Bulkhead Veneer Delamination

[Richard Ad]

December 23, 2012. Today I cut the veneer. I took a razor knife and made a cut on the bulkhead as close to the deck as possible and removed as much of the remaining veneer that was in the slot of the deck. I used the deck as a guide and ran the razor across the veneer. It is very thin so it cut easily. The cut made all the difference in the world; the veneer can now lie flatly against the bulkhead. My next step is to use thinner to remove the old adhesive, apply 3M spray 90 adhesive and re-apply. I'll do this in the Sping (2013) to assure the temperature is adequate. The center seam now overlaps a little so I'll cover vertical seam with the teak trim that Catalina sent to me. And, I'll re-caulk at the bulkhead/decking.

[jonnjones]

This problem just happened to me over the winter. First the bubble, then the veneer split along the seam of the big sheet that curves around the outer head bulkhead. Have noticed that veneer has "slipped" from the portside attachment points ever so slightly. Haven't figured out how to address the problem, but appreciate everyone's status reports.

[Richard Ad]

I cut the veneer along the ceiling line and cut a 1/2 inch section from the ceiling to the floor from the veneer (middle of the bulkhead where the two pieces of veneer meet) then removed 75% of the port side veneer, striped the glue the best I could (still had quite a bit of old glue), sprayed 3M Adhesive 90 on both surfaces, and reapplied the veneer. Then screwed the teak molding that Catalina Yachts sent to me at no charge over the 1/2 inch vertical cut. All looks good. Still need to put a piece of molding at the ceiling to cover the cut that I made. I still believe the pressure needed to reduced along the veneer edges and now there are some expansion gaps to allow changes. Time will tell; winter is usually when boat materials change due to thermal expansion & contraction.

[Triumph]

I have previously posted about filling the crack with wood putty where the two pcs of veneer meet in the middle. That worked great. However, I have a bubble on the port side of this, like every one else. Here is the latest.
I cut the black caulk away from the top of the veneer and then double cut the veneer along the top. I want to give the veneer room to expand in the future as it grows and shrinks. I then cut the veneer vertically down across the bubble ending about 6" below the bottom of the bubble. I did this free hand and sort of followed the grain in the veneer. I inserted a putty knife, and pulled up the veneer away from the fiberglass bulkhead behind it. Later, I'd be putting glue in here.
The next three steps are important. I overlapped the two edges, and then inserted toothpicks so that the one pc could ride up over one the other. Step three, I went sailing across the South Pacific with a friend for two months. Upon returning to the boat, the overlap was there, and the bubble was gone. The veneer had relaxed and laid flat.
Next, I took a new sharp utility knife blade and cut the excess down the vertical line. I removed a little extra to allow the veneer to expand and contract without being jammed and creating a bubble. I then used a small flat paint brush to paint on contact cement behind the veneer. Then I used an expandable boat hook and board to put pressure on the area and left it for 48 hrs. It looked good afterward, so I then filled the crack with the wood putty, and she looks as good as new. This caused the original crack to open up a little more, so i had to re-putty that crack.

[Richard Ad]

Removed the putty at bulkhead/ceiling joint, cut 1/8" of the veneer along this joint, cut 1/4" strip on the vertical joint, used a putty knife with 3 ft handle to pull veneer away from bulkhead, sprayed GUOFF on veneer and bulkhead and scraped off old glue, sprayed 3M Adhesive 90, pressed the veneer back in place, screwed teak vertical strip over vertical veneer gap. Now I just need test it by putting it through an Annapolis winter.

[Palmettomoon350]

Since the last post of 2013 I guess no one has had any further problems with the veneer. The hot iron w/ towel does not work and I am not to crazy with removing the teak veneer and redoing the whole bulkhead. I am looking for an easier fix, like shooting 3 M glue behind the veneer and placing a piece of plywood against the bulkhead with a prop from the aft bulkhead. Problem is that I have not been able to find a syringe with a large enough tip to shoot glue behind the veneer. The of course get the glue into the syringe.

Help

Carl Beckmann
Palmetto Moon # 223

[Triumph]

I recently had to do another repair. I drilled a 1/8 inch hole in the veneer bubble and used a basting syringe to inject the 2 part epoxy glue. The syringe can be found at Lowes or walmart in the outdoor cooking sections near the grills. Cost a couple of bucks.
Make sure the glue does not ooze out the hole when compressed. When set, the hole looks black, so clean it out to a depression, and fill it with a golden oak wood filler that pretty much matches the veneer.

[SeaBreeze]

An additional source is West Marine or Defender. Both sell syringes for injecting epoxy. The business end can be cut to give you the whole size you want
Rick
Sea Breeze

[Palmettomoon350]

Thanks I will try to inject some epoxy rather than drilling into the veneer. I may end up doing that, however.

Thanks again
Carl
Palmetto Moon # 223