Fixing Blisters? What's the best way?

[pikiewicz]

I have a 1989 Larson Hampton that has developed about 12 small blisters on the bottom. I am looking for help or advise on how to fix and what product or products are best. The bottom has never been painted and the blisters are the size of a dime or smaller all grouped within a 2 foot area. If there are similar posts, I couldn't find them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, how concerned should I be about these blisters? I currently trailer. Thanks,

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Fixing Blisters? What's the best way?

I have a 1989 Larson Hampton that has developed about 12 small blisters on the bottom. I am looking for help or advise on how to fix and what product or products are best. The bottom has never been painted and the blisters are the size of a dime or smaller all grouped within a 2 foot area. If there are similar posts, I couldn't find them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, how concerned should I be about these blisters? I currently trailer. Thanks,

1) You should ask a mod to move this to the boat repair section where they have folks whose blood must be at least 30% resins and fibreglass if you consider the combined knowledge that can be found there....
They can ...and will...help you through a repair of almost any complexity.

2) The limited f/g repair that i have done tells me that if you have small blisters, you are only seperated by time from having large blisters.
Here is a good info source on repair techniques:

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/repairing-individual-and-early-stage-gelcoat-blisters/

 

[pikiewicz]

Re: Fixing Blisters? What's the best way?

Thanks for the info. How do you get a mod to switch it?

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Fixing Blisters? What's the best way?

Thanks for the info. How do you get a mod to switch it?

Send one a PM or post this in the correct section.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Fixing Blisters? What's the best way?

moving please remain seated

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Fixing Blisters? What's the best way?

Doing a search using "blisters" should provide many posts.

Blisters are normally just a cosmetic issue, so the good news is you don't need to do anything before using the boat. The bad news is that a true blister repair can be time consuming and costly.


If you only have blisters in a small area (2'X2' is small), then most likely this is just a defect in that area. It may be a poorly done repair, or a problem just in that spot when the hull was being made. There is a possibility that this only the start of a problem though.

I'd wait and see if the blisters spread, if they do then anything you would have done right now would be a waste of time. If over time they stay confined to the current area, then you can do the repair and be confident you got it all. If they do spread then you need to decide if its worth it to you for the cost involved.

The repair can be done with epoxy or VE resin, you need to grind out the entire area, fill the blisters, laminate at least a couple of layers of glass down, fair the surface, then paint. The same steps would be needed to do the entire hull if the whole thing blisters.