What adhesive /Caulk to use

Ok , I'm getting close to the caulking/ adhesive stage of my cap rail project. First I have to attach the teak stringers to the fiberglass hull .I 'm using screws but not sure which caulk/adhesive to use .Then I will be attaching the teak cap rail to the teak stringers again with screws. What caulk for the stringers to the hull, for the cap rail to the stringers and the scarf joints on the rail and the stringers?I've just about ruled out 5200 because the damage it does when trying to remove . I've been going back and forth on this for a while. I've got a lot work in this project and I don't want to screw it up at the end.It would be good if I could use one with teak or brown color.I tried boat life on a sailboat teak cap rail years ago and wasn't happy with that.

I would use TDS SIS-440. I have used it glue/bed teak to fiberglass and also on scarf joints with great success. It comes in black, white and grey.

This joint I did over 6 years ago. The finish is one year old.

The World's Leader in Pre-Manufactured Custom Teak Decks - Teakdecking Systems®

Another vote for TDS SIS 440. I have used it to caulk my deck joints as well as other wood items. And it sets up fast.

I know we're not talking teak decks but here is a section of deck that I did on a sailboat 5 years before the pictures were taken. No mechanical fasters we used. All the teak on the house was bedded in TDS SIS-440.

Larry ,That looks good . Did you have to use a primer on the teak with this adhesive ?

Pack Mule said:

Larry ,That looks good . Did you have to use a primer on the teak with this adhesive ?

Click to expand...

No primer, just make sure the wood/fiberglass is clean, then wipe or brush with acetone, changing rags frequently, their words.

If you want to try it a tube. Call TDS. They sometimes will work with you (send you a free one). If not, Jamestown carries it and a few other marine stores. The stuff does have a shelf life though, 18 months from the date of manufacture. The date is on the tube.

Larry M said:

No primer, just make sure the wood/fiberglass is clean, then wipe or brush with acetone, changing rags frequently, their words.

If you want to try it a tube. Call TDS. They sometimes will work with you (send you a free one). If not, Jamestown carries it and a few other marine stores. The stuff does have a shelf life though, 18 months from the date of manufacture. The date is on the tube.

Click to expand...

That's the one I'm going with thanks.All the stringers are dry fitted on the boat and I've been making the cap rail .I've been ripping the teak and laminating it back to the curve of the hull.It's the only way to make the yield work out .After I got the stringers on I used some cheap 1/4" plywood and screwed it to the top ,took a flush laminate trimmer and cut the plywood to the curve. The took the plywood home and made a jig 1" thick 10 ft long jig using the plywood as a template. After I laminate a ten ft section for each side I re cut the jig for the next ten ft . I'm using west systems to epoxy the strips back together. I clean the teak strips with acetone first . I'm making the rail 4-1/2" wide x 1-1/8" thick . It's a lot of work this way but I can get longer lengths of rail with less scarf joints .

I can't wait to see the final pictures. Any work in progress shots? It sounds like it will be better than new.

Not working for some reason . I'll try again later .

Any time I think about using 5200, I give some consideration to using butyl tape instead. Butyl tape is magical stuff when you need the barrier/sealant properties of 5200. I've been messing around with it for about 2 years now and haven't missed 5200 or any of the other sealants at all.

I'm also a great proponent of quality butyl tape for non-adhesive sealant applications. For adhesive jobs like this one, 440 would be hard to beat.

Here are some pics of the stringers dry fitted and one pic of a short section of laminated caprail

That's looking great! Looking forward to seeing the finished project. I saw a little Nordic like mine with teak caprails, and I've wanted them ever since. (Until I realized I walk on mine everytime to go forward). Therefore I was keen on your caprail thread. They will accentuate the pretty shear on an already proper looking boat.