Water Leaking into the Cabin

[Al Gaskill]

I'm a new owner of a 1976 25 footer that is in need of some TLC. I'm getting significant water leaking into the cabin through the deck. I'm rebedding all the deck gear and found significant problems around the teak handrails. I'm now wondering if the toe rails could also be part of the problem, but before I start popping out the bungholes, has anyone already done this who could tell me if the mounting hardware used on the toe rails are wood screws or machine screws with nuts (like the handrails)? I can't get to the backside from inside the cabin so I'm assuming wood screws, unless there is some kind of captive nut.I'm also looking for a supplier to replace the plastic hole plugs inside the cabin for the handrails. The originals were very brittle and shattered when I tried to pop them out with a screwdriver.Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[Shawn]

Plastic hole plugs

I have a 25' also, a 1977 and found the hole plugs at the local Ace Hardware store. In fact I needed 20 of them but they only had 17 and have to wait until they restock to collect the remaining 3.

 

[dan]

toe rail removal

Hi Al,I am in the process doing this same job- they are screws.I took a punch and tried to knock out the plug and found that the glue that held the plug in place covered the head of the screw and it was very hard to remove the screw destroying the slot for the screw driver.Use a 1/2" forstner bit and remove the plug scrap off the glue and remove the screw.After I tried this process i was able to remove the remainingplugs from toe rail in a half hour.Use new 1/2 plugs when reinstalling.I am in the process of stripping the deck of an oday-25 to rebed everything and rewireThe plugs for the backside of the hand rail can be found at Lowes Keep in touch-dan

 

[Eric]

Water Leakage

Al, my '76 O'Day 25 has water leakage in the cabin as well. In my case, it seems like at least some of the water is coming through a wide crack where the ceiling should be firmly sealed to the walls of the cabin, but isn't. I was hoping someone might be able to recommend a good brand of sealant that could fill in the crack and keep the water out.