Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

[mongo36]

Hate to sound stupid, but I am lost. I just bought a 15' Lund fiberglass fishing boat. When i got it home we noticed a gash in the hull. I goes pretty deep, it's about 4 inches long about a half inch wide and at least an inch and a half deep. Anyhow my friend told me to just get some fiberglass repair kit mix up some, put in some fiber matting (not sure the proper term) and fill the hole. Of course I tried the best I could to clean out the hole and sand it first. Anyhow just under the fiberglass is what appears to be foam, so I picked out as much as I could and filled the hole.
Well while sanding the patch down, I noticed a few drops of water coming thru the patch. So I spent some time and got the patch out, and tried it again, this time picked a lot more of the foam out, made the hole a little bigger. Patched it and same thing a little water seems to be coming thru. It hasn't rained in 4 days, not sure if the foam under the fiberglass is just waterlogged or what. Any ideas on what I can do to get this patched? There isn't water in the boat why is it coming thru to the hull? Sorry so long just would like to get this boat in the water.

 

[Gelcoat-jon]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

Put a shop vac to the hole and suck as much water as possible. May have to tape it there and let it run for awhile. Unless you have a vacumn pump ,then use that. Water must come out to do repair properly

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

While patching the hole will solve part of the problem, there's a bigger issue.

If that hole has been there for any length of time the foam in that area may be water logged and when foam gets wet it never dries out. The wet foam then leads to rotten stringers, floor and transom.

Since you have a hole in the hull already, try to scrape as much foam out as you can reach and see if you find any that's dry. If you can find dry foam you're in good shape, if all you find is wet foam then to get ride of it is a much bigger job.

Sorry, not what you wanted to hear, but what you need to know.

 

[mongo36]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

I am assuming that will include making the hole much bigger? I don't believe it was there for a long perion, I am pretty sure it came from moving that heavy boat from one trailer to another with just 3 guys, the fiberglass around the hole looked fairly fresh.

 

[Bedrest2]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

If you could put up some pictures? May be people could give better advice.
Water got in some how, don't think it was from one trailer to another.

 

[mongo36]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

I took a 4x4 cut out of the hull, and the forward part of the foam feels dry, the aft part of the hole is very wet, i am believing there was another hole at one time. But I really don't have an option to keep cutting back and see where the wet stops I just don't know how much is to much to cut out, but like I said I have no choice. It is storming bad right now, but I will try to post a picture tomorrow. Thanks for the help so far.

 

[mongo36]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

I know this isn't a great picture, but is of the hole I cut out.

 

[mongo36]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

Dug out foam soaked foam last night, the stuck screwdriver close to the hull port side, hit the mother load, got about a quart of water to drain out. I am guessing I need to fill the hole with foam prior to resealing it.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

Now the job gets bigger, you really need to get all of the wet foam out of there to help prevent future problems.

Do a search here on "wet foam", that should give you a few days of reading, after that you'll have more questions to post.

 

[Robert D]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

Somebody better tell him what he's looking at.....pull up the decking (The floor) of the boat, dig out a few hundred pounds of wet foam, find the rotted stringers and probably the transom, rebuild it all. While you're in there, you can do that hull repair properly. It's quite possible and probable the foam got wet from another source....the hole may have just exposed an existing problem. Before you go tearing the whole thing apart, I'd cut an inspection hole into the deck about 12 inches across for a better look. You can dig out a lot of foam, and if you're lucky it's just localized. However, that's rarely the case. Do another inspection hole on the other end of the boat....I'll bet you find more water :-( Sorry....this is how it usually goes. Good luck!

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

If you didn't notice the gash before you bought, I'd take that up with the seller, especially if you paid more than a couple hundred.

If I were you I'd STOP cutting on the boat or working, and figure that out... the seller could argue you have done all the damage (except the water) yourself.

While the gash itself may not have been large, the water it let into the boat probably means you're going to be looking at a major repair. If the buyer said the boat was in good shape (and you hopefully got that in writing) then you can talk to him about a refund.

To repeat what others have said, you're looking at major work. To use the boat for more than 1 season you MUST:

1) Get all the water out and all waterlogged foam. It won't dry, it has to be removed

2) Check all wood structural members and replace any rotted sections. This means removing part of the deck in places.

3) Install (pour) new floatation foam

4) Re-glass the deck and fixed structure, glass that hole from the inside, do finish and detail work on the inside and deck

5) Fix that hole from the outside so it's smooth and either paint or patch the gelcoat.


Honestly it would be good to know a few things.... how much you paid, how old the boat is, what make/model.

It's very possible the boat is scrap at this point, and repair would cost more than it's worth. You may still want to do it (we all like to fix boats here) but if you want to get on the water....

Erik

 

[mongo36]

Re: Fiberglass hull hole repair HELP

I did only pay a couple hundred bucks for it, and had planned on using it for this year only. It's a 1979 Lund Tri hull. I don't live far from the Mississippi and last year had a 14 - alum v-hull. With only a 6 hp motor on it. I wanted to get into something a little heavier without spending to much money. So I had a friend that is letting me use his larger Outboard. This came along and I thought I could get the feel of actually getting around the river a bit this year. If I enjoy it, I will be getting something nicer next year, if not I will probably just go back to smaller boat. So to answer your questions, this is a 1 year boat for me. So I am looking at getting thru the summer, without spending hours working on this. Thanks for alll your help so far, any more input would be appreciated.