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Caulking Deck Seams

One part science, five parts experimentation. Every wood boat veteran has their secret recipe for a showy finish. Share your trials and triumphs.

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dougz
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Caulking Deck Seams

Post by dougz » Sat Jun 03, 2017 6:38 pm

Hello - Working on my 1941 17" Barrel Back. Trying to caulk the deck seams. Any secrets that I need to know? I am having issues with air bubbles. Thank you.

Regards,
Doug

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Captain Nemo
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Re: Caulking Deck Seams

Post by Captain Nemo » Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:31 am

How deep are the seams you are filling? If the seams are too deep you need to put some backing cord or some cotton in to take up the excess space. You might be getting air escaping from down deep in the seam. If you have too much caulking in a deep seam it tends to to pull away and crack also.
Boats are to be made of wood, otherwise, God would have grown fiberglass trees.

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maritimeclassics
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Re: Caulking Deck Seams

Post by maritimeclassics » Mon Jun 05, 2017 7:41 am

I hope that the caulking you are using is SikaFlex. You have to make sure that the seam is clean and fill it up completely. Air bubble usually happen when you have voids under the caulking and also when you get down to the end of the tube watch out because there is a lot of air voids in the tube. We wait to pull the tape for about 10 minutes so we can see if any bubbles are starting to happen. If they do we can then fix them and remove the tape.
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dougz
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Re: Caulking Deck Seams

Post by dougz » Mon Jun 05, 2017 7:46 pm

Hello - Thank you for the replies.

I am using 5200. As mentioned below, it helps to start with a new tube. I started with a tube that was almost empty and had trouble with air bubbles. When I opened a new tube I had less problems. Lesson learned.

Thank you.
Doug Z.

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