Gelcoat?

[stubbsboogie]

Good morning and merry Christmas to all I-boaters out there in cyberland. Hope your holiday season is all you dreamed of.
WHile we are in the off season I am doing some projects to the boat, surprised?
My hull has some osmosis blisters on it from the previous owner leaving it in the water too long, COuple of years. Anyway they are not too bad and really are cosmetic, but I want to do some work and see if I can make them better. SOme have ruptured and I am concerned about water getting in and doing real damage.
So my question, what is the best way to fix the ones that are ruptured, I cannot afford to have the whole boat recoated and it is beyond my capability to do myself.
There is no mat separation it is just the gelcoat. No spots any larger than a nickel.
I would post pics but the camera went swimming. Hoping santa brings me a new one.
ANy advice/help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and merry christmas to all.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Gelcoat?

Sad to say, but it's an all or nothing type repair, spot repair is just a waste of time and money.

Nickel size blisters are in the laminate, tiny 1/8" or less size blisters are the gel coat type. If you were to grind out each blister and repair it with epoxy then only those spots are fixed, the rest of the hull will most likely develop them in the future. The only way to slow it down would be to fix what's there and then use an epoxy barrier coat on the entire hull, without doing an even more intensive and expensive repair they may return though.

 

[stubbsboogie]

Re: Gelcoat?

Thanks for the response.
I had a just had a buddy look at it and he said a similar thing but he doesnt think it is in the laminate. Most of the blisters are very small. I was just hoping i could do something about the ones that have ruptured.
If I was just going to spot fix the ones that are there would something like marine tex do or a gelcoat kit be better.

I doubt they will get worse as the boat is no longer stored in the water. So I am just stopping what is there, and doing it as they rupture if they do.
I got the boat with about a month left in the season and during my usage there was no change in the condition of the blisters: IE no more ruptures and no more new ones.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Gelcoat?

Blistering is a very slow process, so there's not much of a chance you would see any change even you kept it in the water the entire time you owned it.

Sometimes if the boat is kept out of the water for a long period of time the blisters will start to shrink as the water drains out of them, not a cure but they will be less noticeable. You can use Marine Tex, or most any other thickened epoxy to fill them after grinding them out, you'll still have an unsightly repair that will be more noticeable than a small blister though. It's really up to you, there's no right or wrong answer in this situation.

 

[oops!]

Re: Gelcoat?

the common jargon for this type of problem is called "boat pox"

 

[filthy-oar]

Re: Gelcoat?

I've read that after you grind the blisters it is important to allow them to dry for quite a while before actually repairing them with marine-tex or other patching methods. This is due to the chemical reaction happening below the gelcoat. Just an observation.
Tell me what it happens. I would like to know.
Thanks

 

[stubbsboogie]

Re: Gelcoat?

OK so my new plan is after the holidays to take it in to a boat fiberglass repair shop and get them to look at it,there is one not far from me that has a really good honest reputation. Give me an estimate and see what that entails. Hopefully they will tell me all is ok and that nothing really needs to be done other than cosmetics.
I am pretty good with motors but gelcoat/fiberglasss work intimidates me a bit.

SO my new question is does anyone know a ballpark figure to get the bottom of the boat sanded and then regelcoated.
I know that you never know but just a roundabout guess.
Thanks Guys

 

[KurtG]

Re: Gelcoat?

for a re-gel on a small boat, I'm hearing ball park 3 grand. Not really cost effective unless you do repairs yourself.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Gelcoat?

For an actual blister repair job it will cost far more than what the boats worth, for re-gel coating it will cost a little less, repainting will be even less, the last two will be of no value though.

Blisters rarely ever create a structural issue, so don't worry about that, your problem is cosmetic, if the bumps bother you and you want to spend the money to fix them, then go for it, if they don't bother you, then just go boating.

 

[kandil]

Re: Gelcoat?

I would go for the Gelcoat kit it is under $50!! and some jelly for the deep ones

 

[stubbsboogie]

Re: Gelcoat?

Just a quick update on my blisters.
Took it in and to my delight ondvr was exactly right. Not that I did not believe. Boat guys said not to worry and just go boating!

So that is what I did! Thanks for all the help I boats! Don't know what I would do without you guys.
Happy New year!

 

[oops!]

Re: Gelcoat?

glad you are all fixed up...

boat pox is a lousy thing...... to re gellcoat the boat completely.....that means rempving the existing gellcoat....re fairing and re gellcoating and bringing it back up.........a conservitive estimate of 4-5 grand .....thats a lot of hours.