Hull Repair...need help from the experts

[Seminolefish]

A few months ago my father and I purchased our first boat- a 1997 Key west. So far we have been working out the kinks and getting it in shape. A couple weeks after purchased we noticed the Keel Guard coming loose...so I went ahead and pulled it off to inspect. Nothing special...looked like an old repair that had been painted and covered by the Keel guard. Next thing I know I have paint chips in the driveway and upon further inspection and scraping I have this:

I went ahead and scraped off the remaining paint and old fiberglass from the repair area...it was old and brittle. It looks like the total repair area is about 26" Long, by 4" Wide.

Here is a photo upclose...You can see the fiberglass of the boat...and it is somewhat wet so obviously water has been getting in.

Can anyone chime in on the best way to tackle this repair? Let me preface this by saying im not worried about looks, as much as I am functionality and safety. Should I just sand down the area, repair with fiberglass resin, then cover with new Keel guard?

Any point in the right direction is appreciated...especially for specific brands of material that will do the job.

Thanks

 

[Bondo]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

It looks like the total repair area is about 26" Long, by 4" Wide.

Ayuh,... Sand it out to about 6"x 30",... Lay down a 2" strip of Glass,... Then a 4" over that,...
Sand smooth,+ paint, or keel gaurd it,.. Your choice....

I'd probably use Epoxy for the resin, but Polyester will probably do....

 

[Gelcoat-jon]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

save your money use polyester iys just fine. Thats what they built the boat with. Why use epoxy, yes its better resin, but your not doing an structural repair. Its just a couple of layer of 1 1/2 mat. Save yourself money, time and headaches use Poly. When your done laying it up, grind it flush, brush with gel-coat and soand smooth. Apply bottom paint Quick and easy. Total repair time including cure time 2-3 hrs. Have fun

 

[Seminolefish]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

Thanks for the advice guys....please keep it coming.

Can anyone recommend a particular brand or kit of polyester/epoxy? What exactly is the difference between epoxy and polyester?

Here is a product I used to help my roomate repair his 13 ft whaler... http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/7346/377%20710%20992/712/Epoxy%20/Primary%20Search/mode%20matchallpartial/0?N=377%20710%20992&Ne=712&Ntt=Epoxy%20&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=95&subdeptNum=673&classNum=673

We mixed a few drops in the resin..and brushed it over a strip of fiberglass then sand and repeat.

This seems straight foward- will this product work on my boat? or do I need an epoxy resin? or other?

Im dying to get it fixed and back on the flats!

Thank you,

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

Resins are all available here on iboats from the cheaper to the top of the line. Whay re-ask a question that was already answered (correctly by Gelcoat jon ) You can even purchase that poyester resin at walmart and save on shipping......

 

[Seminolefish]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

Update:

I have started the sanding of the old repair and rough edges of the working area. I used 50 grit sandpaper and this is what the area looks like now:

I think I will use a Polyester Resin as suggested (thank you)...however that leads me to my next question. What type of fiberglass should I use?

Standard fiberglass Mat? (Then cut into 4 inch wide by 30 inch strips?)
or
Woven Roving?
or
Other?

Also, how many strips of fiberglass should I do? I'm leaning toward not painting it when I'm done, and just purchasing a new Keel Guard.

Thanks

 

[Gelcoat-jon]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

Seminole hello again, Yes poly with 1 1/2 mat. Maybe 2-3 layers. It does'nt look like it is down into the structural cloth. Meaning Roven. When you grind/sanded off delam, did it appear to be only mat? It really doesn't look big enough of a repair area to warrant stuctural cloth. [Biaxal/woven-roven] Layup enough layers so that it is level with rest of boat. Grind level once cured. Even though you want to put a keel guardback on you should still seal bare glass with gelcoat. You can brush it on and leave it if you want. Remember to put surfacing wax in Gelcoat so it drys tack free. Good luck Happy and SAFE boating Jon

 

[oops!]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

when you use polyester resin....(lets NOT go in to the difference, ww2 has allready been fought.....lol.) you MUST use a chooped strand mat next to the substraight (hull or other) then you can use a cloth type product.

however if you follow the matt/matt way that jon suggested you will be just fine.

cheers
oops

 

[Gelcoat-jon]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

1708 has mat stiched to back and woven roven with 1 1/2 mat stiched to back is also available. All of this Oh my god polyester /epoxy TALK. YES EPOXY IS SUPERIOR. They made the boat out of poly ,use poly to fix it. In my 29 yrs repairing boats the only times I have used EPOXY was because A. I could not prep properly because of some reason or another. B. They made the boat out of Epoxy. POLYESTER CAN NOT BE PUT OVER EPOXY. We all now that. Why change resins . As long as you prep properly in any repair [stringers, bulckheads,transoms and floors you will be just fine... I dont mean to harp or sound mean, Its just some people want to use epoxy for everything. Its just not neccesary!!!!! Sorry for the out burst Happy and SAFE Boating

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

Hello Fish...

Though the replies are well intended and useful I would have to slightly disagree with some.

First off.. your last pic showed that there is Delamination in your fiberglass. just for fun take some acetone and wipe your repair .. see all of that white fiberglass.. that IS Delamination. Your gonna have to grind that out m8. while grinding if you see lines that your grind dust makes, that is representation of stress cracks. ( polyester is static and will show you most of your repair area).

This is what I suggest .. grind out all of the white dead glass, bevel, layup using poly " lamination" resin 10 cc per quart catalyst . Starting with 1.5 oz mat, build using roving woving ( .5 oz mat backed or you have to use mat between layers ). no more layers than is needed to build up slightly low..last layer(s) in mat. Grind/sand till faired out. if needed for existing lows use your mat torn up by hand into little 1"-2" circles and resin. ( why buy filler when you already have the best filler avail. ? ) sand till fair with 80g paper. Wipe clean with acetone..coat with resin again ( DO NOT use wax at all in any process .. that is only for bilge and compartments..not layups ! ). sand smooth reprep , apply your keel guard and paint to edge of guard. do not put your guard over bottom paint.

This is the proper way Fish .. Good luck and regards.. YD.

 

[Seminolefish]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

Thanks for all the help guys...This project is turning out to be more difficult than I had planned.



I went to West Marine today to get gel coat for the job...They had a quart of laminating gel coat, and then a coat of finishing gel coat...I didn't know which one I needed so I asked the sales associate and he said both, along with a spray gun to put on the finishing gel coat.

Is this true?

Is there a one step brush on gel coat that I can put on after I resin, then sand and paint? DAMN these boat repairs are so expensive.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

The finishing gel coat has wax in it, the other one doesn't. Wax allows the surface to cure tack free so it can be sanded without gumming up the paper. But it aslo means that if it was left to cure until its tack free you need to sand it or another layer won't bond well to it. The job can be done with either one. If you use the waxed version and you need more than one coat to get it covered correctly (and you will), then just don't let it cure completely before you apply another coat, using the non waxed version just wipe it down with acetone and it remove the tacky surface before you try to sand it.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

If you plan to cover it with a keel guard then you don't really need the gel coat, just put a couple coats of resin over the finished layup and sand it smooth. The keel guard will cover all the ugly stuff.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

That should be a cheap repair. A quart of Bondo resin, $15, a yard of 1-1/2 oz mat, $8, a pint of gel coat, $20, some wax for the final coat, $10.

That totals $53. Add 10 shipping and you are done for $63.

 

[Seminolefish]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

***Update***

I decided to go with a basic polyester resin, and 1 1/2 oz chopped mat. Here is what the area looks like after I laid it with 4 pieces of chopped mat, each slightly layered.

I plan on sanding this area down, then adding another layer slightly larger, and then after that another layer if need be.

It's looking like I will not be replacing it with a new Keel guard...so Im trying to figure out which Gel-cote to order...Has anyone ever used the "One step finish GelKote" by Evercoat? This website has it for $25.04 for a pint... I do not own a spray gun, and dont want to purchase one.

Thanks for all the help so far.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Hull Repair...need help from the experts

Hello again Seminolefish...

few things to keep in mind for the next time ( or for others that are reading this that have the same problem )

1. you should have removed all of the delam ..

2. you should remove all coatings down to bare fiberglass in your repair area. ( should not glass over gel coat as you show in your pic.

Now for the finishing touches on your project.. you do not need gel coat. The repair is going to get covered in bottom paint. Put a couple coats of Epoxy over your finished repair, cure and prep with 80 grit . 2 coats of bottom paint and your done.