Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

[marylou]

Hello Everyone , Any opinions on this picture would be appreciated, does it look bad ? would it let water in ? what would it take to fix this . its about 4 inches long it actually looks bigger on the picture. pulled the boat at the end of the season and never saw this till the other day.
thanks

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

What boat is this? Is the brownish looking Glass in the large damaged area Wet? Is this Paint or Gelcoat? Exactly what area of the boat is the damage located? Are you interested in repairing all the other dings and scratchs in the area? I know...A lot of questions but all pertinent to being abe to give you good sound advice on how to repair.

 

[marylou]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

25 ft sportcraft 252 1996 , the brownish damaged area does not feel wet when touching. the picture is showing the very bottom of the bow.yes i would love sound advice on repairing the brownish area and the gouges also. as soon as it gets warmer i am going to have the area sanded so i can see better. the brownish spot seems like the paint and gelcoat are gone and maybe fiberglass showing excuse me if i am wrong. would love to learn more about repairing this.
the boat has bottom paint no barrier coat.
thank you.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

Sooo...Are you positive it's paint on the bottom of the hull and not gelcoat? You can soak a rag with Acetone and tape it to the bottom of the hull for 10 mintes. If it's paint the paint will soften, wrinkle and peel. If it's gelcoat nothing will happen.

 

[marylou]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

what you see in the picture is black anti fouling bottom paint , beneath that is gel coat

 

[theoldwizard1]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

Hello Everyone , Any opinions on this picture would be appreciated, does it look bad ? would it let water in ? what would it take to fix this . its about 4 inches long it actually looks bigger on the picture.

Will it leak ? YES

How bad ? hard to say.

The proper way to patch it is from the inside out. Check out the first 3 pages in thise thread : Wellcraft 170 Classic -89 full restoration

 

[marylou]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

Bump

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

From the looks of it, seems like rock rash...
If it is not too deep, you should sand/grind an area around and away from it for about 3-4 inches, clean the area really well with acetone, cut up some progressively larger pieces of 1.5 oz. CSM, wet with polyester resin and apply as many as needed to fill the area most of the way, then mix a small batch of thickened resin made with micro-balloons to use as a fairing compound...sand everything smooth and fair, then apply some gel-coat or paint to the area, If that's bottom paint, then top it off with that...
Here is sketch for reference...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

GT1M has given some good advice with the exception that you use glass bubbles and not microballons with polyester resin. Make sure and wear a mask when sanding that bottom paint. It's some nasty stuff. Oh wait, I guess that's the anti Fouling paint that has the nasty stuff in it. But you should still wear a good respirator when sanding glass anyway.:joyous: I didn't see anything in your pics that was bad enuf to lead me to believe it would be leaking. As long as the glass is not Fractured and spongy it should not leak. Now if you left it that way indefinetly then it might eventually have a problem.

 

[marylou]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

i was able to clean it up a little and take a better picture of the keel and i also have damage to the side of the fiberglass hull above the water .something hit the boat while it is out of the water maybe an anchor from the boat next to me . i was thinking of just having a pro do it so i called many fiberglass guys in the area none of them are not able to come they have many people ahead of me and cant get to me.
just a question what do you guys think of marine-tex someone told me just fill it in with marine-tex for now
if i was to sand it out would i use a dremel with a stone tip ?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

Glad you put the Quarter in the pic. WOW, I for one, thought the damage was much more extensive. That is sooooo minor!!!
If you are not looking for "Perfection" you can get a "Gelcoat Repair Kit" from any Marine store, mix up some Gelcoat paste try to match the dark color as best you can, sand out the area with 60 grit paper then wash it well with acetone. Apply the gelcoat paste with a bondo type plastic spreader to smooth it in place and leave it a little HIGH. You will then sand it smooth all the way down to 320 grit. It may not be a perfect match but it will be sealed and look a lot better. Others may come along and give some better advice on how to match the colors but again, those are some very minor gelcoat repairs.

 

[marylou]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

thank you wood when you say sand you mean by hand? what do you think of the other damage on the side of the hull ?

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

Yep, totally agree with woody, those are definitely some minor damages and can be easily repaired with some gel paste...
You can sand by hand, but that can get old really fast...or you can use a small carbide bit, stone or sanding drum on a rotary tool [Dremel], clean out the damaged area and create a small dished area around them and fill/fair with the gel paste...just like wood mentioned, overfill and fair down to level
If you really want to take the time to match the color, just get one of these and go to town...Boat Gel Coat Repair
Good luck and let us know how it goes...

 

[marylou]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

thanks guys i just got a estimate from the local fiberglass guy he quoted $1000 to fix this little repair WOW time to learn how to make this repair.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

The "ART" of matching the Gelcoat perfectly is something you have to pay for. There are some that are very good at it. Yacht Dr. here on the forum is one of those guys. I've seen pics of his work, and he KNOWS how to blend the colors and take into account the oxidation and the years of abuse that the gel has suffered and he also warns that if you match the color now it will not match in 6 months unless to prepare for that. He knows all about Gelcoat repairs and other pro's do too soooo, you pay for that!!! If you're NOT that picky and just want it to look presentable and ensure it's covered up and the boat's not gunna suffer more serious issues then you can prolly do an acceptable job if you're patient and work with the kit to mix the colors correctly. Yacht Dr. advises to only use a tooth pick to mix colors cuz it doesn't take much color to change a little bit of the shade especially on that little bit of gelpaste. Keep posting pics and let us know how you get along.

 

[marylou]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

thank you to all i really appreciate the help.. just to get this straight for the last time question are you all saying that all i need to do both repairs is to grind , sand them out and use a gelcoat repair kit on both repairs? or do i use a fiberglass repair kit on at least the repair thats on the white side of hull . the keel repair i understand it's a less damage and less repair i just need clarification gelcoat or fiberglass repair kit for both repairs?
thanks again
greenhorn

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

thanks guys i just got a estimate from the local fiberglass guy he quoted $1000 to fix this little repair WOW time to learn how to make this repair.

Man..im in the wrong business. OH wait..Im in this business lol.

Well ok now. First the bottom one. You could fill it with some gel paste. Or you could fill it with some fiberglass putty or that Marine tex. A gelcoat repair may pop in the future if its not sprayed over. In any case just fill it with something..sand smooth then dab some bottom paint over it ( 1 hour repair from the pros max ).

The top side ( side of the boat ) should be done with gel paste. It really should be sprayed over as well. But for the sake of argument that you just want it spotted in then try the marine tex. Sand that and see how you like the color. If you dont like it then get a small gelcoat ( NOT paste ) sprayable kit. Matching isnt really that hard if your patient. Buy a preval sprayer and your golden for any small repair on your or one of your friends boats . That little guy should be 4 hours tops from a repair shop.

Total should be about 5 hours max @ $95/hr + materials = about 550-600 bucks.

Now that Im back posting on the forums I really should do a color match vid for you guys

Well good luck..

Dave

 

[marylou]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

WOW a reply from the yacht DR himself Thank you very much . would this product be good and of course i would have to grind out the topside repair correct ? product> Evercoat Polyester Gel Paste

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Fiberglass Repair Needed On Hull

Yes..you will have to grind it clean. Basically you want to just scuff what is damaged off and get to a nice clean substrate. You dont have to dig into it or make it any bigger than it has to be. Kinda on the same lines as what GT1M said about grinding but you dont have to have a dremel or grinder. Just buy a stone or burr and slap it in a cordless drill.

That particular Evercoat gel paste is Not what you want. If you look close it says its "Neutral"..thats for making dark colors. You want white if anything. I personally would use this for both repairs 3M Premium Filler. Its vinylester resin can be used for below the water line.

But again..if your going to just fill then sand and buff your going to need a white gelcoat repair kit ( with at least yellow and red tint ). But if your going to spot spray over the repair you want some white gelcoat with some pigments for matching.

Good luck,
Dave

 

[Zippys Gelcoat and Fiberglass Repair]

So. How did this turn out? Finished pics? That guy charges 1000 for just that? Wow. That's extremely high and if he couldnt "prove" his work ida skipped him. Then again he may have just over priced cues he didnt wanna do it.