THE ART OF FIBERGLASS REPAIR PART 3 / HOLES

 

 

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HOLES IN MY BOAT /  Fiberglass Part 3 How to fix holes in the fiberglass

This happens on every boat over time we either install new canvas, electronics or snaps pull out of the deck, and there you have it a hole. I will be it a small hole but these are the most common holes in a boat. There are a few steps that need to be taken in the case of any small holes in the fiberglass of your boat.

Do not leave these holes unattended as this is a place were moisture will enter and start to break down the lamination, and worse yet if core is exposed create a place for wrote to set in!

• The first question you need to ask is are you going to drill a new hole in the same place.
• Are there stress cracks around the hole.
• What color are you going to have to match. (If you don't know contact the manufacturer with Hull ID Number)
• How large is this hole.
• How many holes are there and are they all in one area
• Can you get to the back of the hole(s)
• Is the hole into some type of structure ( is there wood core at the bottom of the hole)

Each one of these answers places a role in the repair you will have to complete,  For small holes the procedure is straight forward. You will need a few tools and supplies:

• Drill with a large rasp bit with a rounded end
• 120 sand paper,  400, 600, 1200 wet and dry sand paper
• A small trowel ( I like an oil paint trowel the long one with a rounded tip)
• Acetone
• Clean rags
• Pencil
• 3/4 inch masking tape (blue)
• Polyester resin c/w catalyst
• 2 Small mix cup
• Clean mix board (a clip board works good)
• Pre Val Sprayer
• Masking paper
• Buffer and compound ( I make my own compound) a supplier will advise what they have
• Color Match gel coat
• Cabosil
• Small sanding block
• Patch Aid (speed will be fast)
• Milled fiber or Chop Strand fiberglass
• Water spray bottle
• If you choose you can purchase a premix color match gel coat patch kit ( your local fiberglass supply company can advise you if this is available)

Some advice from over 39 years and being a top rated fiberglass tech, forget all the BS about needing to use any  thing other than Polyester resin. If the area were the hole is requires more than what this repair procedure out lines such as water or dry wrote you will need to consult a pro or get further information on procedure to repair. You need to know that epoxy and vynlester resin do not bond to polyester resin unless you provide a mechanical bond. You will pay more for fancy resins and they are NOT, I repeat NOT healthy for you to use! Do not let anyone bull shit you.

Procedure to Repair:

1. With your drill and the rasp tip, put the drill in reverse. The reason for this is that in forward with a sharp rasp you can simply bore a bigger hole in the area you are trying to fix. On slow speed you will place the rasp dead center of you hole and remove some of the gel coat and some of the pink fiberglass behind it. You are looking to create a clean dimple were the gel coat has a nice tapper all the way around. It should look like an over size golf ball dimple with the pink fiberglass and drilled hole in the center, at the bottom of this dimple.
2. Around the hole with 120 sandpaper on a sanding block remove the shine for 2 inches all around the dimple. Do not make a hollow around the dimple simply remove all shiny gel coat surface.
3. Clean the area with acetone and rag, remove all dust and be sure to let some down the hole. Acetone not only cleans the surface but it drives moisture out.
4. If you are certain that you have removed any chipped or cracked gel coat than you can now get your masking tape. Mask around the hole half way onto your sanded area. You should have 1 inch of sanded area showing around the dimple and 1 inch under the tape. Make the tape line two layers thick. this will allow for the fill gel coat to shrink during curing.
5.  If you can get to the back of the holes mask over the area so resin doesn't drip out onto what ever is below the area. Mix up some milled fiber with resin following the manufacturers instructions, add you catalyst and mix again. Take this mixture and stuff the actual drilled hole only, do not fill the entire dimple. Allow to cure completely and again with the drill running backwards clean up the dimple and wipe with acetone. You should now have a dimple without a drilled hole at the bottom.
6. Mix up your gel coat and cabosil combination until you have the consistency of peanut butter, add your speed patch and if the fill gets to runny add more cabosil until you have a peanut butter consistency again. This fill must be just like smooth peanut butter, take a large enough amount of fill, (to over fill the dimple) place it on the mix board and add catalyst, you must be sure the catalyst is mixed all the way thru the fill. Take your trowel and fill the dimple to the height of the masking tape , create a nice even top to the fill area and immediately remove the tape. clean your trowel with acetone and a rag.
7. Allow to fill cure completely. If you have added patch aid, the fill will be dull and not sticky to the touch when cured. Run a dry buffer over the fill before you sand this will pre shrink the fill. take your pencil and write all over the repair area, you will use this as a guide to see when your flat and fair. With your block sand down the repair area with 120 sand paper until surface is even or very close to it.
8. You now have two chooses you can spray the repair area or sand it out and polish, if you choose to sand it out grab a pencil and write all over the area that you have sanded with 120 and now sand with 400 wet and dry with water ( use your spray bottle and add a few drops of dish soap), use a sanding block and sand until the pencil marks are gone repeat with 600 and 1200. When you are done simply buff the area up and check the results.
9. If you do not like what you see sand the area down with 120 and follow the next procedures. In some cases just the fill and finish works great, this is usually based on the gel match quality.
10. If you intend to spray you will leave the area at the end of the 120 sanding, clean with acetone and mask an area of at least 6 inches by 6 inches, this area must be sanded slightly larger with 120 sand paper. Mask the area spray off allowing the masking line to be just inside the sanded area place masking paper around the spray area use the masking line as your guide.
11. Grab your Pre Val sprayer read the instructions and take the glass jar and lid out. you will mix the color match gel coat and patch aid per mixing instructions this will seem like a thin mixture do not compare to paint. You can add a small amount of acetone but only if necessary to thin down not to much it can yellow the color. Place the lid on and shake the mixture now you can add your catalyst. You will have about 5 min max to spray and clean the Preval Sprayer. Grab a clean rag with acetone and wipe the spray area again just before you spray ( to get ride of dust). Hold the Preval back about 8 inches and start in the middle and spray your way out tapering the spray towards the tape line this is important. Usually three or four passes will work. Remove the tape and masking paper right away. Allow to cure completely. To clean the Preval simply dump out the gel coat in a jar and fill and spray acetone through the Preval
12. Once the spray area has cured. You will use the same pencil trick write all over the repair area only this time you will only sand with the 400, 600 and 1200 wet sand papers with the water bottle. Once you are completely sanded buff and clean up. This method not only fills the hole but will last as along as the boat and you can re drill this very spot again in the future.

Any of these steps can be repeated if necessary to create a good fill or good spray, Step by step video will be available in our spring Magazine. Look for it and buy it on line!!!!!

 If you have several holes together simply treat each hole individually and make your spray area over the entire area as one. The truth is 90% of a great repair is in the color match, if you are not that fussy about the match the repair will last and the fade from the sun will eventually make the area harder to see over time. Just buy quality materials!

 

If you read our blog on colored hulls it goes into more detail on how to buff to a factory finish...

                                                                                                                    Author BW

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Copyright 2015 © Boat Nut Media, Toronto, Ontario. All rights reserved. No part of this information/publications may be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy, magnetic, or other record, without prior agreement and written permission of the publisher, Boat Nuts Media ©™ No liability is assumed with respect to the information provided.  

Colored Hull has Died

 

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MY COLORED HULL HAS DIED, What can I Do About It?

All colored hulls are not created equally, this due to the fact that all mold release and gel coats are not created equally. The materials the boat is built with affect the longevity of the finish on the hull, deck and parts pulled from a mold.  When you review colored hulls today you would assume that they are durable and capable of standing up to the environment better than ever before, but they are not. These colors look great when the boats are new, two years after purchase and put thru the riggers of the boating environment,  however they start to look faded and beat up. So boaters hire detailers or try to buff the hulls themselves and 90% of the time make the problem worse but building up layers of products over a ruined gel coat finish. The gel coat may look better for a very short time as the heat from the buffer has drivin moisture back into the gel coat surface. Only to reappear in a short time. Here are three good examples of making the fade and discoloration problem worse.

1- Detailers or boater owners will use compounds to bring the color and shine back not realizing that they must reseal the buffed surface so they are leaving exposed gel coat open to the elements. This creates a situation were the gel surface can not only return to the condition it was before you started, but will usually get worse than before and harder to buff at a later date.
 2- Boaters owners or detailers just start to place wax over the already contaminated gel, the discoloration and cruddy finish is back within a few weeks. The worst of the colored gel hulls that I have seen is Rinker. With or without a great deal of care the color fades and clouds up horribly. So what are the ways we can keep the colors looking as nice as possible and why do these colors fail?
3- The boat owner will purchase a petrol based wipe on product to bring the shine back, but once the petrol based product has dried out you can be left with marks from the brush or rag that need to be sanded out to be removed. these products destroy the gel coat surface and prolonged use will cause the gel coat to blister.

BLUE HULLS.  Blue color requires the most of energy to reflect the color we see ( blue), blue is the color that seems to chalk off first, blue also shows moisture build up (cloudiness) in the gel coat the most. Sea Ray blue is actually a purple base color which seems to make a difference in the life of the finish. True blue colors are more likely to die a death of dullness. Any of the colors can get what appears to be white streaks down the hull from the rub rail this is the white from the deck breaking down and running down the hull when it rains or during a wash, to reduce this keep the deck up with the hull, or pressure wash the deck regularly to remove this material. Blue like black picks up the scratches caused by fenders getting warm in the summer and collecting dust and dirt from the air and  the dock. This creates those fender rash areas you see on the hull sides (purchasing fender covers will not make a difference). these areas will usually come back with the right polishing material and correct amount of heat.
 Every boat also has a hot side and a cool side, because we generally always moor our boats the same way all the time. This  will create a side that will be more faded than the other. The hot side is the one exposed to the most sunlight and will take longer to buff out and look right. The hot side of the hull will be the side prone to seeing print thru or the pattern of the fiberglass material that is layed under the gel coat. This print thru will become more visible once the gel finish has been returned to a glossy shine.
Never use a compound that intentionally removes material to work properly, this will lead to other issues and eventually you will have burn thru marks where the gel coat layer has been thinned out to the point were you can see through it. With blues, reds and greens the gel coat is quite often semi translucent which means that the color can be affected by another color under the top gel coat. This is the case were the hull is a split color design. These split color designs are the most effected by a course compound that removes material. It also makes for a more difficult repair in the case of damage as the amount of tint in the gel coat repair material is generally a heavier mixture and will create a patch which will not match. You must know how to complete a translucent repair for the patch not to stand out.

RED and GREEN COLORED HULLS.   Follow the exact set of rules as blue the only difference is the time it takes to fade away. A lot of the same match problems will occur while repairing  damage. Red however seems to be easier to buff back in most cases.

BLACK  HULLS.  If you have to pick a color, black would be the choice it is the most durable over time and is the easiest to repair. However black does come with its own series of issues. Black is the most susceptible to showing fender rash and scaring from the docks, this color will also show these marks even worse when your wax hangs up in these areas. All that being said walk the docks and take a look at a three or four year old black  boat and a three or four year old blue boat, this will tell the tail. Do not but any boat with a colored deck, there is a hundred and one reasons for this, just do not buy one. There is a reason why the manufacturers now are pumping out the black hulls like crazy, they stand up the best in the environment. I remember a time when the manufacturers could afford to do real world UV tests by placing boats in the desert and watching them break down, They could have made whole hulls blue or red at anytime but real world testing had them abandon the idea, but in recent years additives to gel to inhibit UV were thought to have been at a point where it was feasible. They were wrong, I am really not sure if this is still in the budget to do real world testing in advance, but if it were I don't think as many blue, red or green boats would not have made it to market. They would have been black or white.

PEWTER HULLS The pewter color seems to be very close to black in performance however the pewter color is much more difficult to match at repair time. And it is not as popular as the other colors.

So what are our options to keep these colors looking good and still cost effective to repair?

The first thing almost every one says is paint the colored part of the boat, and this does work if you can afford the price tag that this brigs with it. Once you have painted the boat that's it if it gets damaged you need to bring it back and paint it again (remembering that you can only paint above the water line and not below it). I used to be an opponent of paint for the longest time however this has changed. As soon as the manufacturers started to color the whole hull and deck areas this train of thought had to change.
 Some colored hulls such as Rinkers are horrible real crap. Any money spent polishing or trying to restore a dull and clouded Rinker hull is money thrown away, it will not last at all, as a matter of fact in some cases there is next to nothing you can do. If you own a Rinker paint it or sell it right after you have it polished period!
 Painting will out last any gel coat finish as long as it is done right with the right products.

If painting is not in your budget which I understand than here are the ways to fix that nasty looking color gel coat.  This section is for the boaters who want the very best program to keep the finish as close to factory as possible. If you have a Brunswick boat you are in luck the colors will come back fairly well with the right three step program. This takes a lot of patience if you are not prepared to spend a couple of days hire someone who has the skill. If you do it yourself and half ass it you have thrown your money away. Bringing back a gel finish is not all about some fancy waxes and materials is about understanding how to heat the surface enough to remove old wax and mold release, drawing any moisture out of the gel coat and closing the gel surface to a deep shine, and last being able to heat the wax into the gel coat to recreate the nice mold release finish from the factory. After this it is determining the amount of time before you need to maintain the surface on an on going bases. The environment you are in determines this schedule, amount of sun , heat and water (is it fresh, salt or does it have high mineral content). Once you have a program you must stick to it if you want to keep the colors looking like new.

You cannot wash your boat with any kind of detergent that will strip the wax away (dish soap is a NO, NO!!) and you cannot or should we say should NOT wash the boat right after a buff and wax.

For the guys who just likes a clean decent looking boat generally buff the color and wax it every year and you will be ok it will not stay perfect but the boat will keep that clean maintained look not perfection but very nice.

Like any other maintenance job you take on, the technique and materials make all the difference to the end result. Remember that I told you that understanding the material and how to heat it makes the difference. This is that trick that people wonder about when they see the pros do this job, whether they know it or not this is the secret they have stumbled upon. I cannot write the instructions for this secret but I can show you on video. If you wish to see the materials and techniques required to do this work the right way simply put your email address in the comment box and I will send you a video that is easy to follow and understand you will save time and money and have the colored hull back that you remember. I have been involved in product development and procedures to make gel coat look like new for many years, anyone can do this you just need to see the steps being done to understand how the materials and heat work together. The materials for a 30 foot boat cost under $ 200.00 Canadian to purchase and you will have some left over. I do not sell materials, however I can tell you were to get them.

To guarantee access to all of  Boat Nut Magazine articles, pictures and featured services visit the official Boat Nut Magazine ©™ website. Be sure to reply to the Boat Nut Association registration on our site for the latest Boat Nut weekly and monthly news letters and opportunities.

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Copyright 2015 © Boat Nut Media, Toronto, Ontario. All rights reserved. No part of this information/publications may be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy, magnetic, or other record, without prior agreement and written permission of the publisher, Boat Nuts Media ©™ No liability is assumed with respect to the information provided. 



Gelcoat Damage- Below the waterline

 

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GELCOAT DAMAGE BELOW THE WATER LINE.  How serious is this?

 When you pull your boat at the end of the season it is not uncommon to find chips, scratches and gouges below the water line. The question is do the repairs really require immediate attention, the short answer is yes but not right away. I will explain!

First lets cover why you would wait to complete the repair this time of year. When you hauled your boat out, the hull was and still is wet. Every hull has a moisture content or the amount of moisture the lamination has managed to pick up. Each hull will have picked up a percentage of moisture content over the years. In the case of a new boat the humidity may have been very high the day that they laid the fiberglass material in your boat, thus creating trapped moisture there from day one. Not to worry any thing below 6% is considered very dry. There is a tool to measure this level of moisture, (moisture meter). Surveyors love them, but half the time they are not calibrated right or the operator doesn't know how to read it correctly.(Moisture meters are a whole other topic we will get into later). In the winter weather conditions are dry after the freeze, dry cold air, this air will help dry out the damaged areas in preparation for your repair(s). Drying the hull will make for a higher quality repair! The dryer the repair area the more likely it is that the bond of the repair will be better and the gel coat patch will not become contaminated. So take advantage of the cold dry winter weather, let it dry out the damaged area.

So what's the big deal a couple of chips cant be that bad? There are two common trains of thought.
 1- Fiber glass cannot rot
 2- Fiber glass is water proof.
 Both of these statements are incorrect. Fiberglass material can rot. This happens when the material gets so damp that mold and mildew starts to break down the mechanical bonds between the layers of material used to build up the thickness of your hull or deck. You can actually pull the black rotten fiber glass layers apart like a layer cake. Water will also break down the resin which surrounds the  fiberglass strings in the material.( There is a tell tale sign that this is happening. The water in the material starts to smell like vinegar when you break through to these areas). This is called wicking, the water will break the resin down and actually flow up hill from the water line toward the deck and hull joint.

 The second misinformation is that gel coat is water proof, it is not! As soon as you breach the resin rich surface, the gel coat can be penetrated by water and this causes damage such as blisters and high moisture content developing and spreading through the hull. (A foot note: When you sand the bottom of a boat in preparation for antifoul you are breaching the resin rich surface. There are several great sand less primers on the market, use these product instead of sanding. You will need to use the same brand of primer and paint. I have done over a hundred bottom paint jobs this way in the Pacific North West and it will work great provided all instructions are followed). Maintaining a resin rich and unbroken gel coat layer below the water line is very important to the life of your boat.

Back to the question, Yes these repairs below the water line are important to complete for the above mentioned reasons. Any repair work below the water line should be your priority, just remember that the outside of the hull is not the only area to the hull which can be chipped or damage. Boat owners often over look the inside of the hull in the bilges, damage in these areas have the same effect on the hull as exterior damage as the bilge usually always has water laying around in it. The hull will draw moisture from the inside or out. Damaged gel coat (referred to as base coat on the interior of the hull) can also lead to rot of structural components and water contaminating the floatation foam areas.

Where do these little chips and gouges come from? Well there is an answer for this. Most of the damage will come from haul out and launch. If you are using a trailer then you know how easy it can be to make an error in judgment and get on the trailer wrong and hit the trailer. If you are using a travel lift then little rubs and damage can occur. Areas that are exposed in most cases are the factory voids. These are areas where they did not roll out the material behind the gel coat very well and these areas have opened up. We refer to these areas as air voids, this type of damage is very common on edges of lifting strakes and hull steps where there are tight 90 degree edges that the material must try to lay in. Of course you may have ran over some debris that was just below the surface or hit the hull with fishing equipment such as down rigger weights. The most common damage to the hull, bar none is beaching damage. The boat owner will run the bow up onto the sand. Causing the gel coat on the keel to be sanded away leaving and exposed area of material along the very bottom of the boat, this area could be several feet long and several inches wide (if this is common practice for you consider a keel guard purchase or have an extra couple of layers of gel applied in this area).

While we are on the topic of hull damage and the importance of  keeping the area below the water line in good repair, lets briefly touch on epoxy barrier coating. One of my pet peeves, an oversold expensive product that does work, yet is applied more times than not, for no reason at all. Barrier coats are designed to prevent moisture penetration, this makes sense for new boats that have not been in the water for years. Dry hulls definitely benefit from a barrier coat system. However keep in mind if it won't let water in, then it only makes sense that it won't let water out. So if you apply it to an older boat not only are you are trapping the moisture content in the hull, but you are eliminating the possibility of air drying over the off season. You can dry the fiberglass material out before you install the barrier. This will require stripping all of the gel coat from the waterline down (a massive undertaking), having a controlled environment and several days with heater pods to dry the material. ( Just ask Black Line in Sydney BC they are the very best at blister repairs). So it may make you feel better. But are you not throwing your money away by barrier coating an old hull? Just think about it! If you currently have a barrier coat then it is important to remember it too must be repaired if you have gel coat damage.

To guarantee access to all of  Boat Nut Magazine articles, pictures and featured services visit the official Boat Nut Magazine ©™ website. Be sure to reply to the Boat Nut Association registration on our site for the latest Boat Nut weekly and monthly news letters and opportunities.

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Copyright 2015 © Boat Nut Media, Toronto, Ontario. All rights reserved. No part of this information/publications may be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy, magnetic, or other record, without prior agreement and written permission of the publisher, Boat Nuts Media ©™ No liability is assumed with respect to the information provided.