crack repair

[tony219]

i just bought a fiberglass boat and i found a crack of about 3 feet long, under the boat, how can i repair it? and do i have to cut the floor to get it repair?( becous it looks like it is been licking).

 

[CCrew]

Re: crack repair

First you'll need to identify the severity of the necessary repair. If it's leaking, it indeed sounds like it's cracked through. <br /><br />At the minimum you'll have to feather back from the crack, and build out cloth and resin in layers. I'd suggest epoxy resin for the repair, more expensive, but a bit more forgiving for the newbie and much stronger. <br /><br />At the least if you've never done it before, I'd suggest A book called "The Fiberglass Boat Repair Manual" written by Alan Vaitses. You can search here on iboats for it, or I know Amazon.com sells it. Great manual for the unitiated. <br /><br />Without seeing it it's hard to tell how bad it is, but most any fiberglass can be successfuly repaired. Feel free to ask questions here though, there are a lot of great minds... I know I can attribute a lot of my success to help I've received here..<br /><br />-Roger

 

[JasonJ]

Re: crack repair

It depends on the crack how you repair it. I have the feeling it is a long hairline crack, which almost looks like someone drew it on with a pencil. These type of cracks are just in the gelcoat, and the repair is a matter of how ambitious you are. I would grind away in a feathering manner as has already been said to see if the damage goes deeper than the gelcoat. If it is just the gelcoat that is cracked, you need to let everything dry once you have exposed the area. If you can see fibers and they look dry and flaky, you need to keep grinding until you get to clean fibers imbedded in resin. Then you can use epoxy and woven cloth and build it back out. If you don't care what the finished product looks like then you can leave it at that.<br /><br />If the crack goes all the way through, you'll know it, as the crack will be very ragged and fibery looking. Again you would need to grind back to healthy glass and build it back up using epoxy. Any way you can give us a picture?

 

[tony219]

Re: crack repair

well guys thanks for your help, i think the crack goes through becouse i can see drops of water coming out of it, well i will let you know how it goes. and thanks again

 

[JasonJ]

Re: crack repair

Once the gelcoat is compromised, the fiberglass underneath can wick water in. I hope it is an easy fix and not a hard one for ya...