The Art of Caulking

What is Caulking?

Caulking is an ancient art of cleaning and tinning ship hulls, which allows the planking to be waterproofed.
When necessary, the master caulker, after a cleaning operation of the encrusted surfaces, performs a watertight sealing of the planking: this operation is done with tarred tow and tarred lezzino.

The tarred tow is spun by the master caulker until it has the right diameter to be inserted into the cracks: the operation is carried out with specific irons that help to push the tarred tow deep into the cracks.

Tar controls, on the other hand, are already spun ropes, of the thickness necessary to seal the hull cracks, which are soaked in vegetable tar from the distillation of roots, mainly from pine trees.

In boats built using traditional methods, the natural expansion of the bilge wood and the presence of tarred tow or tar controls in the cracks allows the hull to be perfectly sealed.
Caulking prefers the use of these materials in wooden hulls, as they allow the natural movements of the keel, the frames and all the structural parts of the boat to be exploited.

The use of epoxy resins, on the other hand, is often not recommended because it makes the hull rigid and prevents the physiological movement of the hull’s wooden skeleton.

Tarred (or command) tow is available in flanged rolls from 1 to 6 mm thick, while tarred (or natural) tow is packaged in bags, starting from 1 kg.

What are your needs for caulking?
Which product are you looking for?

Send a contact request via the contact section of our website or call us at: + 39 0587748692