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Redoing Companionway hatch

4K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  deniseO30 
#1 ·
I have an Alberg 35 with a companionway hatch that needs renewal. A PO surrounded the stock hatch with teak rails and teak planks. The planks were glued and screwed down from below with some a cosmetic cover. Over the winter, the planks (which had pretty much disintegrated) came off; one blew away. What's left is a fiberglass area with screws sticking up and the remains of whatever glue was used. I'd like a solution that makes this an easier place to stand since it's where I am to tie in reef points.

My planned solution is
1. Remove screws and glue; fill holes with epoxy.
2. Get a piece of marine plywood (approx. square 30" on a side). Measure/fit thickness to come up to top of teak side pieces with 1/8 inch gap (this would either be 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch ply).
3. Put two coats of epoxy on the plywood to seal it (include the edges).
4. Epoxy the encapsulated plywood to the hatch.
5. Paint plywood with epoxy paint.
6. Put KiwiGrip over the epoxy paint.
7. Sealant in the gap between the sides and the plywood piece.

Any advice on this plan? Does it seem sound? I have no experience with this sort of thing, so I'm watching youtube videos and getting advice online. I appreciate your time in reading this and helping me out.
 
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#2 ·
Dude, you posted this on 3 forums!

teak disintegrated?

Pics would help..

forget the wood... unless she's a wooden boat?

You are talking about the sliding companion way lid?

Get it off the boat, grind all the surfaces. fill the holes. get glass cloth wet it out with epoxy add coats until the weave is filled. Paint with good UV protecting paint. You can tint the epoxy but it still needs UV protection.

When doing glass on glass you can actually use Polyester resin and hardener in lieu of epoxy that costs more.
 
#6 ·
Dude, you posted this on 3 forums!

teak disintegrated?

Pics would help..

forget the wood... unless she's a wooden boat?

You are talking about the sliding companion way lid?

Get it off the boat, grind all the surfaces. fill the holes. get glass cloth wet it out with epoxy add coats until the weave is filled. Paint with good UV protecting paint. You can tint the epoxy but it still needs UV protection.

When doing glass on glass you can actually use Polyester resin and hardener in lieu of epoxy that costs more.
You're right, I did post on three different fora. I thought I would get a variety of perspectives. I really appreciate you reading this and your advice.
 
#3 ·
I'm assuming you can't just take the old wood off and leave the fiberglass deck uncovered? If you are going to put an additional layer of wood on top, you should use marine plywood (there are fewer voids), and cover with a layer of glass and epoxy. Wash the amine blush off with water, fair with thickened epoxy, prime, and paint. Some pictures would help to sort out the construction part.
 
#8 ·
I can't take pictures right now as the boat is on the hard. The old wood is off and the deck is uncovered now. My plan was to use marine plywood. Thanks for taking the time to read this and give your advice, I appreciate it.
 
#7 ·
I thought the plywood would fill space and stiffen the hatch. But from the responses, I'm getting the sense I don't need the plywood, which is great!-less to do. Thanks for reading and for your advice.
 
#9 ·
Are we talking the fiberglass sliding hatch? on the original one there was a grab rail on each side and some had optional teak strips to make it less slippery. trying to cover the fiberglass with plywood does not sound like a good way to fix the problem. why not Kiwi grip the hatch and replace the wood slats and grab rail
 
#10 · (Edited)
I found a picture that includes the hatch before it fell apart.

In the picture, you can see the flat teak boards; these have all lifted and come off and that's the part I'm trying to fix. You can also see that the hatch is surrounded by a teak border that I'm trying to retain.
 

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#11 · (Edited)
I found a picture that includes the hatch before it fell apart.

In the picture, you can see the flat teak boards; these have all lifted and come off and that's the part I'm trying to fix. You can also see that the hatch is surrounded by a teak border that I'm trying to retain.
Beautiful Boat. I believe that I would attempt to rebuild entire unit plus slides with a synthetic product, such as PlasTeak or something similar. Both my coach top handrails and companionway slides need replacing and PlasTeak is my choice of repair mediums. If PlasTeak works on these relatively small items I might try it on using it to replace my 1"X 6" covering board, also in extremis.
 
#13 ·
Yes, I think I've about decided to go back to the original teak boards. My sense is that they came off because the glue up job loosened, allowing water in that lifted them and then they got caught in the high wind storms last spring.So I'm thinking now scrape off all the existing adhesive, put down something else, put boards on. Thanks to everyone for helping me work through this.
 
#14 ·
Flexing probably broke them loose you should be able to fasten & glue from the under side. The joints should be filled with black decking caulk that mimics when tar was used. Tom of Maine just did a project on his boat. I'll look for it.
 
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