How to repair fiberglass boat deck

The glass on the bottom of the plywood will also stiffen the deck and make it more rigid. After you have completed repairing or replacing boat stringers the next step is to keep up maintenance and to keep up regular inspections.

The way youll do this is youll mix up a small amount of resin that you can successfully paint on over the fiberglass within about 15 to 20 minutes.

How to repair fiberglass boat deck. Cover the fiberglass material with one or two coats of fiberglass resin as needed and sand the final coat smoothly. To repair the exposed side stretch the fiberglass cloth material over the repair site apply a thin coat of fiberglass resin and allow to dry. In todays video we go over how to lay fiberglass with epoxy resin into the newly cored section of the deck.

I go through this today and I get good result. Use fiberglass putty to bed the deck along stringers and bulkheads and then screw the decking in place. Fill the seams with more fiberglass putty let it harden and then sand until the entire deck is flush and smooth.

Glass in the deck with at least two layers of fiberglass. Boats with a closed bilge It is recommended to glass the bottom of the plywood with ¾ ounce Mat chopped Mat. Resin by itself will sometimes crack and allow moisture into the wood which could cause rot.

The glass on the bottom of the plywood will also stiffen the deck and make it more rigid. Two layers of Gelcoat are recommended. When doing fiberglass boat repairs youll most likely be painting or rolling it on in small batches.

The way youll do this is youll mix up a small amount of resin that you can successfully paint on over the fiberglass within about 15 to 20 minutes. This is about how much time youll have before the resin begins to dry and harden. In order to repair the exposed surface of the deck stretch the cloth over to the place of repair.

Apply a coat of fiberglass gel and leave to dry. Repeat the process elaborated above to fill up any damages and finish up in a similar manner. The ships main training boat a 1973 Santana 30 had developed a crack in the outer fiberglass skin under a deck stanchion.

The core became soggy and finally pressure on the stanchion broke a hole through the deck. Heres a step-by-step look at the repair. Your non-skid is the molded-in variety.

Many boats have non-skid that is more like paint with sand in it to provide the grip. The purpose is to provide traction on deck where you are going to be walking across it. I would generally just avoid repairs on a.

Working from beneath the hole inside the boat use a paint brush to spread a layer of gel coat thats about the thickness of a toothpick onto the waxed counter top backer at the top of the hole. As you wait for the gel coat to harden mix the epoxy resin and hardener for the fiberglass. Add pressure to the skin to force it into contact with the core until the epoxy cures.

Placing a plastic sheet between the skins surface and the weights will prevent inadvertent bonding. If the skin is damaged you will need to replace the damaged laminate after bonding the core. Once finished remove all the dust from the sanding with the rag and acetone once more.

Tape off and apply gel coat. After masking off the area with painters tape use a paint brush to apply gel coat. Use a marine grade fiberglass resin and be sure to keep it in a separate container until its ready to apply.

For a cored deck scrape out a ring of core from between the two laminates and fill this area with thickened epoxy. With proper treatment deck laminate penetration will not lead to rot and youll never have to worry about replacing the deck core. Connie McBride and her husband Dave sailed away in 2002 on their 34ft Creekmore Eurisko.

After many years in the. Materials used in this videoTotalBoat Laminating Poly Resin 1708 Bi-Axial Fiberglass Order Total Boat Supplies HERE To Help Support Boatworks Today. This particular boat had a cored deck which was completely delaminated and full of moisture.

There are several ways to go about repairing a cored deck. One of the most common methods is to perform the repair from the outside peeling back layers of fiberglass and replacing the core material. Then re-glassing and spraying new gelcoat and non-skid.

Fiberglass is fatigue prone and 1960s fiberglass is even more fatigue prone than modern fiberglass. If the decks have been springy for the past 50 years then the fiberglass would have a small percentage of its original strength. Here are the essential steps to rebed your deck hardware properly.

After this point newer fittings should come off easily. Older fittings may have some rust on them which would require using a putty knife to get leverage and separate the fitting from the boat. Be careful not to damage the boat here.

There will likely be old. Fiberglass boats also suffer from many of the same age related problems of fatigue and moisture that have long been associated with older traditionally built wooden boats. This manual provides repair and maintenance solutions to many of the problems that afflict fiberglass boats.

11 Typical fiberglass boat construction. Repairing the deck of this boat was done from inside the cabin because of the difficulties replicating non-skid. Notice the ingenious way that the repair is supported by spring loaded shower rods.

Carefully pry off the skin and use a sharp chisel to remove rotten or delaminated core. First prepare the surface by washing it the epoxy surface can then be sanded. Remove any dust and then apply a primer followed by a topcoat of paint.

After you have completed repairing or replacing boat stringers the next step is to keep up maintenance and to keep up regular inspections. So in case anyone is interested this is what I did to repair two rather big soft spots on my deck on each side where one mostly sits. Put masking tape on the whole area and mark the area.

Drill small holes about two to three inches apart in the whole area just through the top-layer of course.