Fiberglass repair I have an Oday 19 that had a small crack in the companionway door corner when I bought it. Last year the crack spread and I found that by wrapping a strap around the boat and winching it tight I can get the crack to close up. I need to repair the crack and I would like to know if anybody has and idea of the best way to go about it. I have used the West system in making other repairs with a 206 hardener. Thanks for any helpful tips. ells
Fiberglass repair needed
- Thread starter ells
- Start date
- Status
- Jan 22, 2008
- 519
fg repairs
I would recommend polyester over epoxy but either will work. You cannot re-repair epoxy with polyester at a later date, but you can rework polyester later. Also polyester is about 1/10 the cost of epoxy. Epoxy on the other hand is easier to work with and harder. Now to the fix... grind down (just the surface) behind the crack on the inside to get at fresh fg, clean with acetone. Make sure the area you prep extends a couple of inches to both side of the crack. On the topside, grind out a shallow V along the crack and clean with acetone. Strap your boat as you did previously, and patch the inside with chopped strand mat or cloth, perhaps even a couple of layers. When that is done, fill the cosmetic side with filler, then gelcoat. That is a stress area for sure, and you may need to extend your 2" patch wider just to add some structural rigidity. The other arguement is not to strap the boat, but fill and patch as is, so that the boat itself does not stress the repair... your judgement.
I would recommend polyester over epoxy but either will work. You cannot re-repair epoxy with polyester at a later date, but you can rework polyester later. Also polyester is about 1/10 the cost of epoxy. Epoxy on the other hand is easier to work with and harder. Now to the fix... grind down (just the surface) behind the crack on the inside to get at fresh fg, clean with acetone. Make sure the area you prep extends a couple of inches to both side of the crack. On the topside, grind out a shallow V along the crack and clean with acetone. Strap your boat as you did previously, and patch the inside with chopped strand mat or cloth, perhaps even a couple of layers. When that is done, fill the cosmetic side with filler, then gelcoat. That is a stress area for sure, and you may need to extend your 2" patch wider just to add some structural rigidity. The other arguement is not to strap the boat, but fill and patch as is, so that the boat itself does not stress the repair... your judgement.
- Status