Fibergall & resin

[texasvet54]

I made my first foray into the world of fiberglass & I have some questions.

i mixed some resin & some hardener, per the instructions and then I used a small chip brush to brush it on the board shown below. I waited 10 min & then placed a small piece of fiberglass on the board and added more resin.

i need to repair a roof on my houseboat and the area is approximately 8’ x 8’ and I’m wondering if I just need to do this on a larger area, maybe 2’ x 2’ at a time with matte fiberglass I think it’s called, and then sand & add more resin and fiberglass.

i would then sand and add gelcoat.

Am I going about this the right way?

Thanks,
TV

 

[texasvet54]

Nuttin????
TV

 

[froggy1150]

1st coat wood with resin to allow to soak in. If not the wood will absorb the resin as it cures and you will get a dry spot.
With poly you need csm mat then the biaxial cloth. With epoxy just need cloth without mat.
And once you got the hang of doing bits .... yes do bigger sections. Big sections can cure on you quick with poly before you can get it wet out so be careful.

 

[froggy1150]

Oh and you cant gelcoat over epoxy

 

[Scott Danforth]

for a large area, I normally mix up a pail of it, pour it on top of the cloth/csm/1708 and spread with bondo spreaders.

watch the videos in link #14 of the DIY sticky (4th one down) at the top of the forum

 

[texasvet54]

Thanks Scott & Froggy

Texasvet

 

[texasvet54]

Here’s an update on my project:

I finally found the time to cut out all of the rotted plywood on the top deck/cuddy cabin of my houseboat & then I installed new plywood. Total time was 10 hours over two days.


The area is approx 6’ x 6’ and I’m planning on applying fiberglass resin in a couple of days when I get back into town.

After all of the cutting, I have yet to find a strand of fiberglass which supports my theory that the houseboat is plywood and gelcoat. I could be wrong, but I just don’t see any fiberglass strand anywhere.

If that is the case and since this is the top of the cuddy cabin where no one ever steps or sits, what do you guys think of the idea of just putting down several coats of fiberglass resin and then a couple of coats of oil based paint?

It doesn’t have to be the prettiest thing on the water; I’m just hoping that it’s water-tight when I’m all done.

Thanks,
Texasvet