Hatching the Hatch

Getting close now, I almost have a finished hatch on my hands.  This was my first foray into Teak Decking Systems SIS 440 (or any teak seam sealer for that matter) and other than the long cure time, it was easy enough to use.

I started by taping off the teak planks between the seams to minimize cleanup.  I don't think it's needed because everything needs to be sanded down anyway, but I'm sure it didn't hurt.  Once everything was taped off pretty well, I clipped the end of the tube and popped it into a mechanical caulking gun.  I squeezed out the black goo into each of the seams, letting it mound up behind the nozzle (as instructed).  My cheapo mechanical caulking gun doesn't really have the leverage to easily get the caulking to flow and my hand quickly began to cramp.  Fortunately, I have large gorilla hands, but someone with small hands or little hand strength would likely have some difficulty.

I literally had just enough caulking to get all the seams filled, but once complete I took a 1 inch piece of scrap wood and smeared each of the seams to make sure everything was filled and there were no bubbles.  At that point I set it aside for 48 hours and let it cure up.


This afternoon I tested out the caulking with my fingernail and decided it was cured enough to sand, so I took my random orbit sander and 60 grit discs and sanded everything flat.  It cleaned up really easily and didn't take long to get nice crisp seams and that teak deck look.

I finished up by putting a quick coat of varnish on the rails around the deck to get a feel for how the contrasting woods will look.  Pretty sharp!  So, now there is lots more varnish to do and I will also epoxy in 1/8" mahogany strips to the underside of the deck to cover up the plywood and to provide a final layer for additional strength.