Gel coat renewal?

[haulyfryn]

Can anyone tell me the aprox cost of a new gel coat for a 15 foot dory?
I would like to do the hull and deck complete.

 

[berry79]

Re: Gel coat renewal?

Why not just paint it with awlgrip or interlux or many of the other products people have used throughout this forum. Redoing the gelcoat would probaly be pricey if not doing it yourself. And if you do it yourself would be very time consuming. There is alot of wet sanding and buffing involved which = man hours for you, or cost labor hours for the shop. These paint products now days are very durable, just do a little research on which would best suit your application.

 

[oops!]

Re: Gel coat renewal?

gellcoat is a fantastic product. it can be brought back to new with some sanding and buffing..

if your boat is heavily oxidized...you can acid wash it.....then dry sand it with 800-1000 grit.....then use a product called farecla to buff it....then glaze it...and it will be like new again for 20 years.

if you dont like the color...paint it.

if you wanna re gellcoat it.....you dont know what you are getting into....

each speck of old gellcoat must be sanded off.....then the hull re faired to smooth (the sanding will cause sanding dents) after that....the hull must be sprayed by a pro at exactly 45 thou thickness of gellcoat. too thick and it will crack....too thin and it will crack....incorrect catylisation and it will crack.
cracking...means crazing.....and crazing is ugly.

then the orange peel must be sanded smooth......starting at 320 grit....and doing the boat several times....working your way all the way up to a 1600 grit.....then buff with farecla....then glaze.

my boat took over 2 months just for the bottom hull gellcoat....

the cost was 500 for gellcoat.50 for aceitone.....300 for the guy to shoot it...compressor and gun rental was around 100 bucks....
sand paper was about 75 buffing compounds were about 100.
my labor was around 300 hours......

your call....but personally.....id rather lay in the ditch and stick pins in my eyes before i ever do that again.

cheers
oops

 

[stephanofd]

Re: Gel coat renewal?

your call....but personally.....id rather lay in the ditch and stick pins in my eyes before i ever do that again.

cheers
oops

Glad you decided to check in. I was just going to direct him to your hull extension thread. I read through it a while back and remember what hell you went through faring and gel coating your boat. I'm sure it was far worse for you doing it than it was for me reading it, and that was bad enough that I don't ever want to go through it.

 

[walt-oxie1]

Re: Gel coat renewal?

If you are in the Southeast NC area I can hook you up with a guy I buy gelcoat from for my commercial boats. It is usually about $10 per gallon but limited on colors. I think he has light and dark tan, light blue and forrest green right now. I just usually roll it on my boats and it last a long while.