Smith's CPES Epoxy

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mcrandop

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Jan 5, 2015
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Pulled teak decks on CHB, anyone have experience with using this stuff to seal wet core instead of replacing wood?
 
Pulled teak decks on CHB, anyone have experience with using this stuff to seal wet core instead of replacing wood?

I've used a lot of Smiths, the coring will have to be bone dry. I don't think you can dry the coring without exposing it by removing the fiberglass from one of the surfaces. At that point the coring should be replaced. The rotted coring will be black mush. If it is a small area you can use a hole saw to exspose the coring, clean out the old coring, use the same hole saw to cut a replacement core and glass it in with resin and glass fiber.
 
Scary is correct, it will be mush. There are a million holes in the fibreglas from the deck screws. Sadly, you will be very lucky indeed if the rot has not migrated up the walls of your house. The Chinese yards used old packing crates and pallets and any other crap they found lying about to make the 'core.'

Sincerely, good luck!
 
A lot of wet wood on my Albin...thankfully all of it was teak. Wet but not rotten.

All but a few areas on my boat only needed drying, not full replacement. Dry then repair...if and however you can do it, just ID the wood and condition.
 
+++ These guys have it all right.

CPES is great stuff, but there is nothing that will cure wet, you have to dry it.

Funny thing is, wood that gets wet and stays wet rots the slowest as there is not enough oxygen. The most dangerous part is when you dry it out. If you can dry wood quick enough, you can often avoid the rot. Take core samples to know whether you have mush, dark wood or just wet. Also a good way to find the extent of the problem.

Once you start drying wood, dry it, don't fiddle around.

I've been surprised what I could accomplish with a hole saw and a hair dryer, followed by a constant running fan, though nothing beats removing one side of the glass skin. It all depends on the size of the problem. If you have wet wood with just a few inches of travel around a fitting, then pull the fitting and use the hair dryer/fan method. If you have a large area, plan to remove the skin, at which point re-coring is the easiest method and most sure fire way. When you are putting in new/dry wood is the best time to consider using CPES.

Sorry, no magic bullets.
 

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