blisters on hull of 28' chris craft

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: blisters on hull of 28' chris craft

I was thinking of Soda blasting the gelcoat off instead of sanding, any thoughts on that. Once I get the gelcoat off I was going to post some pictures of the laminate. Also, can someone suggestion what kind of epoxy barrier should I go with?

This would be a good idea. Although from what I have seen the local 'soda blasters' have a hard time removing the gelcoat. The Imron should blow right off.. and at this point you might have more blistering in the paint then the actual gelcoat ( Imron will blister Fast ).

As stated above we really dont know what kind of problem you have for Sure. Once you get to the open lams then you should be able to proceed with a better guideline.

I like the Interprotect 2000 from Interlux for the barrier coatings.

Get some pics up when your ready

YD.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: blisters on hull of 28' chris craft

Like YD said, soda blasting doesn't work all that well on gel coat. It is also difficult to control how much material is removed, so the surface can be left very uneven requiring a great deal fairing.

 

[jimmy wise]

Re: blisters on hull of 28' chris craft

So how pricy is a gelcoat planer and will a regular planer work?

 

[ondarvr]

Re: blisters on hull of 28' chris craft

Many cost much more.

MarineShaver? Pro gelcoat stripper and paint remover

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: blisters on hull of 28' chris craft

A buddy got a Used full system last year for about 2000.

On flat parts a regular power planer would work to some degree.

Even if you get it power stripped your still looking at a good deal of fairing.

In my experience the soda blaster will open up most all the blisters on its own. Leaving a good profile for epoxy coatings on the existing gelcoat. You just have to repair the blisters on a one by one basis after that. If there are too many blisters to open up and repair then the planer might be your only viable choice.

Even after you Grind open all the blisters you should still take moisture readings on the entire bottom to make sure your not trapping water in the hull. Dry that puppy out. Sometimes it can take months for the substrate to dry.

YD.