Fiberglass repair

[Hrokor]

Had a drop or two of water out of a small crack in hull and when I investigated it appears to have been a previous repair. When I put pressure on area I saw more water trying to squeeze out. When I poked at the area it easily cracked open to what you see in the pictures. I have never repaired fiberglass but would like to do it myself. Any suggestions?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass repair

First off I'm gunna recommend that this be an inside/outside repair and I suspect that you do NOT have access to this area from the inside. Correct?
Second... It HAS to be completely dry before any repairs can be made. Repair is fairly straigt forward and I'm sure you are capabable of doing it but again you will need to gain access to the area fromthe inside of the boat. This is my opinon. Others may come along and difffer.

 

[Hrokor]

Re: Fiberglass repair

Thank you for the reply. You are right, I do not have access to the inside of this area.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass repair

What kind of boat? How old? Make and model.
Pics of the inside above the damaged area??

 

[Hrokor]

Re: Fiberglass repair

It is a 1975 Thunderbird. No visible damage on inside that I can see, of course this area is under the floor of boat.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass repair

I wanted to see inside pics to see how difficult it would be to gain access to the area.

 

[Hrokor]

Re: Fiberglass repair

Ok, I will take a couple now and post in a few minutes.

 

[Hrokor]

Re: Fiberglass repair

Not sure that these are going to show anything, but it appears that the whole front floor would have to be removed.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass repair

Well, You can do the repair on the outside only but again I personallythink it needs to be done inside as well. I suspected it was in the area that I now see that it is in. You are correct in that you would have to remove a section of the forward floor to gain access to the area. It has been done before and it is totally up to you if you want to do this.
Another issue to consider is the gelcoat. Is it critical you you that it match perfectly. Even the pros have difficulty matching the color on these older boats. Since it's on the bottom it won't be as noticable but just thought I'd ask. If you want to attemp to do the repair from the outside only then let us know and I'm sure there'll be plenty of input from the guys here on the forum.

 

[oops!]

Re: Fiberglass repair

i would consider that an inside out job.

it is on the chine......that is a major structural area.
behind the glass is a pour in foam.....i am going to gaurentee you that the foam behind that area is wet.....that will cause you problems.

depending on where ithe repair area is in relation to the cockpit on the cap....a small section in the cabin carpet can be pulled back...the deck cut out, foam removed, and repaired properly.

it can be done from the out side only.......but i would suggest that be done by a pro only.

the pro would cut out the area, dig out the foam.....make a backing plate, glass the plate in with multliple layers, fill with a structural filler, inject the foam, then do an out side repair.
if each step is done correctly, this can work well......but each step must be prepped corectly or the backing plate will fail, and the repair soft, wich will cause gellcoat crazing in a short time.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Fiberglass repair

OOPS makes a great point. If your boat has floatation foam between the deck and the hull and it has become water logged this can significantly increase the weight of your boat. If this damage continues to Drip water and seems to NOT want to dry out pretty quick then I suspect you may have greater issues to consider, and you may have to pull back the carpet and cut out a portion of the deck to get to the foam and the damaged area on the hull.

 

[Hrokor]

Re: Fiberglass repair

Wow, that is a lot more to consider than I thought! It is a small boat and the damaged area is like 2" only, I was hoping to just be able to repair the fiberglass, now it appears to be way more than I thought. Thank you very much for your advice!

 

[ingalp01]

Re: Fiberglass repair

You will quickly realize that once water penetrates anyplace it's not supposed to be, The problems caused by that water will be much more severe than originally thought. I'm with Woodonglass and Oops... I'm a newbie as well, but with some research on this site and plenty of pics and posts, This IS something you can do yourself, and once you open up the floor directly above the damage, you will know more. Best case scenario, there is some localized moisture in the foam and the surrounding glass. In that case, remove the saturated foam, remove ALL of the damaged fiberglass, and then start re-building that section of the hull from the inside out. Ask around. If you are even remotely mechanically inclined and can think creatively. You will be able to take this on yourself.

Good Luck, and keep us posted...

The alternative is to slap a "Band Aid" on it and pass the boat on to the next unsuspecting owner, but if you are upfront about the damage before selling, your price will most definitely have to reflect the known damage.