Removing teak from cockpit and filling in screw holes - 1989 Beneteau First 32.5

[BrandonB]

Hello,

We have removed the teak wood strips from the seats of our cockpit. Now we have about 100 screw holes penetrating the hull over the 1/4 berth and over the cockpit lockers. The hull is solid glass so there is no water penetration into a wood core to worry about.

What is the best method to fill these holes in? We would remove any loose glass particles and vacuum or use compressed air to clean out the holes before filling. Should we just go ahead and mix up some 2 part marine epoxy and fill them one by one. I could get a large syringe from my local farm supply to put the mixed epoxy into. Would we need to cover with gel coat?

We haven't decided what to cover the cockpit with. We may just go with new cushions. But if we decide on using plasteak I want to make sure the holes are sealed properly before laying it down.

Thanks for your help.

b

[psk125]

With small holes like that, Marine Tex may be a good fix. We filled holes in the deck of our Soling when we moved fittings with Marine Tex and it held up for years. Using a syringe to apply it may be more trouble than it's worth, since the holes aren't deep. Mix it up on a scrap of corrugated cardboard and use a putty knife to apply. Tape the inside to keep it from dripping through. Clean up around the hole before it sets so you don't end up with a big mess of hard stuff that has to be sanded off. Don't ask how I know this. It comes in white and gray, and now perhaps other different colors. Ours did not appear to turn brown from UV, so no need for gelcoating or paint over it unless the aesthetic committee decides it looks like the cockpit got measles.

[VChild]

A tube of Six10 epoxy from West Marine is very easy to use for that purpose. Apply it with a standard caulk gun. It comes with a mixing tip that screws on to the tube so there is no hand mixing. When you squeeze the gun handle, the epoxy comes out pre-mixed. Apply what you need and then unscrew the mixing tip and pitch it. Reseal the tube with the supplied cap for future use. New mixing tips can be purchased separately and are very inexpensive.

[Swift Drift]

Use a countersink bit to chamfer the screw holes. It will clean them up and provide more surface area for the filler to bind to. Clean holes with acetone then fill with epoxy thickened with colloidal silica. Sand smooth. If you don’t overlay with plasteak, etc. perhaps consider a nonskid paint.

[skipmac]

Do you want to just fill the holes or try for a cosmetic repair as well?

If the later, then get a gel coat patch kit like this https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=16037

With a little practice you can make an almost invisible repair.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by VChild

A tube of Six10 epoxy from West Marine is very easy to use for that purpose. Apply it with a standard caulk gun. It comes with a mixing tip that screws on to the tube so there is no hand mixing. When you squeeze the gun handle, the epoxy comes out pre-mixed. Apply what you need and then unscrew the mixing tip and pitch it. Reseal the tube with the supplied cap for future use. New mixing tips can be purchased separately and are very inexpensive.

Six10 can be a good choice. It will dry slightly yellow in color. It will degrade quickly in the sun as it has no uv protection and look worse. Epoxy needs to be painted (or gelcoated) for protection.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

Six10 can be a good choice. It will dry slightly yellow in color. It will degrade quickly in the sun as it has no uv protection and look worse. Epoxy needs to be painted (or gelcoated) for protection.

The UV issue with epoxy is a very important point. Unless protected epoxy will completely break down in a couple of years or so.

Doing a repair on my boat I spilled a couple of drops on the deck that I didn't notice until it had set up. There is now not even a stain left of the drops.

[Tupaia]

As Swift Drift said use a countersink bit. If you can get to both sides countersink top and bottom. Leave the epoxy plugs a little proud and sand down when set.

[VChild]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

Six10 can be a good choice. It will dry slightly yellow in color. It will degrade quickly in the sun as it has no uv protection and look worse. Epoxy needs to be painted (or gelcoated) for protection.

Agree. I was assuming there would be some type of coating or new surface applied on top, as it can be pretty rough looking after removing teak. I recently replaced the teak decks on my 41 footer. After removal of the old teak, it was not pretty underneath. No water penetration because all the screws were into solid glass, but it was rough. I used a marine shaver (gel coat shaver) to remove about 1/8" of the old surface. I then injected about a thousand screw holes with Six10. This was followed by a new layer of glass/epoxy and then fairing before the new teak was epoxied down.
Maybe cockpit seats won't be as bad underneath and won't need to be entirely re-coated, but you're right, Six10 can't be exposed to UV.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by VChild

Agree. I was assuming there would be some type of coating or new surface applied on top, as it can be pretty rough looking after removing teak. I recently replaced the teak decks on my 41 footer. After removal of the old teak, it was not pretty underneath. No water penetration because all the screws were into solid glass, but it was rough. I used a marine shaver (gel coat shaver) to remove about 1/8" of the old surface. I then injected about a thousand screw holes with Six10. This was followed by a new layer of glass/epoxy and then fairing before the new teak was epoxied down.
Maybe cockpit seats won't be as bad underneath and won't need to be entirely re-coated, but you're right, Six10 can't be exposed to UV.

I think I would countersink top and bottom of each hole, tape under, fill slightly proud with Six10 and sand flush afterwards. A good finish after that is Kiwi Grip. It will be soft to sit on, hide and remaining flaws, and is very easy to work with as it cleans up with water.