Bertram33 User Forum

We are re-painting our aft deck, a drop in one-piece. The caulking around the outer edge looks bad. Should I attempt to get the old out and recaulk or just clean and paint over? Using Interlux Perfection with no slip added. The boat is a 1969 35’ in fresh water, Detroit MI.

I would clean out the old caulking and caulk it. It's not a hard job.

I agree clean it out, tape it off and re-caulk. Put a string in the gap before you caulk makes it easier if you ever have to take it up again.

Thanks for all your help,, I’m going to remove it. And I will use the string technique.

Thanks for all your help,, I’m going to remove it. And I will use the string technique.

Jon... A few years ago I did the same job on my 33'FBC. I used a Fein "Multitool" (at the time Fein had a patent on the tool but today you can get similar tools at most hardware stores.. these tools don't rotate a saw blade like regular circular saws but instead the blade moves a couple of degrees back and forth, similar to the "saw" a Doctor uses to cut a plaster cast) and tried to cut down both sides of the caulking where the caulk touched the fiberglass and used a bent narrow screwdriver as a tool to pull the old caulk out. A time consuming job that took longer than I expected. As far as the string you use I would suggest you find the largest diameter string/twine you can fit into the bottom of the gap you have created when you remove the old caulk. I wish whoever installed the caulk on my boat had used the string technique. It would have made the job a lot easier.

I used a hollow 3/16" poly rope around the entire perimeter, stuffed it to the bottom, and then sealed right over it. So far, so good. I will probably never see it again in my lifetime, at least that's my plan!

Thanks to all who answered. I used my Feintool and it did a good job. I’ve had that tool for years, it’s a little miracle machine!

What kind of caulking did you use to reseal the deck seam?

I just removed my deck on my 33 SF to recore with Coosa board. When we put it back in I put string trimmer line in the gap and we caulked with Boat Life.

When I did my deck roughly 5 years ago I used GE 100% whit silicone. Taped off around the entire gap, put a cord in and used a little hand tool with a rubber end to make perfectly smooth. Came out great and still looks that way.