Late this summer I was putting something away on the deck above the aft head when my knee pressed against the sliding window in the head. The rest of the summer was spent with that window cracked.
I got around to it about a month ago. I also had a cracked window in the hatch above the galley, so I bought safety glass for both places. Then I took things apart.
The head window is mounted from the outside, except for the sill, which is mounted from the inside. I first removed all of the plugs in the lower moulding on the inside and removed that moulding. That exposed the sill and the track in which the window slides. those both came out easily, as the method of attachment did not involve the use of proper adhesives. There was some evidence of a prior repair, so the manufacturer may not be to blame. The track was mounted to the sill in such a way that when water would fill the track, some would flow over the edges of the track onto the sill on the inboard side, then would make its way down the wall, into the exposed edges of the plywood that supports the sill, with the inevitable result, saturated plywood and the beginning of rot.
As I have had this boat since 1994 and have repaired similar damage on all of the other 4 sliding windows, the only surprise was how little damage there was below this one. The inside finish was white arborite, consistent with the rest of the head walls and the ceiling, and with the forward head. Arborite does not come off without damage, so I knew I was going to need to replace the whole wall. The ceiling outside the shower was cracked, so I broke it out too and bought enough to do the whole job. The window went back in relatively easily. I replaced the unbroken fixed window as well, as it was showing slight delamination along the edges and I didn't want to chance having a colour difference between the old and new pieces.
I fixed the sill, so that there is now no possibility of any water ever getting to the plywood below the window. It was easy to do, and so obviously necessary I wonder how the manufacturer (and it seems all other Taiwanese manufacturers) never realized the time bombs they were building back in the 70s and 80s.
My sill is epoxied to the plywood below, then the track sits in 291 Sikaflex on top. Any water in the track can escape out drains I cut in the new track that are open to the deck outside. If any water ever overflows the inside edge of the track, it will dribble down the outside of the arborite finish, though I seriously doubt any water will ever exceed the drain capacity to the outside.
The arborite went on easily. I put new doors on the locker below the window and gave all the teak a new coat of varnish (well actually more than 1). The ceiling presented some challenges as originally the ceiling went in before the medicine cabinet above the toilet, so the new piece was a complicated cut to fit around that cabinet and all of the other interesting shapes.
The look I wanted was the usual, doesn't look any different, look.
I got around to it about a month ago. I also had a cracked window in the hatch above the galley, so I bought safety glass for both places. Then I took things apart.
The head window is mounted from the outside, except for the sill, which is mounted from the inside. I first removed all of the plugs in the lower moulding on the inside and removed that moulding. That exposed the sill and the track in which the window slides. those both came out easily, as the method of attachment did not involve the use of proper adhesives. There was some evidence of a prior repair, so the manufacturer may not be to blame. The track was mounted to the sill in such a way that when water would fill the track, some would flow over the edges of the track onto the sill on the inboard side, then would make its way down the wall, into the exposed edges of the plywood that supports the sill, with the inevitable result, saturated plywood and the beginning of rot.
As I have had this boat since 1994 and have repaired similar damage on all of the other 4 sliding windows, the only surprise was how little damage there was below this one. The inside finish was white arborite, consistent with the rest of the head walls and the ceiling, and with the forward head. Arborite does not come off without damage, so I knew I was going to need to replace the whole wall. The ceiling outside the shower was cracked, so I broke it out too and bought enough to do the whole job. The window went back in relatively easily. I replaced the unbroken fixed window as well, as it was showing slight delamination along the edges and I didn't want to chance having a colour difference between the old and new pieces.
I fixed the sill, so that there is now no possibility of any water ever getting to the plywood below the window. It was easy to do, and so obviously necessary I wonder how the manufacturer (and it seems all other Taiwanese manufacturers) never realized the time bombs they were building back in the 70s and 80s.
My sill is epoxied to the plywood below, then the track sits in 291 Sikaflex on top. Any water in the track can escape out drains I cut in the new track that are open to the deck outside. If any water ever overflows the inside edge of the track, it will dribble down the outside of the arborite finish, though I seriously doubt any water will ever exceed the drain capacity to the outside.
The arborite went on easily. I put new doors on the locker below the window and gave all the teak a new coat of varnish (well actually more than 1). The ceiling presented some challenges as originally the ceiling went in before the medicine cabinet above the toilet, so the new piece was a complicated cut to fit around that cabinet and all of the other interesting shapes.
The look I wanted was the usual, doesn't look any different, look.
