Teakdecking Systems Questions

[SV Demeter]

I am about to order some stuff from Jamestown Dist. and was wondering about a few things.

1. They offer the caulk in 10.3 oz cartridges or a 20oz. sausage, I assume the 10.3 oz cartridge fits a normal caulk gun but what is the 20oz sausage?

2. I am going to order the fein tool attachment, the reefing hook tool and the seam sanding tool. These coupled with some sharp razor knifes should get the old caulk out. Anyone have additional ideas on caulk removal?

3. The recommend putting masking tape down in the bottom of the seam prior to applying the new caulk. I understand masking around the seam but why would I put very thin masking tape down into the seam? FWIW my deck seams are rabetted (sp?).

4. How much coverage should I expect to get from a 10.3 oz cartridge? Assume a 1/4" seam. Im wondering like will one cartridge do say 20' of seam or how far? I guess double for the sausage eh?

My plan is to start with a small section of the aft deck and see how it goes. The teak is in good shape but the old caulk is very dried out and turns the kids feet black.

[sailvayu]

You need a special gun for the 20 oz tube. The tape in the bottom of the seam is to stop the caulking from sticking on 3 sides causing it to crack and fail as the wood expands and contracts. Do not use tape on the sides of the seams, fill the seam to over flowing let it dry and sand down flush. Do not scrape wet caulk off or wipe it down flush, it shrinks when drying. Only sand down flush when dry otherwise you will have a hollow the will hold water.

Good luck

[SV Demeter]

Teakdecking Systems claims their caulk does not shrink and the idea of sanding caulk sounds crazy but I'm listening so convince me.

Im trying to avoid as much sanding as possible and I would think sanding would remove the wood faster than the rubbery caulk? Teakdecking Systems also say their product can be applied in the manner you suggest or by masking the seams and scraping up the excess which was the route I planned.

I like the idea of the masking tape in the bottom of the seam but boy thats ounds like a PITA to get right, am I wrong? Any thoughts on how far a 10.3 oz tube will go?

Thanks!

[delmarrey]

I might add, when cleaning out the old caulk take it to the wood. Old caulk will break loose. Also it is recommend to use a teak primer. which soaks into the wood giving the caulk a better bond, suppose to anyway.

BTW if your deck is real flat, I would tape off the edges and just build up a little extra caulk on the seams. If it's rough the tape will not do much good anyway.

Enjoy!

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

I might add, when cleaning out the old caulk take it to the wood. Old caulk will break loose. Also it is recommend to use a teak primer. which soaks into the wood giving the caulk a better bond, suppose to anyway.

BTW if your deck is real flat, I would tape off the edges and just build up a little extra caulk on the seams. If it's rough the tape will not do much good anyway.

Enjoy!

Im not seeing a recommendation for primer from Teak Decking Systems. What sort of primer are you referring to?

[hellosailor]

Offhand I would apply the product according to the manufacturer's instructions, and if those instructions differ from what you think is the right way to use the product?

Do not use that product, find a manufacturer who agrees with you and makes something that is intended to be used the way you want to use it.

There's just too much labor involved in recaulking a deck, to even think about needing to do it over.

[SV Demeter]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Offhand I would apply the product according to the manufacturer's instructions, and if those instructions differ from what you think is the right way to use the product?

Do not use that product, find a manufacturer who agrees with you and makes something that is intended to be used the way you want to use it.

There's just too much labor involved in recaulking a deck, to even think about needing to do it over.

Thanks, this is why I decided to use Teak Deck Systems in the first place. Seemed to be a highly regarded product I was just wondering about the taping and how much coverage a tube would yield so I can decide how much to order initially.

Now as Im looking at the FEIn tool attachment I'm wondering if it will fit my Fein tool? I have one of the old ones which takes a Hex Headed Cap Screw to hold the blades on. It looks like it would fit... Need to measure my seams to figure out which blade to order too. Okay never mind looks like the new blades will fit the old tool.

[delmarrey]

I'm not familiar with the "Teak Deck System". I use to use the BoatLIFE Life Caulk stuff and they recommend a primer first.

Originally Posted by BoatLIFE

No priming required except on oily woods such as teak.

So, if TDS says no primer then so be it! Teak is really oily. If one lacquers over it, in the hot sun it will blister the lacquer.

Enjoy!

[Blue Stocking]

The 10.3 oz tube will give you 24 ft of 1/4 x 1/4 bead.
The 20 oz sausage is just that--rounded ends--and loads as bought into the front end of a fully cylindrical gun with a screw-on nozzle assembly.
These are normally battery operated guns with a hand drill type of speed control trigger. We use these in commercial glazing when caulking building joints up to 5/8 x 5/8 joints.
With the precision you will likely require on deck joints, and the slow speed of application, I would not be inclined to use the big size.
Remember, you dont pull the gun toward you-that stretches the caulking and allows air entrapment. Always push the gun, while keeping a little rise of material ahead of the nozzle tip.
You can buy battery type attachments for the small gun as well.
Have fun

[cburger]

I just finished a complete reseam for a customers 33 Hans Christian. I am in the process of finishing a "How to " video on the proper way to reseam decks, it will be available for purchase in the near future.

I always use Teak Decking System's caulk, Fein Multimaster with the caulk removal blade and mask the deck off for application of caulk and never, never, never sand the deck to remove a sloppy caulk job. Also I do not use bond breaker in the bottom of the seam. As hard as I have searched I have never seen a test of a properly prepared deck seams that was used to determine under identical conditions if the seams with bond breaker last substatially longer than ones without. Often reccomended prochedures are just an edjucated guess. Oldtimers deck seams have been lasting 15- 20 years long before the use of bond breaker.

There is significantly more to a proper deck reseam than the questions you are asking. If you are serious about saving time, avoiding mistakes and doing a proper job I would be happy to speak with you over the phone to discuss your project.

[rebel heart]

My $0.02:

I have 36' Hans Christian, the only fibgerglass is the hull. Decks, spar, booms, cockpit, and everything else is wood. Teak decks over plywood.

The only way you get better is by doing it. All the "experts" were not experts when they started, and you won't be either. You can make your learning curve more effective by getting the right tools and the right theory but even armed with that your first seams will probably leak a bit, look like crap, and need to be replaced next year. And you'll make a bit of a mess. It sucks, but it's true.

This is a good but somewhat dated reference: How to maintain and caulk teak decks on boats.

Heatguns and Fein Multimasters have changed things up a bit, and TDS is clearly capable of standing up against the older two part systems. Both of which anyone doing teak maintenance should jump for joy about.

There are also different techniques you can use. The whole "tarp the boat and spend two 80 hour weeks on your knees" approach just doesn't work for me. I do a few strips every month or so constantly, going after anything that looks like it's degrading (long before the telltale signs of seam failure). It's not better necessarily, but I bet I spend more time sailing my boat than most other wooden boat people do because two week projects, especially your first ones, often turn into two month projects and then half your summer is shot out.

Start small and simple. Tape a small area up, get used to the flow, get used to clearing out grooves and not destroying your decks in the process, get used to working on your knees for a few hours.

Provided you don't trash the wood and you keep the water out, the worst thing that happens is the job is a bit messy and you need to redo it again. Big whoop. It's not like any job is permanent, and the more you do it the better you get so take re-do's as a good sign anyway. Don't imagine that your first few times are going to result in 10+ year seams. Not going to happen.

[Troubadour52993]

I did an article in Southwinds Magazine a little over a year ago on refinishing the teak in my cockpit, using the Teak Decking Systems caulk. One man's way. Looks like the pictures above from cburger is a very similar method.

Calculate the volume of your seams width x depth x length to determine how many tubes you need.

IMHO, the finish on the seams where I got them smoothed off with a putty knife is much nicer than the areas where I had to sand them down due to irregularities or the flash not coming off with the masking tape. If you get good you wind up with a bulge in the seam behind the knife as you pull it down the seam, and a nicely rounded seam. YMMV.