Two Birds With One Stone

Remember all the stories about the salon window replacement?  Well, there was one part of the story that I didn't really cover since I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  That missing part of the story is the "window treatments"...or what us guys call them...curtains or shades.

When I bought the boat, the windows in the salon that didn't have opening ports embedded in them had these things called Peek-a-Boo shades.  The shades are two pieces of clear plastic with white translucent stripes on them.  The two plastic pieces are setup so you can slide them across one another so the stripes either align and you can see out between them or block the clear stripe of the other plastic sheet creating a translucent white covering.

The Peek-a-Boo shade effect

They seem like a good idea and worked well to add privacy when you are in a marina and don't want to look out of the boat...or have others look in.  But when you do want to look out, it is a bit like looking out through prison bars.  Now you might be thinking that I could just temporarily re-install them until I found something better, but here is the catch.  The shades are held in place by about 20 little Velcro disks that stick directly to the Plexiglass.  I just couldn't bring myself to stick a bunch of Velcro discs on my pretty, clear, new windows.

I have been thinking about creating external covers for the windows using Phifertex mesh or maybe even Sunbrella material, but that is a longer term project.  In the meantime, it would be nice to have something covering the two big salon windows.

Another thing I wanted to do was to create some insulating panels to put in the windows to help keep the heat down in the summer.  In this case, I want something opaque that will prevent light...and heat...transfer as much as is practical.  I used to have this silver foil-like sun shade for one of my cars and it did a great job on those hot summer days.  I've seen other boats use this material to block out their windows, so I figured I could at least get some of them for now.

Unfortunately, my salon window openings are around 5 feet wide...a bit longer than any of those automotive shades.  Fortunately, I was able to find a roll of that silver covered bubble-wrap like material in a roll at one of the local big box hardware stores.  And at $16, the 16 inch by 25 foot roll was cheaper than buying two of the automotive car shades.  If I want, I could even get some strips of cloth and sew a nice band around the edges to make a custom fit shade that would fit snugly into the window opening.

The solar shade material and paper for the template.

So, I made a template using some of my left over masking paper (unfortunately I had already thrown away the templates I used for creating the window blackout or they would have been perfect).  I cut out two shades from the roll of silver bubble-wrap and trimmed them to fit.

The new solar shade for the salon windows

Now I have something that should be great when the sun is beating down on the boat, and at least for now provides basic window coverings while I am at the marina.  Always nice when one simple project solves two different problems on a boat.  Maybe sometime when I can find the supplies I'll even create that finished edge for them.

Rebooting Windows

Yeah, OK...so the title of this post is from my previous life as a software engineer. No idea how many times I rebooted Microsoft Windows...however it was a LOT. But, in this case I'm not talking about computers. Yep, I'm talking about my salon window project. Today was a gorgeous day in Brunswick, and it was very tempting to take a day off from working on the boat. But, I'm trying to make the boat ready to move south so I had to bite the bullet and keep pushing on the projects.

The salon windows have been curing for over 7 days, so it was time to remove the clamps and blocks that were holding them in position and apply the remainder of the sealant to finish this project.
After breakfast I once again masked off the area around the windows in an attempt to try and keep the black goo from getting all over the gel coat. Between all the masking and the paper towels, I'm starting to wonder if there isn't a joke about how many trees you have to kill to install a plastic window.

After masking everything, it was time to see if the window holds without the clamps. I slowly removed the screws and fender washers, watching the nearby edge of the window for movement. The windows didn't budge as the screws were removed, so I now have proof that they not only don't leak (courtesy of the rain a few days ago), but seem to be adhered in place.  Yay!

Some of the project supplies and tools

I noticed there were a few places where I could not see sealant squeezing out of the back edge of the glass where the screws and blocks were, so I started by cutting the nozzle on the first tube of sealant rather small and trying to inject it into the voids. I then used my bent putty knife to push it around and pack it in behind the glass. Trying to work sticky goo into a 3/8 inch gap and around a corner is...lets just say it tries your patience. I then used the smaller nozzle tubes to fill in the back of the remaining gap between the window and the opening.

The better part of the tooled sealant bead

Finally, I cut the tip to a larger bead and filled in the remaining gap. Someone who does this for a living could probably make it look nice right out of the caulk gun...but I am not that person. I ended up using my scrap from the flexible cutting board that I used on the anchor locker repair to "tool" the sealant edge. This produced a reasonably nice looking joint.

Windows all installed.

But only to a point. The sealant started curing a bit and by the time I got all the way around the window, the joint didn't look as good. The stuff takes up to 21 days to fully cure, but apparently will start getting tacky in under 15 minutes. Oh well. I'll have to live with Bill's 20-foot rule....if it looks good at 20 feet away, it is good enough. Removing the masking and the film that protected the glass was equally challenging as it was starting to skin over. If you ever try this, try to have an assistant or two available so you can do these steps fairly quickly.

I can see outside again.

In the end, I only needed 13 tubes of sealant for both windows. I guess those that needed more didn't do the second ring of foam 5/8" from the edge of the glass and probably also used the 1/2" foam so the window was flush with the opening instead of recessed like the original installation.

So, all the sealant is applied and one more big project is ticked off the list. Good thing since I want to be headed south in a week.

I Don't Think it is a Train

I see a light at the end of the tunnel.  Ok, actually I don't see much light...through the two new windows that are installed but still have their protective paper covering on the outside.  After spending the better part of two weeks with plastic covering window openings, I now have glass...er, acrylic...in both salon side window openings again.

Most of the install went just like the last one, with a few changes.  I did the window blackout first thing this morning, applying two coats with about 30 minutes of drying time in between coats.  I started the install process after lunch.

I thought about doing two adjacent beads of sealant, but after cutting the tip of the sealant tube about 1/2" below all the usual places you would cut it and improving my technique, I was able to apply a huge bead of the stuff.  The bead was probably 3/4" wide and at least 1/2" tall.  I would have liked to have taken a picture of it, but didn't want to delay the installation of the window.  After all this work, I definitely want to give it every chance to seal well.

This time when I placed the window, sealant squeezed out around the edges of all but a couple small spots.  I was easily able to add a little more sealant to those areas using a small putty knife.  I don't think I mentioned this last time, but I bent the end of a small  putty knife so it had a 1/8" long 90 degree bend and that allowed me to push the sealant down into the groove.  Without removing the protective paper I can't be 100% sure, but I think it is sealed well.

So, now I need to wait for the stuff to cure before I can remove the clamping screws and apply the final beads of sealant and put this project behind me.  I guess that means I can finally post about something else for a few days.  Now where's the maid to clean up all the project mess?

I Almost Have A New Window

Yep, another window post. This is taking a lot longer than I thought it would.  I know others that have said they have rebed windows in just a day or two.  I don't know if new windows make much of a difference, but I'm guessing it is because I'm going slow.  Guess I really want to get this right because I certainly don't want to do it over.

After breakfast this morning, I go to check out my blackout paint work from yesterday.  What I found was that the paint was a little thin in spots. Guess I'm not the best at painting with thinned sealant.  So, I thin a little more of the Dow 795 sealant and apply another coat in hope that it will dry quickly so I can install the window in the afternoon.  After it skins over a bit, I removed the tape that was protecting the mounting edges of the window.

While the window dries, I start preparing the opening.  I removed the plastic that had been protecting the opening during the recent cold and wet weather and applied masking tape and paper around the opening.  Then I vacuumed up the last bits of the old sealant that had somehow been hiding in the opening since I originally cleaned it.  Following that, I clean the mounting surfaces with some denatured alcohol.

The next step was to apply the foam tape that acts as a spacer and creates a dam for the sealant.  When I was reading about this process, most seemed to indicate that the old foam could be left in place and reused.  Unfortunately, it seems they assembled the windows on my boat differently than others as they had applied the foam to the window and not the opening.  When I tried to remove the foam from the window, it pulled apart.  Apparently I finally found one glue on the boat that held well...the backing tape for that foam.

Window masked and foam strips installed.

I had purchased 3 - 10 foot rolls of 3/8" by 1/2" closed cell foam insulation tape at the local big-box hardware store to replace the original foam.  I applied one ring of the foam around the inside window opening and that took one of the rolls.  I then applied another ring to act as the sealant dam that was roughly between 5/8" and 3/4" from the outside edge of the window (I measured the distance from the inside edge of the blackout to the edge of the window to determine spacing).  In the forward corner there is a large space between the inner and outer rings of foam so I added some additional foam strips, similar to what was originally there.  Unfortunately the tape on this foam wasn't as good as the original and I had to use some contact cement to re-glue a couple of the corners down.  In the end it took about 25 foot of the tape for the one window opening.

I spent as much time as I could to allow the blackout to dry, but it was time to dry fit the window.  I needed to check window spacing in the opening and drill small holes that will be used to clamp the window in place while the sealant cures.  I had purchased a small 3/8" thick pine trim board and cut it into a few blocks to use as spacers and wrapped them in plastic (actually cellophane tape) so hopefully the sealant won't stick.  Using the blocks, I set the window in place and adjust the window position and blocks to get a uniform gap around the windows.  Marking the position of the block on the masking tape around the opening and on the protective paper on the window was done to aid in reassembly.  I noticed that the window will be a little recessed and I like the effect.  If I had wanted the window to be flush with the mounting surface, I would need foam that is thicker than 3/8".

Since the new acrylic is flat and the opening has a slight curve, it will need to be clamped in place.  To do this, I used some large fender washers and 1.5" drywall screws.  I held the window in place at the center and probed for points where I would need to clamp to get the window to conform to the curve. I pushed on the window in with one finger  and when I located a good spot, I drilled a pilot hole for the screw.  After marking the location of the hole on the masking tape, a fender washer and screw were used to gently clamp down the window.  I repeated this process until I was happy with the fit and look of the window.  Then I disassembled it all in preparation for applying the sealant.

I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to applying all this sealant with a manual caulk gun, but I don't really have another option here at the marina.  At least I did buy a good quality caulk gun for the job.  Since it was not a particularly warm day but the sun was shining, I had put one case of the sealant in my dark car to warm it up in hope it would help it flow better and maybe prevent my hand from cramping up.

After retrieving the somewhat warmer case of caulk from the car, I take a tube and cut the tip to allow for the largest bead possible.  Going around the outside of the outer band of foam, I apply a large bead of the 795 sealant making sure it stands above the height of the foam.  It took two tubes to run the bead around the foam.  I place the spacer blocks back in the marked locations and then line up the window with the blocks and press it into the sealant.  Using the marks I made for the screw locations, I install the clamping screws until the window pressed against the foam but was not compressing it...as best I could tell.

I expected more sealant to squeeze out of the joint than actually happened, so I got a bit suspicious.  I carefully peeled back a little of the protective paper from the outside of the window and my suspicion was confirmed.  While there was a pretty decent seal, there were some bubbles and voids so I ended up pumping more sealant into the joint and worked it under the window with a putty knife. This took almost another full tube of sealant, but everything appears to be full of sealant now.  Next time I think I'll run two thick beads of sealant around the window to avoid this messy step.

Window installed and clamped with the curing sealant.

So, now I need to wait several days (I'm thinking 4 or 5) to allow the sealant to cure enough to hold the window in place without the clamps.  Once the clamps are removed, I can apply more sealant and created the finished edge bead of the window.  In the meantime, I have another window to work on as well as finishing up the anchor roller mount repair.

Oh, I've Been Working on the Windows...

...all the live-long day.  As I mentioned in my last post, my replacement acrylic windows arrived yesterday.  Also mentioned was the fact that the quality of the cutting done by Lee and Cates Glass was sub-par.  They apparently used a jig saw to cut the shape and the jig saw operator apparently wasn't the best at following the lines. The shop then took a belt sander to the edges to clean up the saw marks.  The sander used apparently had about a 40 or 60 grit paper on it, and the result of the sanding was a very rough finish with a random depth chamfer on the edges.  A really poor edge finish that would be OK if there was a trim piece to cover it, but not at all suitable for a Leopard (the windows are only held in by a bead of sealant).

What passes as a finished edge at Lee and Cates Glass

So, the first thing I had to do today was to clean up the mess left by the glass company.  If the windows had been cut a bit oversize, I could have used a router to trim down the edges and get a good result...but that wasn't the case.  So, I decided I would try sanding the edges to straighten them out.  After some sanding with 120 grit, I realized how un-straight the cuts were and decided I would do my best to give it the illusion of straight.  When I got the worst of the waviness out, I hand sanded the remaining chamfer to even it up.  I then switched to a 320 grit paper to try and clean up and slightly round the chamfer.  Four hours later the end result on the two windows, while not perfect, I think looked significantly better.  By rounding it is a little harder to see the lack of straightness in the edge.

After a lot of sanding, it looks a little better.

The next step is to black-out the edges of the window.  You see, the shape of the window is different than the window opening and in order to not see the mounting and fuselage underneath the window, these areas are coated with a black paint. In order to do that, I needed to transfer the shape of the internal window opening to the protective covering of the new glass so I could cut and remove it.  I created a pattern using construction paper by shining a light through the old window and tracing the outline. I then cut the pattern out, leaving tabs that went to the windows edge at several locations to aid in placement on the new window.

Lining up the pattern using tape reinforced positioning tabs.

Once the pattern was cut out, I laid it out on the new window and traced the outline with a marker. Using a sharp knife I then carefully cut the protective paper along the line and removed it.

Removing the protective paper for the blackout area.

In order to get the paint to stick, I hand sanded the exposed acrylic.  I re-taped about 3/4 of an inch of the edge of the window that I didn't want covered in blackout to help guarantee the sealant will hold the window this time.

Sanded with edges taped, ready for the blackout

Of course the black paint they originally used when installing the window I believe to be the main source of the seal failure (the whole reason I am doing this) so I tried a different option.  On the Leopard Catamaran owners group on Yahoo, someone said they had thinned down some Dow 795 sealant with mineral spirits and then used it to black out the window.  Since 795 is the currently recommended sealant and the one I will be using, and since it is supposed to stick well to itself, I decided to give this a try.  Using a partial tube of 795 that was graciously given to me by a fellow Leopard owner and blog reader, I created the thinner 795 and applied it to the window.

Blackout thinned 795 applied

As you may be able to tell from the shadows in the last picture, the day was ending as the blackout started to dry.  So, it took all day, but the edges of both windows are now better and the starboard window (if the sealant "paint" cures) should be ready to install tomorrow.

Where's The Beef...er Plexiglass

I got up Monday morning, made myself some breakfast, and sat down at the computer and made a list of people I could call to find the replacement acrylic for my salon windows.  In Brunswick there are not a lot of boat-specific services, but flat plastic windows should be available from ordinary window shops and I was able to find a few of them in town.  So, around 9 AM I started calling the companies on my list.

What I was looking for was a 3/8 inch dark gray tinted acrylic from a company that could cut out the irregular shape of the window.  What I found was that no one in the area stocked material this thick. I did eventually find a couple companies that thought they could at least order it. One insisted I bring the window to their shop because they wanted to see what the material actually was and the other one wanted to see the window as well.  So, I loaded my 6' 3" long window into my little car and went for a drive.

One of the windows that needs to be replaced

I stopped at the first store, wrestled the window back out of the car, and took it in for them to have a look. The people at the store seemed to think that the window was actually Lexan (polycarbonate) and not Plexiglass (acrylic).  I told them I was pretty sure it was, or at least it was supposed to be, acrylic based on my research. They then told me that they probably couldn't cut a window of that size and shape out of acrylic without it breaking but they could do it in polycarbonate and they insisted my window has to be polycarbonate.  I started thinking that maybe they are operating under the old saying "if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem starts looking like a nail".  They gave me a price for ordering a sheet of polycarbonate and having it cut...which was around $600.  Ouch.

I loaded my window back up and took it to the other shop I had found that said they could order either polycarbonate or acrylic. They took a look at the window and seemed a bit unsure of what material it is.  They thought it might be polycarbonate but weren't quite sure.  They gave me prices for both.  Using acrylic with a medium gray tint, the cost would be about $470.  They weren't sure if they could find the darker gray tinted acrylic.  The polycarbonate option was only available in a light to medium gray tint and would cost $620.

With all the confusion over which material these plastic windows are, I went back to the boat to do a bit more research. I found several references to "Plexiglass" in the owners forum...but I know that some people probably use that term for any type of plastic window.  I then found a few sites, like this one and this one, that compare acrylic to polycarbonate.  What I found is that polycarbonate is more "unbreakable" because it is a softer material that will absorb impacts by flexing.  I also fond that polycarbonate expands and shrinks more with temperature changes and is less UV resistant.  These properties are not something I want as a boat window.  Flexing and expansion will cause sealing problems...you know...the whole reason I'm having to do this.  And since sailboats are often stored outdoors, UV is a definite issue.  Add in the price difference between acrylic and polycarbonate, and the decision is easy.  Plexiglass (acrylic) it is.

I went back to the second store I visited, Lee and Cates Glass, to see about getting the acrylic ordered. I asked them if they could get the darker gray glass.  The helpful folks at the store did some calling around and were finally able to locate the darker glass.  Unfortunately it was a long way away and shipping was going to be an issue.  If I really had to have the darker gray glass, it was going to cost over $680 to get the needed piece and it would take even longer to get it.  Ouch!  Having better places to spend the extra $210 and not wanting to go without a window for a couple weeks, I decided to go with the medium gray.  Guess I'll see if I regret this decision in a few years.

So, the glass is ordered, but it won't be here until the end of the week or early next week.  This means I'll have a big hole in my boat for a little while.  Hopefully the weather doesn't get too bad in between now and then...but knowing my luck with weather...well...  At least today was a beautiful day, wish I hadn't spent all of it just trying to find replacement window acrylic, but that seems to be the way it goes.  It is interesting that I had an easier time finding parts for my out-of-production airplane than I seem to have with my boat.

Rebedding The Salon Windows...or Not

The weather finally improved on Saturday and was supposed to be nice for several days, so it was time to get one of my bigger projects started.  Leopard catamarans have a near 100% failure rate on the sealing of the salon side windows on most of their boats, and mine was no exception.  With all the supplies I think I needed finally gathered, it was time to start.

I started by trying to wipe the dew off of the boat in an effort to help it dry faster.  I needed to do this in order to put down the construction paper and masking that was recommended before starting the project.  I had been told that removing the old sealant was a messy task and masking off a large area would keep me from spending hours cleaning black goo out of the nonskid on the deck.

While waiting for the deck to dry, I went inside and removed the shades from the window. The morning sun was apparently in just the right spot to light up every crazing crack and scratch in the window.  I hadn't realized it was as bad as it was.  This got me thinking about the whole "should I replace the glass as long as I was re-bedding the window" again.  I had originally decided that the glass wasn't in that bad of shape and since I wasn't finding any information on replacement options I would just rebed it...but now I'm second guessing that decision.

After the deck was finally dry enough, I put on enough masking to clean up a crime scene...or so I thought.  I covered the entire side of the boat in the vicinity of the window with construction paper. I put up thin plastic masking on the inside of the boat around the window to help prevent any possible mess from migrating inside the boat.  It took a lot longer than I thought it would, between waiting to dry and masking everything it was now 11 am and I'm finally ready to pull the window.

Since the window was already popping out in places, I decided I would just try to pull it off by hand.  I stuck a couple suction cups I had bought from Harbor Freight to the window and gave it a pull.  The front lower edge and side came right off, as did the back edge.  I used a knife (also picked up from Harbor Freight for the window replacement) to cut the four foot of sealant that was still attempting to hold onto the window, and out it came.

Scene of the crime, with the sealant "bead" partially removed

With the window out, the problem with the seal became obvious.  Black paint was put on the back side of the window to black out the mounting surfaces.  Unfortunately, the blackout paint, failed to adhere to the plastic window.  The result is the sealant was holding onto the paint and the boat, but the paint wasn't holding on to the window.  No wonder they have such a high failure rate with this.

While removing the window was easy, removing the giant bead of sealant was more of a chore.  It came up easily where the paint was applied to the opening, but wherever there was bare gel coat, it was very persistent in hanging on.  I would pull on the giant bead trying to slide the razor knife between it and the gel coat to cut it loose.  In some places, small chips of gel coat pulled off the boat with the sealant.  And if you pulled the bead of sealant apart, you found a gooey center like the sealant in the middle never cured.  When the wind would kick up, it liked to take little bits of the sealant and blow it all over the boat...so I guess I should have masked off the whole boat.  It was a messy process and took the rest of the day to clean the opening up to the point I could install the window.

Of course, in the middle of cleaning up this mess I decide I really should replace the window.  With all the pain of taking this thing out, I certainly don't want to do it again anytime soon (well, other than the other salon window that needs this same treatment).  Now that I had the window out I know it is 3/8 inch Plexiglass (acrylic) and best I can tell it was originally just a flat piece that was slightly curved during install to fit the boat (information I had tried to find before I started all of this, but was unsuccessful).  I asked my wife to try and help me locate someone that had tinted 3/8 inch acrylic and could cut the window, but it being Saturday, there wasn't an available option to be found in Brunswick or the surrounding area.

So, it looks like I'll have plastic covering a big hole in my boat until at least Monday, when I hopefully can find someone to cut me a replacement window.  Keeping my fingers crossed that the weather forecasts are accurate and it is supposed to be nice and dry for the next several days.