How do I fix this?

[edokarura]

Hey, my Ericson peeps! Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

I'm thinking, dry out all the pieces, sand off the old adhesive, glue back into place with wood glue.

Seems like if I don't use something more substantial it's just going to pop back out, especially since it's right outside the head and gets a lot of water on it.

Thanks in advance!

Ed
Kinnaree
'91 E-34

 

[Christian Williams]

What are we looking at? Is this a failed former repair of ruined teak and holly plywood, or is the ruined area original?

 

[Emerald]

Is the base solid or soft from damage? Going with the approach of repair versus replace, I would want to make sure the base was solid. If it's decent, epoxy is probably going to be your best bet. If the base is soft on the top but solid as you go down, you may be a candidate for Smith's CPES, which is a very thin penetrating epoxy that can go in and firm up deteriorated wood. However, it's not going to put strength back in if it's soft all the way through.

 

[EGregerson]

ouch

The water runs down the edge of the wall (from the head pump) (or shower)(or rain thru the port!) and out onto the sole instead of down the shower drain (upper right). (I've thot of putting a dab of caulk near the turn in the corner but haven't got around to it yet) I'd recommend patching this for now but, you'll probably eventually want to replace the entire section.

 

[EGregerson]

The water runs down the edge of the wall (from the head pump) (or rain thru the port!) and out onto the sole instead of down the shower drain (upper right). (I've thot of putting a dab of caulk near the turn in the corner but haven't got around to it yet) I'd recommend patching this for now but, you'll probably eventually want to replace the entire section.

 

[dt222]

I wouldn't use wood glue. Use either epoxy or resorcinol glue.

Don

 

[edokarura]

What are we looking at? Is this a failed former repair of ruined teak and holly plywood, or is the ruined area original?

It looks like it's the original wood flooring. Maybe it has been "fixed" before and maybe not.

 

[edokarura]

The water runs down the edge of the wall (from the head pump) (or rain thru the port!) and out onto the sole instead of down the shower drain (upper right). (I've thot of putting a dab of caulk near the turn in the corner but haven't got around to it yet) I'd recommend patching this for now but, you'll probably eventually want to replace the entire section.

Yup. That is exactly what is happening. Seems like a design flaw. I put a gob of silicone in the corner as you suggested and that has reduced the amount of water coming out of the head by about 95%. Still do have some coming out, though, when I take a shower so would like to know of a good way to stop it.

 

[edokarura]

Is the base solid or soft from damage? Going with the approach of repair versus replace, I would want to make sure the base was solid. If it's decent, epoxy is probably going to be your best bet. If the base is soft on the top but solid as you go down, you may be a candidate for Smith's CPES, which is a very thin penetrating epoxy that can go in and firm up deteriorated wood. However, it's not going to put strength back in if it's soft all the way through.

The wood is solid all the way through. So I guess that means just putting down a bed of epoxy and slapping the pieces back in?

 

[Christian Williams]

On my boat the sole was glued down directly to the gel coat of the hull liner with some thin, dark permanent adhesive. Removal was destructive--chisel followed by a grinder. My new sole is in three sections, and screwed down so it can can be easily removed.

I would probably cut out your damaged section with a dremel-type tool and "glue" down a new panel.

I suppose Ericson made the sole permanent so it wouldn't flex or squeak, which can be annoying. But it's a problem for wood that needs periodic refinishing and is always inches above a damp bilge.

In replacing the sole, I coated both sides twice with CPES, followed by seven coats of varnish. It doesn't absorb water now.

 

[edokarura]

You mean this stuff?



Can you recommend a varnish? Something particularly designed for marine use?

On my boat the sole was glued down directly to the gel coat of the hull liner with some thin, dark permanent adhesive. Removal was destructive--chisel followed by a grinder. My new sole is in three sections, and screwed down so it can can be easily removed.

I would probably cut out your damaged section with a dremel-type tool and "glue" down a new panel.

I suppose Ericson made the sole permanent so it wouldn't flex or squeak, which can be annoying. But it's a problem for wood that needs periodic refinishing and is always inches above a damp bilge.

In replacing the sole, I coated both sides twice with CPES, followed by seven coats of varnish. It doesn't absorb water now.

 

[Christian Williams]

That's the stuff. But if it's me doing a small patch on a cabin sole, I'd probably just varnish both sides of the new wood and then stick it down with 4200.

CPES is expensive and smelly and takes days to cure. Said to also make a great base for varnish on exterior teak, although I haven't tried that yet.

I use Interlux Schooner varnish, which takes a day to dry per coat. Sometimes Interlux Gold for final coats, it's thicker. To build up early coats I use Jet Speed varnish, which on a good day can be recoated in four hours.

Varnish choice entirely personal. I was interested, though, that the professional on my dock, who sands and revarnishes the gold-platers on a fixed schedule of every six months (the six-month-old varnish his guys recoat looks brand new) , recently went back to Schooner, after trying many expensive alternatives.

 

[Emerald]

Depending on what other projects you have, buying some Smith's CPES might be a good choice. If you do use the stuff, get a good organic fume respirator. The stuff is truly nasty in close quarters. Remember it's for penetrating and not bonding. If your base is decent and dry, you can probably just epoxy it down and be fine. The CPES comes into play if you've got punky fibers that need to be firmed up to get a good substrate.

Also, I'll second the Schooner varnish. I've had great luck with it and like the color and depth you can achieve. If you want a satin finish, do your build with the Schooner and just use a satin on the top coat. This will keep the varnish from getting "mudied" looking as the layers build up. Of note, I use Schooner on my sole and do not feel it is any slipperier than any other finish I've experienced. Folks often equate gloss with slick, but I haven't found it to be a problem in this case.

 

[edokarura]

So, I pulled up the adjacent boards since they were wet and glued them back down in a bed of epoxy.

Unfortunately, they got a little beat up in the process. So I was thinking, sand them down and then put some coloring goop on them.

So, will any of the pictured goops do the job?