Winter/Spring Projects

[mjsouleman]

Asking for Free Advice for winter/spring projects,

Discovery has always been a little wet since I purchased her 7 years ago and she and I have made several updates to repair the years of neglect that caused spongy decks and leaky ports.

Project One: is to remove the stanchions and cut out wet core from the underside of the deck, leaving the top skin in place.
Project Two: is to remove the rub rail, repair any damage found along the deck/hull joint, add three fiberglass layers over the joint and replace the rub rail.

Expectations: dry bunks and better sleep

Rub Rail Source: TACO Marine
rub rail sizing: 1.5"

 

[Loren Beach]

You will be removing a lot of staples. I did this recently to access the underside of most of our deck. Strictly IMO, worth buying a duckbill stapler and small compressor to put the liner sections back in place.

 

[Kenneth K]

Or, after removing all those staples, re-do with rigid, removable panels on the rebuild.

 

[Marlin Prowell]

worth buying a duckbill stapler

@Loren Beach Searching for “duckbill stapler” I found lots of duck-themed staplers, but nothing appropriate or pneumatic. Could you give a more precise reference? I’ll be diving into my headliner soon.

 

[Loren Beach]

I was using one at the shop. I will ask our boat wright what model it is. I may be misusing the terminology, but it has an extension on the driver that makes it a lot easier to put the staples into a confined area.

Also see the picture in reply 5 in this thread: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/made-from-real-naugas.18658/#post-143994

Another headliner thread: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/headliner-woes-replacement.17445/#post-129272

 

[Loren Beach]

Or, after removing all those staples, re-do with rigid, removable panels on the rebuild.

I would like to make that change, but I need every fraction of an inch of headroom in our boat. A new solid headliner would remove about an inch- maybe more, and I just cannot spare it!

 

[Chschaus]

18 Gauge, 2-in-1 Air Nailer/Stapler

Amazing deals on this 18 Gauge 2-In-1 Air Nailer/Stapler at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

 

[mjsouleman]

Loren,

I don't need a staple remover but will pick up the air stapler. At a recent anchorage, while lounging in my bunk, I reached up and "scratched" a staple. The thing was so rotted, it came right out. Spent the night removing all staples with a finger nail. Now I have to remove staples on the other starboard side, no staple remover for me.

Mark

 

[Loren Beach]

I found a ton of corroded factory (coated) steel staples to pull out. A lot of them broke off and I had to use long-nose pliers to work out the remaining metal. A few frustrated me enough that I gently pounded them down flush.
Laugh if you will but I did re-drive new (plated) staples -- they will last another 30 years at least. Now that our deck is 100% waterproof, there is much less chance of moisture getting to them.
Actually, our factory vinyl headliner is still looking very good, and the teak battens do cover the row of staples along the edges.

Oh, and BTW Mark, there is a reason our advice is... free.

EDIT: the stapler I used is a SENCO model # SJ10 for 3/8” to 5/8” or 10 mm - 16mm staples.

 

[Slick470]

Mark, If the staples can be removed by hand, you can probably also expect rotten wood battens and plywood furring strips that you will also want to remove and replace before you put the headliner back in.

 

[mjsouleman]

Rotten wood is expected, I will be asking the EYO community for resources when the time comes.

 

[Tin Kicker]

Those staples are really buried and hard to get out of the wood, corroded or not. The pressure on the pneumatic stapler was really set high. It didn't take long to do like Lauren and just pound them flat.

My boat had split the seam under the rub-rails when pounding against a pylon in a storm and I fixed it totally from the outside. This is actually necessary, as the seam between deck and hull has a couple of plies of glass on the interior so you can not actually get to the seam. Those added coarse layers were sloppy from the factory and are NOT water-tight. There's a pretty good gap in spots between them and the seams.

1. Removed the old rub rail, then the silicone sealer beneath it.

2. Lightly sand the crud to the surface of the paint. It's about the only way to really get anything new to stick where silicone had been. For sanding both the surface and in the radius, a finger belt worked best:

Amazon.com

3. Dig and grind out to clean glass.

This created a gap through to the inside in a number of places and in case of hairline cracks I dug a groove for the new epoxy where the seam appeared intact.

4. Laid blue tape along the bottom of the seam with the top half not fastened. This gave something to guide the new epoxy and hold it in the seam when the top of the tape was pressed in place. I used the TotalBoat flexible epoxy. This is what it looked like the next day when the tape was pulled off.

There were some gaps to add thickened epoxy into like below, but very few.

5. Sand smooth, fill the surface imperfections like the sanding seen above, prime, paint, and add new rub rail.

 

[mjsouleman]

Bob,

This is the advice I need to do the rub rail. BOOKMARKING this NOW!!!!

Thank you
Mark "Souleman" Soule

 

[Marlin Prowell]

@Tin Kicker Your post would make a great stand-alone blog post. That would make it a lot easier to find in the future.

 

[Tin Kicker]

@Tin Kicker Your post would make a great stand-alone blog post. That would make it a lot easier to find in the future.

OK - Done with some additions and edits.
Link here: https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/repair-hull-deck-joint-under-rub-rail.19412/