Fabricating scuppers

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Vahevala

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 6, 2012
Messages
100
Location
USA
Vessel Name
Vahevala
Vessel Make
52’ Kristen Custom Flybridge Trawler
Due to a low spot on my deck I'm having a pair of scuppers fabricated on my trawler and have yet to get any estimates. Two scuppers - one port one starboard. Have any of you had to do this and what might I expect a reasonable estimate to look like. Thanks for any and all input.
 
Twice half.

Some pics and details of size and deck material would be helpful. My fiberglass guy could probably do a pair of simple 6" round ones in a couple of days. If you're disturbing a teak deck, well it's going to take a little longer.

Ted
 
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If you're planning on replicating those, the time required shouldn't be to bad. Cutting down into the deck raises the question of whether the deck is cored and how thick it is. Do you know if you're transom is hollow (inner and outer wall with air space in between), solid, or solid cored. If the deck and transom are cored, it makes cutting and glassing the hole significantly faster. Cutting 2 scuppers though cored material and then glassing the opening with at least 2 layers of bi- axial cloth and polyester would probably take 1 to 2 days. The real time will be in fairing the area and trying to reasonably match gel coat or paint. Good news is the teak is far enough away that it shouldn't be effected.

My guess is parts of 2 days to fabricate the scuppers and parts of 4 or 5 days to fair and finish. Cost will factor around actual billed time. As an example, you rough in the 2 scubbers and then seal or fair the coring. You may have to wait until the coating hardens before sanding and then applying the 2 layers of cloth. How they bill the time between steps will substantially effect your cost. My glass guy always has multiple jobs going at the same time so waiting for polyester to set up means he goes on to the next project and comes back later or the next day. In this way the job may stretch out over more days, but only cost actual working time. If you are bringing somebody into the yard for only this specific project, expect to pay more as he probably has a minimum charge per day and the clock likely is running between steps. If all the areas are solid or cored, I would guess 20 to 30 hours of actual work through final paint / gel coat. If you are cutting into void areas, the glass work will be more involved to make it solid.

Ted
 
I'm all ears. Same problem. Thought of just going round to keep it simple, maybe a 1.5 to 2 inch hole.
 
If the transom is hollow and / or the deck isn't thick enough a round hole may be faster. Boring a hole with a hole saw, then inserting a short length of fiberglass exhaust pipe, and glassing it into place may be faster to fabricate the finished hole. Think fiberglass exhaust pipe is available down to 2" OD.

Ted
 
Scuppers are fine for draining , BUT sometimes they can have a second use as a dock line lead.

.If this is the case very rounded edges will eat thru less line.
 
Due to a low spot on my deck I'm having a pair of scuppers fabricated on my trawler and have yet to get any estimates. Two scuppers - one port one starboard. Have any of you had to do this and what might I expect a reasonable estimate to look like. Thanks for any and all input.

I had a similar problem in a boat I had. Water would pool in both sidedecks a few feet before the stern scuppers. I solved it by installing a drainage hole on each side.

I drilled a half inch diameter or so hole with a long bit, at an angle, from the inside corner of the deck with the gunwale to the outside of the hull, just beneath the rubrail. I then inserted a copper pipe in the hole using generous quantities of Sikaflex 291 to seal. The copper tube extended a fraction of an inch beyond the outside of the hull so water would not drip down the side of the hull and stain it.

Solved the problem and was fairly easy and cheap.
 
That is my plan except substituting thin wall PVC for the copper. Seems quick and easy ( hah!).
 
That is my plan except substituting thin wall PVC for the copper. Seems quick and easy ( hah!).

If you are going through coring, make sure it's properly sealed before setting the pipe. A flexible sealant woud be important to keep cracks from developing and leaking into a cored hull. PVC isn't long term UV stable. There is probably a better plastic, or fiberglass pipe for that application.

Ted
 
Great advice. I like the idea of using copper tubing as it seems a relatively simple and inexpensive solution. Thanks TF!
 
Greetings,
Mr. V. You may want to rethink the use of copper (with apologies to Mr. X). There might be a potential corrosion problem in salt water. MY thought would be to use either FG or PVC tubing as suggested above. I might not go much larger than 1.5" more for the sake of external appearance rather than functionality. 1.5" would be large enough to minimize any clogging by debris blown in from ashore (leaves, grass etc.).
 
If you are going through coring, make sure it's properly sealed before setting the pipe. A flexible sealant woud be important to keep cracks from developing and leaking into a cored hull. PVC isn't long term UV stable. There is probably a better plastic, or fiberglass pipe for that application.

Ted

To seal I applied Sikaflex 291 inside the hole and on the outside of the tube before inserting. I then plugged the leading end of the tube with a small wood cone (from one of those through hull wood plug kits) before pushing through the hole in order to prevent the sealant from entering the tube..
 
Greetings,
Mr. V. You may want to rethink the use of copper (with apologies to Mr. X). There might be a potential corrosion problem in salt water. MY thought would be to use either FG or PVC tubing as suggested above. I might not go much larger than 1.5" more for the sake of external appearance rather than functionality. 1.5" would be large enough to minimize any clogging by debris blown in from ashore (leaves, grass etc.).

I got the idea to use copper tubing because that is what was used in the window channel drains in the boat which had held well for 30 years.

When it rains, the bulk of the water flows out the original scuppers in the stern and whatever debris there is on the deck gets washed to the back. As such these additional "mini-scuppers" don't tend to get clogged.
 
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A PO put three scuppers in Willy's topsides. Two to stbd and one to port. There are deck drains also as the scuppers aren't OE.

They have little value as they rarely do any draining but they add maintenance .. periodic caulking and painting. They are not at the lowest level of the deck (1/2" up) so water collects anyway. I'd trade them for two more deck drains.

Also we never put mooring lines through them because I think they aren't strong enough and edges aren't radiused enough. There are not cleats to serve them in that way either.

If you look closely you can see one of the stbd scuppers in the lower photo.

Some PO probably wanted the boat to look more "salty" I suspect.
 

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Here are mine . Not real pretty but they work . Three on each side .
 

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Eric, If your boat came from a hurricane zone, I suspect that a PO had a problem with the original drains. They tend to clog very easily with leaves and other debris if a storm passes overhead or nearby. I had the same problem on my 44MT, so I put in two large scuppers at my aft deck level. Went thru two more storms (in the eye) with no problems. Your high bulwarks would collect a lot of water if the deck drains were plugged. Ben
 
Yup ...
Don't tend to think of hurrycanes up here.
Lots of rain but over long periods. Misty ocean drizzle type fairly often.
My deck drains are fairly clean now that we're under covered moorage.
Kinda dark though. I turn on the batt charger and all the lights as I step aboard.
 
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