It Leaks!!!!! Page 2 General Forum Forums

Will butyl seal fasteners in wood as well as fiberglass? I was going to get some Life Calk, but I have a ton of butyl already. If it will seal on wood, I will use it instead.

Now that we're having multiple days of rain, I'm seeing more leaks. Great! I managed to get all the chainplates water tight, but now I'm noticing that just about all my stanchions leak through the cap rail. Even after taping around them , etc. Also just found a leak at the bottom of my compression post where it meet the fiberglass of the main cabin sole. PO took out all the teak flooring, so I just have a glass sole. So I guess I can check it through the plate under the head shower grate? The deck looks tight around the mast. So is the water coming in somewhere up the mast?

I'll take a look. I thought the access was underneath the teak grid on the head floor?

Today a friend and I took a grinder to the existing stanchions and cut off all the bolt heads. The access to the nuts was just too lousy to keep trying to unscrew them. Once the stanchions were off, I put 5200 down the holes and the covered the whole thing with adhesive patch used on house siding. That should take care of those SOB's for now. When the weather clears, I will fill the holes with epoxy and reattach the stanchions a few inches away with solid wood screws to the caprail. 

 I will tackle the leak at the compression post and the head tomorrow. As much as I dislike this leak fixing routine, I guess I needed to get it done and it's better at the marina than out in the big blue.

I looked behind the panel in the head and the wires are there, but I don't see water. The stanchion patches seems to be working. But, now I think that the deck may be leaking in some spots where there looks to be stress fractures on the deck...but there's not sponginess on the deck. I guess I will try to grind into the deck at the fractures and see if it's going through.

Thanks. I will try to get a better look at the leak. It seems to be pooling at where the compression post meets the gelcoated sole.

Since removing the mast is almost the last thing I want to do....I will be paying very close attention to where this water is coming from the next time it rains. Thanks Scott.

It rained again, finally. I found two more leaks (the rest I've managed to fix)
These two are the both where I think cabinet mounting cleats used to be located as they're little holes that were obviously drilled at one time on the inside below where the walk ways are on the deck. But I can't figure out where the water is coming in as the deck surface looks ok. A little surface hazing, but basically ok. Has anyone else encountered this?

CAE said:

It rained again, finally. I found two more leaks (the rest I've managed to fix)
These two are the both where I think cabinet mounting cleats used to be located as they're little holes that were obviously drilled at one time on the inside below where the walk ways are on the deck. But I can't figure out where the water is coming in as the deck surface looks ok. A little surface hazing, but basically ok. Has anyone else encountered this?

YES, I am encountering this.  Long story but it might be helpful to some:

In the course of my boat rebuild, I have completely reconditioned the deck to almost new status.  I re-bedded everything on deck, including the caprail.  I expected to have a completely dry boat.

This summer though, rain came hard and often.  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for me, it revealed a lot of leaks around the boat that I thought had been fixed.  The most obvious ones were coming form under the caprail.  I was furious because that was a huge job to restore those rails and bed them.  But I had a few helpers with the bedding, and I guess I did not instruct them to use the proper amount of sealant underneath them, and the bad job led to leaks.  I had to completely pull off the rail and re-bed it once more.  I think it is sealed well now, including the newly installed chainplates.

Before I rebedded the rail once again, I applied a layer of fiberglass on the outer edge of the hull-deck joint.  There were a few small cracks on the joint that were letting water in near the galley.  In order to not have that happen again, I figured I would glass it all over before bedding the rail.

Just when I thought I had sought out all of the leaks, water kept showing up in the galley, pooling around the bottom of the oven area.  Eventually I sat there in the boat during a strong rain and finally noticed where the water was coming from: the underneath the side deck through the core itself like you mentioned.  

When I was mocking up the galley and saloon cabinets, I screwed the cleats back into the existing holes in the overhead/under the side decks.  I noticed after removing the cleats a few weeks later that they had water stains around the screw holes.  Turns out the core under that deck was pretty soaked.  I proceeded to open up the entire side deck in the galley and saloon and replace all of the wet core.  A small area I didn't get to, right near the deck drain in the galley, I had drilled about 12-15 holes to let any water drain out and to dry the core right there.    It was through one of these holes that I noticed the water was coming out of during the rain.  

I immediately went on deck to try to find the source of the water intrusion.  After a little search, I found a ding in the non-skid right near the spot in the galley. The ding was an open hole that exposed the core and would allow water in.  I must have dropped something on the deck to have made such a hole.  But I ground it out to a bevel and filled it up with thickened epoxy.  

I believe my leaks are finally taken care of, but the other day I noticed a small amount of water pooling in the same area of the galley, and the suspension is that more water is coming from the core.  I will have to search more to find the source of the water intrusion, but at a few passes nothing stood out.  

Long story short, water is getting into the core of your deck somewhere, and it must be stopped at the source.  I am fighting the same fight, though with extreme frustration as I thought I had taken care of all that [Image Can Not Be Found]

I'm pretty sure my chain plates are leaking through the bolt fasteners. Any suggestions as to the best way to rebed these so they don't leak.
Thanks

Good point. I have not taken them out to look yet. To see If they are not worn oblong/rounded.
The chain plates are on the inside. I was thinking that I could rebed the through bolts with butyle. Not enough?

Thanks. I think I'll try the 5200 on the through boots. I've already done the cap rail sealing.