Kayak-proofing the garage

This summer I was on the water almost weekly. This was awesome, but washing the kayak in the garage after every trip wore down the 3/4” cheap material (felt paper?) that separates the garage slab from the driveway, and water and sand started draining into the joint.

So today I finally fixed it. For those of you who have a similar issue, here are the steps:
1. Use a knife to remove old material.
2. Clean joint with air compressor. Clean top surface with metal brush
3. Press backer rod (closed cell foam - at least 25% wider than joint) into joint
4. Apply tape to joint to mark the edges.
5. Apply polyurethane sealant to the joint. Do only a 2ft section at the a time
6. Spray a chlorine cleaner (like 409) on the sealant and smooth with your finger. The cleaner prevents the sealant from sticking and helps tooling. You can top up with more material even if sealant is wet.
7. Remove section of tape. If edges don’t come off clean, smooth again with finger and 409.

Tip : don’t apply a thick coat. And only add where you need; the material won’t move, even with tooling.

Um . . . Why do you wash your kayak in your garage? Why not wash it on your lawn? Or in the street next to a storm water drain?"

Nice job orca!
Looks good

Um . . . Why do you wash your kayak in your garage? Why not wash it on your lawn? Or in the street next to a storm water drain?"

Prolly a California thing. The word "lawn" is not part of the California vocabulary.

But I would think that the driveway might be better than the garage...

Have you done this before (another project)? I wonder how the sealant would hold up. I have the same issue with my driveway expansion joint material disintegrating. I found replacement fiber material, but the gap is inconsistent to lay it down properly. I read somewhere sealant doesn’t hold up really well.

The reason I wash my kayak in the garage is because I have a hoist (see image below). When I get back from the water, I transfer the kayak  directly from my car to the hoist. Then I wash. When I’m done washing, it stores at the ceiling, with all my gear on it. It’s really convenient to wash like that because I can flip the kayak over to drain.

Regarding material, I’ve ordered an industrial grade poly that was recommended online by a pro (see image below). It’s supposed to last many many years. Also, if you look close at the pictures, the sealant is deeper in the joint, so cars and people walking over the joint won’t contact the sealant. I also think joint preparation is key. I have a metal brush head for my drill, and it did an excellent job cleaning the surface for better adhesion. I think it makes a difference.

Nice job orca!
Looks good

Thanks!

I sit the kayak on this on my drive way, and use dish soap  with a BFB and hose.

Wash? You're supposed to wash them?   

The reason I wash my kayak in the garage is because I have a hoist (see image below). ...

That's a nice hoist setup.

As for washing, my AI is on a trailer, and I always wash everything ASAP after getting off the water. Since I usually launch with the power boats, there always seems to be some oily scum on the surface of the water, which is attracted to my plastic boat like iron filings to a magnet. So, I also regularly power wash it at home.

Since I don't live in California anymore and my kayak gets muddied up a lot I have to pressure wash it to get all that crud off of it.

Wash? You're supposed to wash them?   

Lol!!!    You made me laugh Ron

This rinsing off thread  reminded me of the first time I rinsed off my old hoop rings in the lawn...
A few days later I had circles if dead grass where the rings were...
Rookie mistake, salt kills the grass, explain that one to the wife!!!

Scotty

Aren’t you worried about potential mold growth in your garage from all that moisture? Given you also live in Pacifica where it doesn’t get a lot of heat to dry anything. Thanks for the product info and let us know how it holds up. That’ll probably be  my project next summer.

Aren’t you worried about potential mold growth in your garage from all that moisture? Given you also live in Pacifica where it doesn’t get a lot of heat to dry anything. Thanks for the product info and let us know how it holds up. That’ll probably be  my project next summer.

We live on the hills above Linda Mar, 2 miles from the ocean. And I was concerned about that too initially, but you’d be surprised how well this garage is ventilated. It has two ventilation holes (1ftx1/2ft) one at the bottom and one at the top. It faces away from the ocean so it doesn’t get the fog. Even with all my wet suit and nets and PFD hanging there wet, everything dries super fast. Like a day or two. I think because we still park two cars in there (miracle) the heat from the cars also helps dry out the air.

Do you see any type of indentation in the kayak from the straps? Thanks