Non-boat Fiberglass repair

[Dave808]

Hi
I apologize this isnt boat related but you guys are the experts. I need to repair a few dozen holes in a custom fiberglass shower base. My primary concern is waterproofing. My question is can I just fill the holes with epoxy or do I need to add fiberglass cloth? The holes range from pinholes to 2' in diameter. Attached is rough sketch of a cross-section.
Thanks!

 

[alldodge]

If you use epoxy resin then you don't need to use cloth, it will bond to the foam and fiber glass so long as its clean

 

[Scott Danforth]

it is fiberglass or is it resin?

do you plan on simply water-proofing it for now or are you trying to restore it like the holes never happened?

agreed, for simple water proofing (assuming the foam is not saturated), epoxy would work, depending on the size of the hole, cloth may be needed

however in a shower, the foam would have most likely gotten wet. epoxy would not bond to wet or damaged foam.

repair would be the same as repairing a hole in a boat.

 

[Dave808]

Thanks for the replies!

I just want to water proof the base. This base is designed to lay tile over so it wont matter what the repair looks like.

"it is fiberglass or is it resin?"

Its fiberglass

The styrofoam is dry. The fiberglass was damaged when the tile was removed. It may have gotten a little wet during the cleanup process but its been sitting for months and at the time I used a shopvac to suck up anything just in case.

Is there any increased danger of the epoxy separating from the edge of the thin fiberglass hole? Maybe when standing on it?

I was thinking after filling the holes of going over the whole base with one thin sheet of cloth in order to catch any pinholes I might have missed. Would that make more sense than just painting the whole thing in a thin layer of epoxy without the cloth? The base is slightly sloped to the drain so I was thinking the cloth would keep the epoxy from possibly creeping down the slope.

Thanks again!

 

[alldodge]

base is designed to lay tile over so it wont matter what the repair looks like.

If your laying tile over it, then the tile will seal it up, use some latex in the mix to help keep it more so