Looking for that quick deck fix

[Wind River]

Hello, I have some delamination in my deck that I want to repair. Does anyone have any experience with pressure injecting resin? I was reading about a fellow that had injected epoxy resin into his deck using a grease gun. He actually installed a grease nipple on the deck and pumped resin into the void.

I have already repaired three 2x4 ft. sections in my deck where I drilled hundreds of holes, filled them with epoxy resin, sanded off and resurfaced the non skid using Gibco flex mold. Excellent results….but it is a lot of work!

The deck skins are perfect in the area that I am thinking of injecting. Just some crackling when you step on it. So, I guess I am looking for a quicker fix before I get out the drill and order more flex mold. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks, George

 

[hcpookie]

That sounds like an interesting idea.

It is my impression that the holes are a necessity to ensure the wood beneath can dry properly. How can you be certain the wood inside is dry enough for the epoxy without the drain holes? Or do you just inject the epoxy no matter the sogginess of the wood beneath?

 

[Wind River]

The deck is dry

the deck has been metered a few times now and is dry minus a couple of thru deck fittings which I repaired. All the holes I drilled in other areas confirmed the readings so far. If the balsa is wet I wouldn't attempt injecting and would start drilling. As you say, doesn't sound like a bad idea. Think I'll give it a try. regards, George

 

[Jarod]

I recently had some issues with mush in my deck on my E27....Here is what I did and I think it worked pretty well.

* Drilled holes in the bottom layer of fiberglass from the inside with my hole saw on a drill(dont go through the top layer) the holes were approximately 2 inches in circumference. I drilled these core samples back as far as the rot went. It will be obvious when the hole saw is no longer wet. At first just drill a few exploratory holes and keep them far apart the idea is to find out where the rot ends so you only drill these core samples where they need to be. The larger holes allow you to get a bent screw driver in there and reem out the rotten or soaked balsa. It also helps to dry the wet core. I was able to reem channels right over to the bow pulpit holes so I had a way to introduce west system thickened epoxy to the void. You may want to keep the little hockey pucks that are made with the hole saw to use them later. Once I had a heater under the deck for awhile with all of the deck fittings off to assist in drying I went ahead and used fiberglass cloth and resin to rebuild the lower fiberglass layer. The fiberglass will be opaque and you will know if the epoxy reaches right back to the furthest voids. Inject the epoxy in the stanchion holes. I did mine with a fillable caulking gun but a couple of heavy duty ziploc bags used as an icing bag may work ok. Once i finished filling I went below and viewed from below to ensure all of the voids were filled with epoxy and THEY WERE Yay....the deck feels as solid as it ever has and the West System epoxy flowed quite well....this method assumes you can inject from the stanchion holes...