Renovation

[Camille1]

I have a Northwind 50 with a teak deck not much worn but the caulking has lost its adhesion. Teak screwed and plugged but not adhered to GRP deck. I propose cutting the old caulk with a Fein Multimaster fitted with caulk cutter. cleaning up and then re-caulking with 'Saba' MS Polymer caulk.

Am I doing right? Advice welcomed.

Peter B

[barnakiel]

I am not sure which polymer. Remember seeing it done with poly-sulfide. Investigate.

b.

[slowshoes]

Peter,

Practical Sailor tested caulks for teak decks recently, and teak decking systems caulk came out on top for ease of use ( one part, no primers required) and longevity. I've never used it, but I intend to this spring.

The fein multimaster is great for caulk removal - I've seen them used by other sailors and they make short work of removing old caulk. My wife bought me one as a gift this past Christmas and I will be using it this spring as well.

[Bloodhound]

What does the caulk cutter look like? I can't find it on the Fein Website.

[slowshoes]

Bloodhound,

Go to the fein website and open up the online cataloge and then go to pages 188 and 189 of the cataloge. The caulk removal blades are the things they simply call cutters. They come in 3 different widths, depending on the width of the seams on your teak deck. They're pretty pricey - about $50.00 a piece. Hope that helps.

[Ocean Girl]

I have done that gawd awful job. We used a two part poly-sulfide. Some of the tools I used was sharpened flat head screwdrivers (three or four) and a cool tool that is probably similar to what slowshoes is talking about, kinda like a flat head screwdriver but with a v shaped end (?). I'd use the v shaped tool first then the flat heads to get the bits and pieces. I would hit my tools with a sharpening stone a lot (they seem to dull quickly). A strong vac is a must, taping off, and covering everything that may be walked on (inside and out) or touched by caulk tainted hands (handholds etc) will help with clean up.
Cheers,
Erika

[slowshoes]

Erica,

It sounds like you did the caulk removal with hand tools, where the caulk removal blades I was referring to are blades that fit into the fein power tool. A fellow sailor showed me how it worked last season, and it truly makes short work out of getting the old caulk out of the seams. You still have to go back and clean the seam up a bit, but the power tool does most of the heavy lifting for you.

I have teak decks and I never found a good way to get old caulk out of the seams that wasn't dreadfully slow - my knees were begging me to give this tool a try! I'll post how things go this spring when I'll be redoing some of the seams that need attention.

[Ocean Girl]

Originally Posted by slowshoes

Erica,

It sounds like you did the caulk removal with hand tools, where the caulk removal blades I was referring to are blades that fit into the fein power tool. A fellow sailor showed me how it worked last season, and it truly makes short work out of getting the old caulk out of the seams. You still have to go back and clean the seam up a bit, but the power tool does most of the heavy lifting for you.

I have teak decks and I never found a good way to get old caulk out of the seams that wasn't dreadfully slow - my knees were begging me to give this tool a try! I'll post how things go this spring when I'll be redoing some of the seams that need attention.

Well heck, why am I the last to know about these things..sigh. Oh well serves me right for not posting a "teak deck restoration" thread to pick the brains of you smarty pants.
Cheers,
Erika

[avazquez]

I did my 45 ft First Frers 456 and used Maritime Wood Products Caulking One Step. Easy to apply and so far so good. Its been about three years,