45North Wolvhammer boots/waterproof issue

[marciero]

Does anyone have these boots? After about two hours in the rain yesterday my toes started getting wet. This was not water coming in from the top of the boot, but from the bottom where cleats are mounted. (The left shoe leaked first, and on previous rides with temps in the teens my left foot would get cold. Not sure if related to this) Am I missing something about mounting the cleats? I simply removed the cleat covers and bolted the cleats on. There was nothing in the instructions indicating otherwise. The surface where the cleats mount looks a little fibrous and not solid like hard plastic, and seems to absorb stains, as you can see in the photo. I've written the company about this. I may use either putty or shoe goo to plug up the unused bolt holes and gaps.