Teak hand rails

[Mark G]

Has anyone taken off the teak grab rails on deck to refinish them? If so, are there any pitfalls to removing them? It just seems the project would be easier and neater in my basement over the winter.
Thanks,
--Mark

[Rick Johnson]

When you have removed the nuts and washers, tap each screw up just a little at a time.  I tried knocking the first couple out all the way and I cracked the end of the rail (Epoxy fixed that problem). I learned to just tap each one up about 1/2 an inch at a time and work my way down the whole row.  I repeated this until the rail came free.  The teak is very brittle so be careful around any edge (removing the plugs or screws).

Once they were off, I sanded all the varnish off and then used a teak cleaner.  I used 8 coats of Cetol Light Satin and wished I had finished with a final coat (or two) of glossy.  All that said, it went very easy and looks great, I'm happy I made the effort!

I did read all the horror stories from others about "never" taking the rails off.  For me it worked out great and with two people it was very easy!  I used BoatLife Life-Calk to re-bed the rails.  We get some great thunderstorms here in Texas and not a sign of a leak!

Cheers,

Rick

[Mike Vaccaro]

Mark,

The hand rails are screwed and bolted in place.  You can access all of the screws and bolts in the cabin.  The screws have finishing washers and the bolts have acorn nuts.  The bolts will remain with the rails when you pull them off.  If you work carefully, there is no need to remove the teak plugs covering the top of the machine screws (bolts).  If you can't loosen a bolt, it may be necessary to remove the plug (they are 1/2") to access the screw head.  If they haven't been removed in a while, give the nuts a squirt of PB Blaster, WD-40, Boeing T-9 or the like a day or two before you attempt to remove them--that way there is less likelyhood that you'll have to remove the plug(s).  

There is a bit of bend to the long forward railings, so if you're working alone, you may want to lift them up a bit at a time until the bolts are free, at which time the rail will straighten a bit.  You'll need to re-bed the rails when you reinstall them.    

Best of luck,

Mike

[Stu Jackson]

I would NEVER take them off.  The "cuuurrrrvvvvve" is too hard to get back into.  Lots of earlier tech notes about this.  I would "up" them a bit, silicone and re-bed.

Easy for me to say, who never has to do a winter haul out.

But, seriously, there's been a lot in the tech notes about this and most recommend being VERY careful about complete removal.  How do you take them home for the winter and avoid leaks -- how to plug the holes...?

[Footloose]

I will go out on a limb and disagree with Stu on this one.  I am sure someone is already sawing behind me.

I took my rails off and finished them in the basement last winter.  I marked them port and starboard and fore and aft so that everything would line up.  The curve was not and issue.  Some bending is involved.  I also used Boat-Life and the primer.  I used Cetol Lite and then top coated with the gloss.  I am very pleased with the result and plan to maintain it on a yearly basis.  I was able to do this as a one man job but a second would be helpful.  As far as covering the holes, we have our boat shrink wrapped for winter which keeps about 95% of the snow and water out.  I was working on the boat off and on throughout the winter and never found any water in the salon.  I have used duct tape in the past for short term sealing when removing deck hardware during the sailing season.  WD 40 removes the mess.

I did have one bolt that did not release and had to drill out the plug.  Some epoxy and a new plug fixed it.

As has been said before, your boat-your choice.

[Ted Pounds]

Here's how I plugged the holes when I removed my lifeline stanchions:  filled 'em up with hot glue from a glue gun.  Worked great; no leaks through the winter.  Come spring I just drilled out the glue and re-installed them (with new aluminum backing plates  ).

[Mark G]

You've given me a lot to think about. If I do remove them, I planned to hit each hole with a spot of clear or white silicone... the kind used to caulk around bathtubs. It stays flexible, and I think it could punch it out from below in spring or get it off the fiberglass deck pretty easily. The lifting idea is pretty good. I had great experience with Sikkens on a C30. If done right and kept up, it really lasts.

[SteveLyle]

Taking them off isn't particularly tough.  Remove all the fasteners, get up on deck and pull up on the rail.

Plug the holes with silicone caulk.

The trick is putting them back in.  The rails will retain most of the curve, but still the bolts will tend to bind in the deck holes.  If you force the rail down to the deck, you run the possibility (which is really a probability) of the bolt pushing the teak plug out of the rail.  Which isn't really a tragedy, but you'll have to replug and refinish that portion of the rail.  I think I popped 2 plugs when I reinstalled mine.

I removed my rails 5 years ago, put about 10 coats of varnish on them.  They looked great, and I've touched them up with 2-3 coats/year since then.  They still look great.

Steve

[Richard Bain]

I thought about taking them off....but did them on the boat. They took about 2 hours per side to sand...hardly worth taking off. I used a small circular sander, and with 3 coats of Cetol....They look great.

Just about everything I take apart leaks worse afterwards....so since they were not leaking they stayed on!

Richard

[Ron Hill]

Guys : I mentioned this in the Mainsheet many years ago, but it's worth repeating:
1.  In the threaded bolt ends of the handrails - take a hack saw and cut a screwdriver slot in the bolt end.  That way when you want to tighten the nut you can put a screwdriver in the bolt, keep it from turning and NOT break the caulk seal!!
2.  When you replace the hand rails only tighten them about 3/4 tight.  Let the caulk cure and then tighten them down.  If you tighten them all the way at first you'll force all of the caulk out!!
A few thoughts. 

[Andrew Harvey]

I am considering replacing the teak rails with Stainless. I have a very good stainless shop here that can reproduce the bolt pattern from my teak ones.

Has any one else done this ?

Andrew

[Ron Hill]

Andrew : Yes, some of the people have replaced their teak with stainless hand rails. 
BTW, the 1993 C34s came with stainless hand rails from the factory.  If you look in the parts list that I posted you'll find the 1995 cost of the stainless hand rails!!