Exterior wood hand rails

[shawanaga]

Hi I have a 1990 Hunter 35.5 and I am thinking of removing the wood hand rails on the deck and either replace with metal or refinish
Is there any issues removing them Are they bolted into nuts buried in the deck
Thanks in advance Floyd

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Always have to start with pictures unless someone with the same boat replies.

Post photos and we'll tell you what you're looking at. Also, is there an access plate in the ceiling behind the hand rails ?

If I were so lucky as to have wooden hand rails as you do, I would take the opportunity to remove, scrupulously clean, apply 5 coats of clear epoxy and three coats of spar varnish so that they had a surface like this after 15 years of exposure :

Hunter has a habit of using threaded aluminum backing plates which can be extremely difficult to remove after a number of years in place. Reaction between the SS bolts and alum. plate.

 

[shemandr]

What kind of headliner does the OP's boat have? That determines a lot about how big the job is.

 

[Benny17441]

If you are choosing between replacing or refinishing, go ahead and refinish save yourself cost, time and effort.

 

[Scott NIelsen]

I removed the wood handrails and replaced them with colored starboard (HDPE) ones with an aluminum strengthening channel routed in them. I replaced all wood accent pieces in bow seat and cockpit stern pulpit princess seats using old wood pieces as templates. I have no wood topside so a lot easier topside maintenance. If you put anti-seize compound (Molybdenum disulfide, (Molycote)) on the stainless bolts it provides a protective barrier between the stainless steel bolt and aluminum backing plates. Has worked for me for years. Now I have to admit I have never removed my hand rails since the upgrade as I have never had a reason to. I did this same thing on a previous boat when replacing the traveler and had no problems removing the bolts.