Rebedding Roof Hand Rails

Post by **chiefrcd** » Sat Sep 23, 2006 1:53 pm

Just a FYI, but when my boat was surveyed the only mositure I had anywhere was found by the surveyor just under one of the bolts that's used to bolt down the roof top hand rail. If you have not checked these, they are apparently quite notorious for allowing water to penetrate the balsa coring on the roof. I removed both hand rails allowed them to dry out ( only had one that was damp ) and rebedded them with 3M 4200. I also added a stainless steel washer on the outside and inside of the roof to beef up the seal and add some strength.

jcollins · Post by **jcollins** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:36 pm

Chief,
Thanks for taking the time to post that information. It is invaluable for all of us.
This is what the board is all about.

Post by **Mariner** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:26 pm

Chief,

Are you sure the roof's core is balsa? The limited drilling I've done on our boat indicates that most of the deck coring appears to be marine plywood, not balsa.

Post by **chiefrcd** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 3:32 pm

You know, I don't have the slightest clue, I was assuming it was balsa. I do know that it's wood of some kind and it gets pretty "punky" when it's wet.

Meyer · Post by **Meyer** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:45 pm

I guess there's no way to know without removing the rails? I'm of the "if it's not broke don't fix it" philosophy . . . .

Post by **chiefrcd** » Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:02 pm

And you own a boat.....??? Man, there is always something to fix, get ready to fix, should have fixed, will fix soon......but let me add that once you get the core wet and it starts to deteriorate, then you're in for some REAL $$ repairs. They found mine with a moisture meter....I personally don't like to fix something that isn't broke either, but in this case better to spend 1 hour rebedding a handrail for $10.00 than having a major issue replacing portions of your roof core later.

Meyer · Post by **Meyer** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 9:59 pm

Oh come on . . . yes, I own a few boats at present, including an Albin 28, and it's only about the twentieth boat I've owned. I've taken fairly good care of them all. I still don't fix anything that ain't broke, and I've never broken down, or had serious damage, from neglect.

Best regards,
Judith

Post by **Pitou** » Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:30 pm

As I have worked my way through older threads I found myself here.
I only joined the board in February. Anyway .........

I also had to rebed the rooftop handrails after drip, drip, drip into the wheelhouse. An old time boat builder shared with me years ago when through bolting anything exposed to the elements when a core is involved to overdrill and fill the hole with West Systems and micro balloons and let harden (a piece of duct tape on the bottom to prevent the flow until cured works well). Then drill for the through bolt and bed. The West Systems and micro ballons permenantly seal the edges from water infiltration to the core. When bedding the bolt only bed the top toward the elements and if and when the bedding fails no water will infiltrate the core and the drip will start. If you bed the nut you may never know water is sitting all around the bolt.

Post by **Russell** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 11:02 am

I just did a similar thing on the handles of one of the cockpit deck hatches. It had been kicked a few times while sticking up and the hole was worn pretty large. I used Marinetex to fill and seal in a stainless steel tube just large enough for the stem of the lifting handle to pass through. It would be easy enough to drill the others out and epoxy in the stainless tubing before any damage is done.

Post by **Capt Ron** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:50 pm

An "old timer" once instructed me to never look 3 inches in any direction from whatever you're repairing on the boat.
Reason: You'll surely find something else that needs repair!

Post by **Pitou** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:05 pm

Capt Ron you're right "Keep your head down".

Russell I agree the sleeves are even a better way. I did that when mounting the cradle for the liferaft on the hardtop.

Saltdog · Post by **Saltdog** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:09 pm

Russell: Where does one find the stainless tubes necessary to rebed the hatch cover handles? Are they precut to length or do you have to cut them? Might'nt those work on the railing on the top as well?

TS

Saltdog · Post by **Saltdog** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:10 pm

Russell: Where does one find the stainless tubes necessary to rebed the hatch cover handles? Are they precut to length or do you have to cut them? Might'nt those work on the railing on the top as well?

TS

Post by **Russell** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:36 am

This is funny but the one I used was a sipper tube from a water bottle for a rat cage. It just happened to be the perfect diameter and I cut the length needed with a hax saw. That was the hardest part of the job. I was planning on checking at a hardware store for stainless or brass tubing when I saw the sipper tube in a drawer quite by accident. I am not sure if the factory sealed around these holes because the wood coring was missing for some distance. The rubber gasket under the handle was also gone and I made another by punching a hole in a piece of bicycle tire tubing, putting it on the shaft and then trimming it around the handle. Even with the sleeve sealing the core, the gasket is still useful to keep water from getting into the fish box that is actually used for storage.

Albin Owners Group

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Rebedding Roof Hand Rails

Rebedding Roof Hand Rails

roof dampness

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Re-bed Rooftop handrails

Stainless tubes

Stainless tubes