stanchion sealant

[George Dubose]

Hello Gentlemen,

This winter I will be rebedding my stanchions. I last used butyl rubber
but that seems to fail in two spots.

I will pull all the stanchions, but I am not sure if I want to use
Boatlife caulk or its liquid form or one of the Sikaflexs.

Any suggestions?

George/Skylark

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George DuBose
www.george-dubose.com

Wiedstrasse 16
D-50859 Cologne
Germany

[Last Resort]

I used 4200 on all 6 of my stanchions and have had no issues or leaks.  Trick was to just hand tighten them down, wait 24hrs to cure, and then making sure the screws DO NOT move with the help of a 2nd person, tighten them down hard compressing the now made 4200 gasket. Works great. 

[Dave Cole]

Several years ago I had to repair several deck locations on my 10M due to water infiltration.  I was short on time and couldnt easily buy 4200.   I had some clear polyurethane sealant I had used for other projects, bought at Menards, and it was rated for above and below waterline.  So I used it.  It worked very well.  Still, if you can get 4200 easily, Id just use that.  Its a known entity.    The 3M 4000 UV is supposed to be better than 4200 sealant for sunlight resistance. 

Dave

10M #26

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[Dan Pfeiffer]

Seems to me the prep is more important than what sealant you choose.  Even the best sealant isn't going to hold up if there are excessive gaps or an infirm fit.  I would recommend a fiberglass riser plate epoxied to the deck under the base as Guy has described before.  1/4 to 1/2" would do.  It spreads the load and lifts the seal area up above most of the flowing deck water (like rain water, not when you dip the rail).  Removing core around the holes and filling the void with epoxy is a must for good sealing.   I like to tap the holes for the 1/4-20 fasteners (or 6mm if you're doing this in Europe).  And have a proper bevel at the top of the hole to hold sealant.  The mating surfaces between the stanchion base bottom and the deck or riser plate surface should be clean and smooth and well matched.   

These are all basic techniques to the process that have been discussed here many times. 

Apply these techniques and the choice of sealant is secondary.  That said, I would choose polysulfide over silicone or polyurethane.   Boat Life Life Caulk or 3M 101.  The silicone is amazing in that it won't stick well to anything and yet you can't get the residue off.  The polyurethane is forever glue (5200 and to a lesser extent 4200).  And when these start to leak down the road (and they will start to leak) it's much harder to re-do.  I like butyl but you need to be careful that fasteners don't spin where you need the seal or you twist it up too much. 


Dan Pfeiffer

[George Dubose]

Thank you all for your tips on sealing leaky stanchion bottoms. Only two
of mine are leaking at the moment, but with my maintenance crew over the
winter, we are going to rebed all the stanchions and chainplates. The
tip about adding a fiberglass riser is interesting as well.

Skylark has a Flex-i-teek decking that raised the deck level 1/4", so
adding a riser might be helpful.

I like Boatlife caulk and may go with that instead of 4200.

I once glued the rubrail of my P26 with 5200, got that adhesive up to my
elbows...but that rubrail never came off.

George/Skylark

[Guy Johnson]

Puffin's stanchions have 1/2" fiberglass riser plates and 1/4" backing plates. 

Fiberglass sheets were from McMaster Carr. https://www.mcmaster.com/products/fiberglass-sheets/fiberglass-1~/thickness~500-mil/thickness~1-2-1/thickness~0-500/thickness~0-5/?s=fiberglass-sheets

I cleaned out all of the core under the stanchions and about 1" beyond. Filled the void with layers of 1708 fiberglass. 

Following Dan's recommendations, I drilled and tapped the holes. Countersunk the top of the hole. 

I used butyl rubber tape under the stanchion bases. They've been good for 20 years. 

The exception is one stanchion that is part of the lifeline gate.

Puffin has an extra stanchion to make a lifeline gate approximately 24" wide. One of those gates gets a lot of stress from people grabbing it with their right hand. For that gate I have a topping plate the is larger than all of the rest about twice as long fore and aft and about an inch wider on the deck. Currently that topping plate is 1/2" plywood, epoxy coated and painted. I have a fiberglass plate ready, just haven't installed it yet. 

Guy

Puffin 10M #6

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From: pearso...@googlegroups.com <pearso...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Dan Pfeiffer <d...@pfeiffer.net>
Sent: Monday, August 3, 2026 12:43 PM
To: pearso...@googlegroups.com <pearso...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [pearson] stanchion sealant

 

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