Cabin Top Teak Removal/Re-bed etc.

[Mike McDonald]

MRegan,
It wasn't very hard to get the teak off once the bungs were removed.  The screws came out pretty easy and the teak just lifted off.  The hard part was removing the line clutches and the teak blocks under them.  They were sealed down completely with silicone calk.  I had a hard time breaking the seal.  I had to sharpen putty knives and hammer them in under the blocks from every direction.  It took hours for each block.  Then removing the silicone was another hassle.  I hope I never find any more silicone on the boat.  (not likely)  I'm hoping to remove the sliding hatch cover tomorrow if the weather holds out.  I'll let you know how that goes.
Thanks.
Mike.....

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Not too sure about Mike's boat, but on my 1988 getting the bungs out was not that simple!!

First you need to use a 3/8" Forster (sp?) bit to drill out most of the bung.  Then Catalina did a nice trick of putting some silicone caulk in the hole before they hammered in the teak bung.  This means that you will have to take a small common screw driver tip an get out all of the old bung edges before you can back out the screw.  This just makes it more difficult, but not impossible.

I haven't figured out how to reinstall the flat teak pieces (yet!) so they are easily removable, but I know how to do the hand holds and make them easily removable and easily re-installable.

A few thoughts

[Mike McDonald]

Hi everyone,
I finally was able to get back to this project.  I tried to post with some photos, but the file was too big.  I'll try again.  I'll put some photos on this reply and then add another if necessary.  The photos show the before and after results of removing the "hood?" (fiberglass cover that the sliding hatch cover slides under). And then after I re-installed it.  It was pretty dirty under there as you can see.  It came off pretty easily.  The forward curved part was sealed with silicone calk (I used butyl tape when I re-installed it).  As I suspected there were a few holes in the deck under the hood. The PO mounted a radar monitor to the cabin ceiling above the galley sink, and drilled too deep for the mounting bracket screws.  I have since removed the monitor.  After cleaning everything up, I used acetone to do a final cleaning around the holes and sealed them with epoxy.  I was crunched for time, so I couldn't take the time to re-drill and epoxy the screw hoes for the hood mounting.  I did counter sink the holes in the deck before putting butyl tape in each hole.  I also wrapped butyle tape under each screw head.  I had to raise the hood with wood blocks in order to align the hood with the holes and put the butyl tape in place.  Once the screws were started in the hood holes, I lowered the hood into place and screwed down.  I also put some silicone spray lubricant (using a cloth to wipe it on) on the deck where the hatch cover slides.  I also put some lube on the under side of the hatch cover.  It now slides smoothly, and without the gritty feel.  It didn't seem to leave a residue.  Hopefully it will last for awhile.  I suspect that the primary source of leaks came from the mounting holes for the teak rails that I removed.  I probably won't be able to finish and re-install the teak until spring.  I plan to use Maine sails techniques for handling that part of the job.  Overdrill the screw holes, rout out the core material, counter sink the holes, fill with thickened epoxy, etc.  I'll need some good weather for that.  I'm going to try again to add the photos to this and probably one or two more reply's.  Hope this helps others in the future.
Mike......

[Mike McDonald]

Some more photos.

[Mike McDonald]

3rd set of photos.

[Mike McDonald]

Last 2 photos - sorry about the multiple posts.
Mike....

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Here's what I found when I took off my teak:

I used a 3/8" forester bit to drill out the bung.  What the factory also did was to use some clear silicone caulk in the hole to hold the bung in place while they cut it off and sanded it flush.
You'll have to take a "pen knife" to clean that caulk out of the hole.

A thought

[mregan]

I just pulled all the teak off my '86.  I used a utility knife to remove the bungs.  Just kept digging little pieces out of it.  I tried using a small drill bit but found it would round out the phillips head screw if it went down too far.  The utility knife worked pretty well.  On some screws, there seemed to be wood glue holding the bungs in.  On these, the screws kept stripping.  What I ended up doing was inserting a small screw driver around the screw head.  Hit it with a hammer a few times to push back the any teak/glue around the screw head.  Once the screw head was clear, it unscrewed pretty easily.  Only had to do this on 5-6 of the screws.  The rest just came out when I dug the bungs out.  I think I had all the teak removed in 1.5 hours.

[BobAthensGA]

I recently did this same project. I filled the teak rail holes with eboxy and overdrilled them so any leaks would not drip by the core. I then replaced the bungs and built up a butyl "moat" around my redrilled holes. I then used lag screws and screwed up from the inside into the rails. I didn't want to have to remove the bunds each time. I can just unscrew it from the inside and lift it off. I did this about a year ago and have had not issues. The Butly is only around the holes. The theory is to allow moisture to escape from under the teak. I recently removed one because I need to repair it. I damage it while rebedding the traverler. Dropped the drill on the corner. The underside look to be in very good shape and was not moldy. I think letting it get some air was better then daming it up.

[Ron Hill]

Bob : Your idea of the lag bolts from the underside is great!!  Re-insert the bungs with a touch of epoxy, cutoff excess, sand flush and then sand/refinish that teak at home.  Then do as Bob mentioned to reinstall on the boat.

Teak is 100 times easier to refinish at home and the final product is at least 10 times better than doing it on the boat!!

My thoughts

[BobAthensGA]

Using UHMW Slick Tape to help reduce the cabin top squeak. Before I put the sliding hatch back down I added a strip of UHMW Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene tape. Woodworks use it to reduce the wood to wood friction of drawers. The fiberglass flange of the sliding top no slides across a very thin UHMW tape stuck to cabin top. There are a couple of posts that also discuss this tape option. Over the past year it has really reduced the squeak.

[Stu Jackson]

Mike,

Thanks for your multiple pictures.  Have you considered sending them to John Nixon, our C34IA Tech Editor or publication in Mainsheet magazine?  I'm sure other one-designs, like the C30 and C36 guys, would also appreciate that great information.  Well done.

Here's a picture of how the drain shows up in the front.

[scotty]

Mike, Thanks for the great posts and pictures!!    Did you replace the teak strips along the sides of the hatch?  Love to see a picture of the final product.
Scotty

[Mike McDonald]

Hi Scotty,
Sorry it's taken me a while to get back.  I've been out of touch for awhile.  I did not replace the teak strips, I just took them home and refinished them with Cetol.  I'll try to get a picture of the final results when I get the boat opened up in the Spring. 

I wish I had thought of Bob's idea and screwed the teak down from the bottom.  It would have been much easier that dealing with the bungs after refinishing, and also a lot easier to remove in the future if necessary.  Great idea Bob!

Mike......

[Stu Jackson]

Added to the 101 Topics as:

Sliding Hatch Teak Removal 101