Good idea?

[nola mike]

After redoing the interior over the last couple of seasons, I'm becoming very concerned about hidden transom damage. I had made a bunch of holes at the time, and everything looked good, but now I'm worried about all the holes on the outside of the transom. Wondering whether I should inspect them, and at least try to mitigate damage if I find it. A transom repair isn't anywhere in my immediate future. I'm thinking of removing everything, using a pick to feel around the hole, and if it looks good put in some fresh 5200...and if it looks bad?

 

[alldodge]

If I understand your statement; a couple seasons ago you drilled some test holes checking the current state of your transom and found all OK. Now you want to check those same holes to see if things changed. If this is all correct, then wonder why the holes where not filled at testing, and if there were I wouldn't bother with re-testing

 

[nola mike]

Not quite. I drilled holes on the interior, but I'm concerned that they didn't include the part of the transom most susceptible to rot, the holes drilled in the exterior. I'm worried that the exterior holes might have water infiltration, and if by checking them now I could mitigate any damage before it tired the whole transom. Semi preventive maintenance I guess

 

[Woodonglass]

You can do what you suggest but...I'd recommend using a 1 1/2" forstner bit and then planning on using PB and some resin and glass to fill and fair the holes. This will give you a better idea on any infiltration and a much better structural and cosmetic repair.

 

[nola mike]

Woodonglass , you're talking about drilling from the outside?

 

[Grub54891]

Woodonglass , you're talking about drilling from the outside?

No, you drill from the inside, if the holes you drilled before were not filled, they should have been.You want to keep any moisture out at all times.

 

[nola mike]

Ok, yeah, I drilled and filled from the inside last year, but don't think I was able to get low enough or lateral enough to get to the area of the exterior penetrations.

 

[Grub54891]

Ok, So what I understand, is you want to check where there were screwholes from the exterior. If they were not filled before, or they leaked before, they will have wet wood. If you find wet wood, light in color, it might be ok, I've actually installed a vacuum pump on some old screw holes and let it run for a couple weeks to pull out minor moisture. then sealed and re gel coated. seemed to work out fine.

 

[nola mike]

yeah, I think I'm going to explore the holes with a pick, and if I find rot I'll try to determine the extend of it. If not, great, I fill with 5200 and call it a day and breathe easy. All these holes look like they were filled with silicone.

 

[nola mike]

Upon further review, it seems that the consensus on exterior below the waterline holes are to drill out oversize, fill with pb, drill, fill with 5200 and screw?

Is there a common place /brand to get either a relatively small amount of poly resin or epoxy? I know I can find what I need at west marine, but it's pricey and far from me. Anything at auto zone or lowes or something?

 

[Grub54891]

Yes the holes below the water line should be filled.
The ones you are not using will get filled, and re gel coated. Don't know where to get small supplies from, unless a local repair place in willing to sell you a small amount.

 

[Panoguy]

Don't know where to get small supplies from, unless a local repair place in willing to sell you a small amount.

I'd suggest getting a small can of something like Evercoat kitty hair (under $20. on Amazon), a pre-made PB - the important part here is the gelcoat - that's what'll make the patch impermeable to water. Polyester itself tends to absorb water, gelcoat prevents this absorption.

 

[nola mike]

Huh, I was under the impression that poly was waterproof itself. Yeah, a quart of gelcoat is way overkill for what would amount to 6 sq inches. What about epoxy? Any reason not to just fill the small holes with either something like JB weld or 5200/4200?

 

[Lightwin 3]

Huh, I was under the impression that poly was waterproof itself. Yeah, a quart of gelcoat is way overkill for what would amount to 6 sq inches. What about epoxy? Any reason not to just fill the small holes with either something like JB weld or 5200/4200?

That is a correct statement about Poly, it is not waterproof. You could always use paint.

3M 5200 is a sealant/adhesive that cures hard. 4200 is a sealant that remains pliable once cured.

 

[JASinIL2006]

An epoxy like PC-11 will do the trick. Might not match the gelcoat, but it is strong and waterproof, and way cheaper than MarineTex.

 

[nola mike]

That looks good. Still don't know where to buy locally, but not too bad on amazon. This will be below waterline mostly, so color not too important. Do I want 4200 or 5200 to seal the holes if I do the drill/epoxy/drill/screw route?

 

[JASinIL2006]

I filled some old holes in my transom (from old transducer, etc.) using just PC-11 epoxy. You don't need to use 5200 with it, in fact you probably don't want to or you might interfere with the ability of the epoxy to adhere.

I made sure to thoroughly coat the inside surfaces of the holes with epoxy, really working it into the wood, before I filled the holes completely. That insured the wood was fully sealed against water intrusion.

 

[nola mike]

2 different issues. First is filling old holes that aren't needed. Second is redoing my current holes by drilling oversized holes, filling them, and then replacing the screws. I'd replace the screws using a sealant

 

[mickyryan]

i think you should leave em be , if you checked inside found no rot i would not wake a sleeping dog :0