Rebedding Timing to Dry

[nick fermani]

I'm rebedding deck hardware, using the west marine Polysulfide caulking. It was suggested to put parts together loosly with the new caulking, and let it slightly harden, BEFORE I tighten back down. This will prevent squeezing all the caulking out.  How long do I wait? It seems to take more than one day to set up.  How much of a gap do I leave it loosely fit to allow it to harden?

 

[Colin Wightman]

An extra squirt

I follow the same process (goop, cure, tighten) with one variant: some of my fittings, notably hatches and chainplates, are secured with screws into the deck rather than through bolts: As LaDonna noted, turning the screws after the sealent has started to cure will break the seal. On these, after the sealant has cured for a day or two, I remove each screw, add a dab of fresh sealant in the hole and then reinsert the screw. After doing this to each screw, I tighten them all as described in the previous posts.