Teak Deck/Bung Repair/Replacement

Hello, I am helping my grandfather to fix leaks on the teak deck of his 48-1/2ft. prototype boat for the Columbia 50. Most of the teak plugs are shot and the bronze screws have become corroded. My grandfather had hired a carpenter to help fix some of the leaks, and his work was quite sloppy. He used West System 105 Epoxy Resin and West System 205 Fast Hardener mixed with WS 423 Graphite Powder as a UV protectant. The problem is he did not mask the plank around the plug hole and was super sloppy applying the epoxy so it is on the surrounding area of the plank around the new teak plug. I have recently replaced him on the project and I am aiming for a neat and proper repair.

Here was what I believe the previous carpenters procedure was.

1. Remove faulty plug with a hammer and awl or chisel.
2. Etch slot with awl in screw head for screwdriver blade if corroded.
3. Turn the screw clockwise to see if its threads are still holding in the beam.
4. If the screw keeps spinning with no signs of grip, then remove the old bronze screw.
5. Check and see that the hole is still strong/solid and if there is dry rot, dry to get the rot removed with an awl and vacuum.
6. Acetone the open hole to remove the oil/moisture from the wood below.
7. Apply West System epoxy with Graphite powder additive into the hole with a syringe and put in approx 1/4"x1/4" piece of Port Orford cedar into the hole to give the screw something to grip with?
8. Let epoxy fully cure and then install a new bronze screw.
9.Using same formula of epoxy, epoxy the new bung inplace on top of new screw.
10.Once plug has cured in place, chisel of excess plug material and sand smooth.. but the carpenter left all the plugs unfinished. Sanding flush with the deck or chiseling has yet to be done.

Does anyone have any advice or tips for me and this process. I also have some cans of CPES Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer and I am wondering If i should use this on the holes that have signs of rot? Also, is the graphite powder additive really necessary for this application? The black color is not a good look for a teak deck and I was wondering if leaving the epoxy clear would suffice?

Is it recommended to epoxy the teak plug in place or is there another technique? I am trying to get this done asap as I have a week or so of sunlight after wait for the bay area rain to clear up. I need to get these leaks fixed ASAP so we can then caulk the deck with new poly sulfide.



All help and advice is greatly appreciated, and thank you in advance.

 

I'm assuming this is not a traditional natural finish, laid teak deck, but is a veneer deck over a substrate. I'm also assuming it's not one of the "Sailcrafter" kits or one of the customs.

What I remember of this yacht is a solid hull, with balsa cored deck and a liner.

You're speaking as if it's a real laid deck over beams. Can you provide pictures of the beams and determine the thickness of the planking used on the deck?

There are two general ways to apply a teak deck. You're describing a laid one, but I seem to think it's a veneer style. Repairs of the two are quite different.

 

I am new to the scene so sorry for my lack of knowledge and use of terminology for boat construction. From what I understand, the teak planks are fastened to the beams going across the width inside of the boat. from underneath i see beams going across and what seems like painted plywood above those beams (proper term?). I am not certain what the deck core is yet but i will get try and get from my grandfather tomorrow. It has teak planks originally fastened by bronze screws, i believe along all beams. The thickness of the teak varies due to wear over the years i believe, but on average seems to be 3/8" to 1/2" thick at first glance. It is not a custom kit, it is natural finish teak from the 60s as i understand it. We are trying to save the deck and not pull the teak up and glass the deck core. We are trying to remove any rot and seal/epoxy/refasten/caulk all planks.

the deck looks very similar to this:



i will try and post pictures of the actual boat as soon as I can..

I will be picking this up tomorrow:




Thanks for your response PAR. I really appreciate any input and help. I will try and get more info on the exact construction type.

 

To clarify, the boat is a 1963 Trumphy 48-1/2ft with a British marine-grade plywood core with teak planks laid on top. This boat was supposedly the prototype for the Columbia 50.

 

I don't remember actual deck beams in the 50, but the prototype may be different.

If there are beams you can remove the fasteners, fill the holes with epoxy (being careful not to over fill or let goo get between the deck planks and the beams) and while the epoxy is still wet, insert the screws, then let it dry. This restores some of the fastener hole strength and "keys" the fastener to the repair. When the epoxy is severial hours into the cure, then apply a little torque to each fastener to insure it's "home".

Don't epoxy the bungs, you'll pay dearly to remove them later, just use varnish, shellac or even oil based paint. Butter up the bung hole and insert the bung. Yep, varnish or whatever will ooze out, but that will get sanded away later. Let this dry very well, then cut the bungs close to the deck, but again leave enough to sand down, then sand your brains out, so all the bungs are reasonably flush, though at this point they don't have to be perfect.

Next pay the seams. Thee are two ways to do this. One is to carefully tape off each seam and apply the goo, then remove the tape. The other is to smear goo in the seams and screw the taping ordeal. This requires you sand the remaining seam compound off, but since your deck needs to be leveled anyway, not a bad approach.

If you tape off the seams, then the deck should be sanded level before you tape. If you're not taping, then the leveling process will remove excess seam compound and smooth out the bungs.

Repairs in the actual planks can be done with epoxy, but it's delicate work. My technique is to clean out the bung and fastener hole of soft wood, then glue in a repair for the fastener hole (in the beam). I do this again for the bung hole but make the repair fall short of flush with the surface of the decking. Now the fastener hole is repaired, the bung hole is repaired so you re-drill for a new fastener and bung as usual.

 

Thanks for your advice. On Wednsday I will be going back to the boat to do some more work on the deck. I will bring a digital camera and take some photos for reference.