Water Intrusion Problem

[papafu]

We discovered water intrusion (during and after heavy rains) under the chart table cabinet in the aft stateroom of our Classic 36. I can not find its point of entry. It drips down along the inside of the hull and fills the cabinet with a pool of water. The admiral is getting upset. I tried creepy crack but it didn't solve the problem. Any suggestions? Make my day!

[Chester B]

We have a 1988 DC so the layout is different but I would be very suspicious of the scuppers. We had very bad leaks in our aft cabin on both sides and because the teak desks were in poor shape we removed the teak and eventually much on the glass (the entire aft deck and up both sides about 8' towards the bow as well as the bow). I found the deck seal where the scuppers are located to absolutely useless. The fiberglass inserts acting as scuppers leaked and the water poured in around them and down the cabin walls. After replacing the water logged core and re-glassing the deck problem is solved. I doubt you want to go to that extent but you should be able to remove the fiberglass scupper ring (this might do some gel cost damage) and find the leaks there. Not fun.

[papafu]

Thanks Chester,

Never though of it. That could very well be be our problem. The leaking area is near a fiberglass scupper. Will follow up.

[mike66]

We have the same problem in our 40. Water stains on the most forward cabinets in the aft cabin getting worse by the month, as well as water on the floor on both sides. Our teak deck seams were in very poor shape, so it was time to do them. First, I cut away the top inside of the cabinets to see where the water was coming from. Altough the scuppers look suspect, the water was actually coming in through pinhole leaks in the fiberglass under the decking. Maybe these are screw tips that have eroded through. I also drilled a couple of holes into the core from below and did get some drips (slow) from there. I have just completed re-caulking about 90% of the deck seams and we got through a few downpours without a drop! The forward area by the sampson post was a little spongy, so I injected about 2 quarts of Smith's CPES and replaced some deck screws and plugs, and that area feels much better. I may inject some in the area of those cabin leaks as well, but I'll drill some more holes from below and let it dry out over the winter.
My $.02, but hopefully this helps. I'm glad my upper decks are fiberglass.

[VinnyF]

We have a Albine 36- Water leaks are everywhere- I have noticed that all of the water is tinted brown which leads me to think that is is setting under my teak for a bit before it finds its way into the hull- I am going to rip up all my teak flooring this winter and inspect- then make a decision to fiberglass and or install new original or synthetic teak- I will post an update on what I find.

[Despacio]

I had a very leaky aft cabin and found it was about ten different problems. When you fix two, there are still eight. It's tough to figure out of you fixed anything until you fix it all.
1) Scuppers.
2) Several of the eyebrow screws leaked.
3) The cap rail to hull joint
4) The screws that attached the stanchions.
5) The screws holding the ladder to the bridge
6) Some of the interior screws that hold the trim were too long and went through the cabin sides and into the deck
7) Teak deck fasteners (but only a few)
A small leak in the slide for the port door leaked into the hanging locker. Never could find it, but an injection of West Epoxy into an arbitrarily drilled hole fixed it.
9) The side windows (replaced)
10) The wood rub rails on the side of the hull

As to the scuppers, I ground the cracks out with a dremil tool and glassed the inside surface, much like a surgeon doing eye surgery. Lots of fine work, but they are fixed.

Today, no leaks anywhere (but that might change.)

The reason for all this is a combination of build issues and the fact that the adhesives holding it all together is only good for 20-30 years. And you boat is how old?

Brown water is most likely coming from a deck leak. It's making tea out of the teak plywood core.

#8 shows that stupid face thingy for some reason.

[mudskipper]

I bought a 40 1988 trawler four years ago. I had the scupper leak, and 'root beer coming from bridge deck weep holes. We took a start at the top plan of action. We went on line and learned ourselves how to caulk. a lot of work, but I wanted the character of teak. There are mousie holes under the front of the top deck seats that go no where, which was the entry for much water. I drilled and hacked out thru drains which let the water out the back of the seats. A dab of caulk here and a dab there and patience have got us to a pretty dry boat, including the bilge. please don't rip the teak, but if you must save it for me to keep for repairs, I'll come fetch it. Jay on Aquarius

[Despacio]

Hi;
As to ripping out the teak, there is an issue with the adhesive under the teak breaking down and letting the teak "float" on top, allowing water to get under, and find it's way into screw holes.

Sorry to have to tell you that you that reality gets in the way of old teak decks. Of course you can remove the wood and re glue it down, but re caulking the seams does not get it under the teak.

My entire foredeck and 1/3 of the rest had this issue. I wasn't aware of the scope of the problem until I took it all up. I wasn't even aware of the leaking foredeck because the water ran behind the headliner and hull liner. But this explains the water I had in the lockers under the bunks. I wound up with mold issues after I stopped ignoring the black areas over and next to the bunks.

You can tell a lot about teak deck problems by hosing it down and watching it dry. If you have sections that don't dry at the same rate, you have water under it. And it's a far larger problem than you realize.