Good morning. I have a 1981 22. Three questions: 1) How would you recommend removing whatever is remaining around the windows in the two pics shown? It's not soft to the touch and can't be removed when scratched with a fingernail...it's pretty hard..granted it was done many years ago by previous owner. 2) what would you use to seal the window gap? 3) I've polished the hull and would like to clean/polish the top/deck. I noticed the texture is different than the hull's gelcoat..it's not as smooth. And im not referring to the nonskid. Do I approach it the same? Ie light compounding followed by polish? Thanks.
How do I remove old window caulk?
- Thread starter Capri
- Start date
S.S.S. Scrape, sand, solvent.
Scrapping with an oscillating tool will will speed up the job and add years to your life.
Light sanding if the area is behind the trim. MEK or acetone for your solvent and hope the po did not use silicone.
For your application I would use dow 795 as it comes in colors,holds very well, lasts for years and doesn't seem to grow mold. Very high quality to go with all the labor you did. There are many other good choices too.
This job will really improve a boats appearance. Good luck.
Scrapping with an oscillating tool will will speed up the job and add years to your life.
Light sanding if the area is behind the trim. MEK or acetone for your solvent and hope the po did not use silicone.
For your application I would use dow 795 as it comes in colors,holds very well, lasts for years and doesn't seem to grow mold. Very high quality to go with all the labor you did. There are many other good choices too.
This job will really improve a boats appearance. Good luck.
I would take a razor blade and cut the caulking from around the window frame, then gently use a blade scraper to scrape it from the surface...
At the correct angle, a razor blade will cut the caulk cleanley from the surface without gouging it.
At the correct angle, a razor blade will cut the caulk cleanley from the surface without gouging it.
Very nice. Thanks to both of you. One last thing. On polishing the top. The fiberglass seems to be a different texture than the hull which is very slick now that I've compounded it. Ignoring the nonskid, is this surface approached the same way? Do I polish it or scrub it and be done?
Scrub it and be done... you dont want it slick or shiny... slick is dangerous and shiny is hard on the eyes when the sun reflects off of it.
Great. See pic. Would the 796 work for the gaps shown? The blue arrow is the rural where I had to scrape all the old and hard caulk. The red arrow is the toe rail where joins the deck.
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I think I had some minor leaking in my teak toerail cap. The proper way to fix it is to remove the cap, and countersink the holes in the fiberglass, and re-seal the fasteners with something like Lifecaulk, Sikaflex, or 3M 4200.
Instead, I flooded the seam between toe rail and glass with Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure. I only did this because I plan to replace the toe rails, in which case I'm going to have to drill new holes in the new toe rail, hopefully lining up with existing holes in glass, or maybe fill in the existing holes and start over fresh again.
As for behind the rub rail, if you are truly leaking behind the rub rail, you'd need to remove the black insert, then unscrew the white channel, and reseal behind that. Pretty sure the hull to deck seam on O'days is like a shoebox construction, which is fairly leak resistant. I imagine those fasteners might need a touch of sealant over the years. (For example, the Precision line of boats uses a sandwich construction with a lip that is sealed with 3M 5200 and then through bolted or riveted, and then the rub rail goes over the lip. I know of Precision owners who have had to remove the rub rail, dig out sealant, and trowel new 5200 in the seam.)
The ONLY place you use 795 or other silicone sealant is for Beckson deck plates/hatches ('cos that's what Beckson specifies) and plexiglass fixed portlights (windows.) No where else does silicone go on a boat, because it will contaminate the gelcoat, and nothing will ever stick to that area again, until you physically remove the contaminated surface (eg. sanding.)