Sliding helm door

I’m looking to replace my old teak sliding helm door with a white fiberglass or aluminum door with window. Any clue where I should start my search?

Donna,

I replaced a wood sliding door on a previous boat with one I made out of 1” Starboard. I put a window in it. There have been a couple of threads in the last 3 weeks or so on this.

Comodave said:

Donna,

I replaced a wood sliding door on a previous boat with one I made out of 1” Starboard. I put a window in it. There have been a couple of threads in the last 3 weeks or so on this.

Click to expand...

I shall search that. Thank you!

I think I would make one out of one of the available composite panels available today. Coosa,corecell or other brands. Lightweight, strong and easy to work with.

Sailor of Fortune said:

I think I would make one out of one of the available composite panels available today. Coosa,corecell or other brands. Lightweight, strong and easy to work with.

Click to expand...

Sigh, really not looking to make one. I’ve been making so much that I want a door to magically appear so all I have to do is install it! Lol!

Donna said:

Sigh, really not looking to make one. I’ve been making so much that I want a door to magically appear so all I have to do is install it! Lol!

Click to expand...

Call Marine connection in Ft Pierce and have your measurements handy. Also Sailors exchange in St Augustine may have one out back. Good luck

Sailor of Fortune said:

Call Marine connection in Ft Pierce and have your measurements handy. Also Sailors exchange in St Augustine may have one out back. Good luck

Click to expand...

Thank you! I don’t care if it’s used, I would even look in salvage. It just needs to be in really good condition.

Donna said:

Sigh, really not looking to make one. I’ve been making so much that I want a door to magically appear so all I have to do is install it! Lol!

Click to expand...

I keep wishing for new Al framed windows to magically appear.

Fortunately my door frame was OK, so a local shop put new teak ply on it, put new window in, and reinstalled hardware. I just had to sand, apply several coats of resin, then paint. I think it will be good for another 30 or 40 years.

SoWhat said:

I keep wishing for new Al framed windows to magically appear.

Fortunately my door frame was OK, so a local shop put new teak ply on it, put new window in, and reinstalled hardware. I just had to sand, apply several coats of resin, then paint. I think it will be good for another 30 or 40 years.

Click to expand...

I just installed all new windows on my boat. Super easy job. Who knew? Just really tedious cleaning out the channels and I wasn’t a fan of the heat gun I used to actually get the old windows out, but job done! Ugh, of course it’s a sideways photo! Jeez!

Sailor of Fortune said:

I think I would make one out of one of the available composite panels available today. Coosa,corecell or other brands. Lightweight, strong and easy to work with.

Click to expand...

Still needs some sort of skin like fiberglass, solid backing for handles, hinges or sliders.

I like comodaves idea. He suggested the Starboard on another thread and it would be a lot less work to build my pilothouse doors from Starboard than using a wood, Klegecell, Airex, Coosa or any othe coring.

I can buy a sheet of 3/4" Starboard for around $300, from which I can make two doors. I'm working out the details for windows, handles and track.

The process is difficult but apparently Starboard can be glued together with adhesives after preparing the mating surfaces with heat.

Hope to start this winter since my old doors are cracking.

syjos said:

Still needs some sort of skin like fiberglass, solid backing for handles, hinges or sliders.

I like comodaves idea. He suggested the Starboard on another thread and it would be a lot less work to build my pilothouse doors from Starboard than using a wood, Klegecell, Airex, Coosa or any othe coring.

I can buy a sheet of 3/4" Starboard for around $300, from which I can make two doors. I'm working out the details for windows, handles and track.

The process is difficult but apparently Starboard can be glued together with adhesives after preparing the mating surfaces with heat.

Hope to start this winter since my old doors are cracking.

Click to expand...

Of course you need to fg composite panels (unless you buy the pre done ones) but they are tougher and more stable than starboard. They are used for structural elements all the time. Pilothouses and decks are made out of them. No special gluing issues as with starboard. Many of the DE boat builders use this stuff routinely for doors. I've yet to see a starboard door fabbed by a boatbuilder...I would use plywood/fg before I used starboard.I would use starboard or UHMW for the runners though.

I've built doors with FG covered coring for clients. If someone else writes the check, I'll go that route because it is time consuming. More $ for me.

Lots of laminating, sanding, fairing, sanding and painting. Several days.

With Starboard, rip on tablesaw, shape with router, window openings with router and jig, install window with adhesive. One day or less. Only sanding required is maybe the edges if the router leaves a rough looking edge. No painting.

I was planning on building the door with FG covered coring. I saw commodaves idea for a Starboard door on another thread and after researching it, decided it was an easier method. Thanks commodave.

I had not considered Starboard before because of it's cost. Price has fallen considerably at the wholesale level. And not being able to glue it was a big reason I didn't use it a lot. Adhesive manufacturers are claiming success with their products.

I will do some destruct tests with several adhesives and techniques on scrap Starboard before I shell out $300

I think Starboard will keep looking good for a long time. There are steps on the exterior that looks good after 10 years.

I built several exterior doors for that boat out of Starboard. We owned the boat for 8 years after I put the first doors on and they looked just as good as the day I put them in. And there was absolutely no maintenance on them. The one issue is glueing them is difficult. I didn’t use any adhesive on them but used mechanical fasteners instead. If you can’t do the work yourself, then companies like boatoutfitters.com will do custom work out of Starboard, but hang on for the price.

Donna, are you sure it`s not repairable? Mine, painted white,(originally varnished teak externally but still teak on the interior side),had rot in various places due to water getting in from the top and leaching down. It was removed, stripped as necessary, repaired, repainted, and came up well, for around $600. Will it look better kept as teak inside?

Donna said:

I’m looking to replace my old teak sliding helm door with a white fiberglass or aluminum door with window. Any clue where I should start my search?

Click to expand...

Diamond Sea Glaze
diamondseaglaze.com

Comodave said:

The one issue is glueing them is difficult. I didn’t use any adhesive on them but used mechanical fasteners instead. If you can’t do the work yourself, then companies like boatoutfitters.com will do custom work out of Starboard, but hang on for the price.

Click to expand...

I talked to the adhesive manufacturers tech guys and they all claim that if the surface prep is followed exactly as described in the instructions, then the bond is strong and permanent. A couple of them are sending me samples for me to test.

The preparation is no more onerous than epoxy barrier coats, Prop Speed, epoxy adhesives and other speciality coatings and adhesives.