Sealer for drill holes?

[Tidbart]

What do I use to seal the plywood or coring on the decking after i drill or cut holes out for new cleats?

B

[gcarter]

What do I use to seal the plywood or coring on the decking after i drill or cut holes out for new cleats?

B

Bob, this is simple, use some thickened epoxy based material like Marine Tex.
In fact, take a small Allen wrench and chuck it up in your drill so when you stick it in the cored area and run it, it carves out a nice shallow trench in the core. Fill this area w/the Marine Tex.
DON'T use 5200!
:nilly:

[Morgan's Cloud]

If you want to be anal then mix up a small batch of epoxy resin and run a few coats through the holes before bolting up with an appropriate sealer ...

NOT 5200 .... There are dozens of more suitable sealers for sealing/bedding deck hardware !

Edit ... notice George's response and mine are at excatly the same time ..... (Notice an echo anyone ....lol )

[Tidbart]

I don't have any epoxy nor polyester resin at the house. I don't have any 5200 either. I may have some Marine-Tex.

If I had something like a 4200 to put under the cleat, could I use that to seal the cut out edges, also?

[gcarter]

Bob, you really want to use something epoxy based to fill all the little soda straws of the core.
Sealers like 4200 and 5200 are really designed for other purposes like mounting the cleats, but they really won't seal the wood.

[Tidbart]

OK. Sounds good. I'll have to see what I have in the shop.

Bob

[VetteLT193]

I don't have any epoxy nor polyester resin at the house. I don't have any 5200 either. I may have some Marine-Tex.

If I had something like a 4200 to put under the cleat, could I use that to seal the cut out edges, also?

My Minx was done like that. I'm not sure if it was 4200 but it was darn close to it if it wasn't. It withstood however many years of abuse with no problems with the wood or anything around it. And before I bought it the boat sat outside uncovered for some time.

The painter re-did the holes when it was sprayed.... Although, after seeing it in action I doubt I'd hesitate to do it the 4200 way again, even though it's not the 'approved' method. The main thing is the cleat was really well sealed to the deck with the 4200 stuff, along with every hole. Water had no chance of getting in there.

[MOP]

The above are all good tips, if you are going to use a hardening type filler the hardware should be bolted up before it sets. I have seen where guys including me have epoxied or the like and let it go off. Bolted the hardware on later or the next day only to hear it crack, now useless and should be done over before continuing. As a few know I have rigged a few hundred new and used boats, to use fillers in the right way it must be done like George said. The core material must be cut back to form a good cavity, this is normally done by not drilling through the substrate IE: the lower layer of glass, that will leave you with a cup to hold the resin & chopped fibers instead of it oozing into the bilge. The hardening filler normally is only used on the softer core materials, really noy needed on healthy plywood. The simplest way which has worked for many years is good old Silicone and a good backer plate to spread the load. One of the most important things is never seal the under side, not even the backer plate shat if very important!! If by you do develop a leak odds are you will notice the discolored muck coming out around the bolts long before your deck gets to screwed up, small repairs are always a lot easier then big ones! All hardware but mostly cleats should be checked from the under side a couple of times a season.

Phil