Teak Caulk

The black rubber caulk between the teak strips has become loose in a few areas. Any idea on a good replacement caulk?

The only caulk I would consider is TDS SIS-440 made by Teak Decking Systems. As John Force says, “the guy in second place is the first looser”. Just my opinion. The World's Leader in Pre-Manufactured Custom Teak Decks - Teakdecking Systems®

That is what I plan on using this off season on my teak decks. I got a multi tool blade from Jamestown Distributors to cut out the old caulk. Haven’t tried it yet so I am not sure how well it will work.

Not good after just 6 years. My teak was redone same year, I think using Sikaflex,and it`s not happening on my boat. Can you find out what Beneteau used, and use something else?

Giggitoni said:

The only caulk I would consider is TDS SIS-440 made by Teak Decking Systems. As John Force says, “the guy in second place is the first looser”. Just my opinion. The World's Leader in Pre-Manufactured Custom Teak Decks - Teakdecking Systems®

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That is what I used also. Holding up well after 10 years.

Giggitoni said:

The only caulk I would consider is TDS SIS-440 made by Teak Decking Systems. As John Force says, “the guy in second place is the first looser”. Just my opinion. The World's Leader in Pre-Manufactured Custom Teak Decks - Teakdecking Systems®

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jleonard said:

That is what I used also. Holding up well after 10 years.

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There’s nothing better.

Another vote for Teak Decking Systems. Nice folks, good products, give them a call.

TDS - everything else is just licorice.

TDS here also . Just mask off everything you don’t want it on .

BruceK said:

Not good after just 6 years. My teak was redone same year, I think using Sikaflex,and it`s not happening on my boat. Can you find out what Beneteau used, and use something else?

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So, to be clear, you have good results with Silkaflex?

Looks like TDS is where I'll go on this.

Thanks to all of you for your help. There are so many knowledgeable folks on TrawlerForum!

TDS Also--Mask off than pull masking off while caulk is still soft.

Eric: 5200 would work to bond teak to the deck but would not stand up if used as caulking for the seams. Polyurethanes caulks or adhesives do not stand up well to UV. Remember 3M 101 and now 3M 4000? Both have UV inhibitors which 5200 does not. Even West Marine says not to use 5200 to caulk decks.

You’re right Larry.
Forgot about the UV factor.
TDS sound like the right product for the job.
But my comment about prep is sure to apply. How can one do a good job of cleaning deck seams?
I deleted the other post.

rclarke246 said:

So, to be clear, you have good results with Silkaflex?

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Yes,I did,still good 6 years on. I researched TDS when I was thinking rout and recaulk might suffice, before concluding I needed a total redo. I`m sure their product is a good choice,hope it goes well.

There is a caulk formulated specificly for teak applications.
“Life Caulk” I think it’s called. It says on the tube that it’s specifically formulated for teak.
Wouldn’t this be an obvious caulk for deck seams?

Eric, Life Caulk is a fine deck sealant. It’s been on the market at least since the 1960’s. They do recommend that Teak seams be primed before application of Life Caulk.

I think Teak Decking Systems is somewhat more UV resistant than Life Caulk and it doesn’t require a primer to stick to Teak.

Nomad Willy said:

There is a caulk formulated specificly for teak applications.
“Life Caulk” I think it’s called. It says on the tube that it’s specifically formulated for teak.
Wouldn’t this be an obvious caulk for deck seams?

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Eric: Interesting stuff. TDS was/is also formulated just for teak deck seams though. After looking, I see that that there are two different Life Caulk products for teak deak. The one part needs a proprietary primer, where the two part does not.

The first teak decks I caulked 30 years ago was with Detco, the gold standard at th time. It was a 2 part polysulfide. The stuff was as good as TDS but you had to mix it then put it in tubes. What a mess. If you over mixed it, you had air bubbles that didn’t float out. I think there’s a reason why they went out of business.

Here’s a little blurb on the Lfie Caulk.

When using one-part Life-Calk you must prime the seams first with Life-Calk Primer. This will seal the end grain from any escaping oil that will impede adhesion.
It is important that you use ONLY Life-Calk Primer for this application. Do not use a paint product such as red lead. These products are laden with oils that will produce the opposite results you are expecting and the Life-Calk will not stick to the teak. However, if you are using the Life- Calk Two-Part Type P or Teak Deck Sealant, primer is not needed as the primer is built into the product.

Life Caulk, 2 part.
A little fussy, as you need to mix and then fill tubes to use it in a caulking gun.
First place a bond breaker strip (looks like a cotton shoelace) in the bottom of the space between the teak boards, then fill to overflowing with the caulking.
After 20 years, still holding up very well.

koliver said:

Life Caulk, 2 part.
A little fussy, as you need to mix and then fill tubes to use it in a caulking gun.
First place a bond breaker strip (looks like a cotton shoelace) in the bottom of the space between the teak boards, then fill to overflowing with the caulking.
After 20 years, still holding up very well.

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I've seen reference to this before. I used SikaFlex to repair a few seams. There was no bond breaker strip in the original build. I did not use any in the replacement caulking. Is there a reason it's needed in the re-do? The teak strips are tongue and groove, so there is no place where the caulk gets to the actual deck, pure wood in the groove.

The repairs have held two years now with no issues. Just wondering. . .

NightCrawler, the bond breaker tape prevents the caulk from adhering to the bottom of the seam. This allows the wood to move more without breaking the adhesion on the sides of the seam. TDS sells what looks to me like pin stripe tape as bond breaker tape.

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

NightCrawler said:

I've seen reference to this before. I used SikaFlex to repair a few seams. There was no bond breaker strip in the original build. I did not use any in the replacement caulking. Is there a reason it's needed in the re-do? The teak strips are tongue and groove, so there is no place where the caulk gets to the actual deck, pure wood in the groove.

The repairs have held two years now with no issues. Just wondering. . .

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A bond breaker is used to allow expansion and contraction of the adjacent boards to occur without affecting the adhesion of the caulk to the separate boards. If the caulk is inhibited from moving with and stretching or compressing between the boards, due to adhesion to the substrate (sometimes one of the boards is also the bottom of the groove), it will tear away from one of the sides. bond breaker is to prevent this from happening.
See a good explanation from an expert here: https://baileylineroad.com/success-with-caulking/

I tried Life Caulk years ago and did not have very good results. I admit that I didn’t have much experience with teak then and didn’t leave enough gap for caulk to flex and work like it needed to. When we did all the teak work on William and it was a bunch of it we used TDS. When I went to their site and saw the amount of teak decks they do and the quality of their woodwork I figured they new their stuff. They do way to much work to use something that’s not superior. They also were very helpful with our project .

Thanks for the responses. I've read those articles. Was just curious why the original build does not include the tape.

NightCrawler said:

Thanks for the responses. I've read those articles. Was just curious why the original build does not include the tape.

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They decided good was good enough. Didn’t see the need to go for excellent. I’m sure the original caulk lasted many years. If they had installed the breaker tape, it would have lasted a few more years.

With 95% of my original caulk intact, I assume that any missing / loose caulk will allow water intrusion, leading to trouble- like failure of the teak adhesion with the deck. Right?

Yes but your deck doesn’t looked to be screwed down so water woul probably not penetrate the deck through a screw hole. I think I would just clean out the loose caulk areas. Clean the edges of the teak with some acetone and recaulk those areas.

When I did some fix up this winter I almost didn’t buy the TDS reefing knife. What a mistake that would have been.

Go TDS and just follow the directions, outlasts most owners if applied correctly =)