Thankfully the E32-3 only has a few pieces of exterior wood to maintain. I'm working on the stern rail successfully in place and now as my attention is turning towards the handrails, I'm wondering if I should remove them to better finish the entire pieces of wood (underside and all). I searched for a couple threads and found:
Anyone remove their handrails...
... that weren't thru-bolted? As I understand it, for the boats where the handrail wasn't thru-bolted they may might screwed the handrails into a an aluminum plate built into the deck. If so, all of these screws may be completely frozen turning this project into a total nightmare. Does...
ericsonyachts.org
Advice please on current thinking about sealants for handrails...
Hi, I have done a search on this site, but haven't found a recent post to help, so I need your best wisdom, please. :egrin: The two exterior handrails on my E30+ are mounted on six raised fibreglass mounts each, where they are thru-bolted, with the starboard one aligning with the interior...
ericsonyachts.org
I'm leaning towards not removing them.
Reasons:
- It's difficult. There's a lot of bonding agent under the attachment points, even after removing the screws.
- I don't see any signs of moisture on the interior headliner near the attachment points of the handrails
- I think I can finagle enough sanding and varnishing to keep them in good shape. For sure on top, and enough underneath to at least seal the wood from water and other non-UV damage
- Remove the screws. Some of the heads are protruding above the wood's surface enough to interrupt sanding.
- Tape tape tape. Tape all around the fiberglass and in the pockets underneath to avoid damage and dripping varnish.
- Sand the top and sides very well, removing all the gray.
- Sand the undersides with curled pieces of sandpaper enough so they will accept varnish.
- Clean with teak cleaner.
- Varnish the tops using standard techniques.
- Varnish the undersides as best I can with a short handled small brush or even <gasp> a sponge. Whatever I can get the varnish on with. I expect this will be difficult.
- Sand, varnish, repeat multiple times until I have a nice smooth surface.
- Coat the self-taping screws in silicon before re-inserting