14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

[nbaffaro]

I am currently in the process of fixing up a small boat to take on the local swamp and river and do some duck hunting with in the fall.

I have already replaced the transom and now am working on the two benches
Here is where the questions is.

I cut out the old rotten seats they were 1/4 plywood with a fiberglass coating.

I built new seats with 3/8 plywood and have epoxied them in place and have started to tab them in. I have a few more pieces to tab and i'll be done with that part. For the tabs I am putting down a 8 inch strip of mat; 4 inches up & 4 inches out.

The old seats rotted from the inside out.

Should I completely encapsulate the seats or will tabbing them in be fine? I would of course protect the wood with a quaility paint/primer and then it would get the same color as the inside of the boat.

How can I prevent the seats from rotting from the inside out? Should there be holes in the seats for them to air out?

I painted the insides of the wood before I put them in place.

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

Are you using Poly or Epoxy Resin?

 

[oops!]

Re: 14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

i think he is using epoxy woodie.

first off epoxy does not contain styrene so the binders in the csm wont properly break down....you should be using poly with csm. or if epoxy.....just a cloth type of glass.

if you under coated the bottom of the benches with epoxy twice you are fine.

if you didnt...dont worry....its only a 14 footer and with nominal care it will last you 30 years.

if you want to water proof the top of the benches....just epoxy coat, or use a thin finishing cloth with your epoxy. then paint.

 

[nbaffaro]

Re: 14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

Sorry, I should have put that in there. For cost and availability reasons I am using Poly Resin.

My biggest question is: Is sealing them completely the right thing to do? Should there be some sort of air flow from the inside to the outside?

 

[oops!]

Re: 14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

generally speaking........
they foamed the inside of the seats for flotation.......there for did not need air ventelation to dry them as they were filled cavities.

if you dont intend to foam.....knock some pigeon holes in ther.....but put a screen in the holes or an inspection hatch.....(a locker for a cooler for that matter) just so critters wont take up residence in the off season.

but yes....you should have airflow in an open cavity

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

Well, Technically you should have coated both sides of the wood with resin and mat to ensure waterproofing but it's to late now. I would recommend that you resin and mat the outside of them however. 1.5oz mat would be ideal. Are you using the poly resin from Lowes or HD or from the Auto supply houses?

 

[nbaffaro]

Re: 14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

Ok, Back to this.

I started to paint the boat.

I am going the Rustoleum route. I used the Clean Metal Primer, I am going to be painting with camo paint. Undecided on brand/application process yet.

I have sanded the the fiberglass to with 150 paper on a DA Sander. I then washed it with dawn, then I wiped it down with paint thinner just to get everything off. I rolled it on fairly thin. Did not get 100% coverage probably close to 90%. I have also started to sand it with 220 on a sanding block. I get good dust with very little clumping on the paper excect when I sand off the runs.

However, I can still take my fingernail and scrape it off pretty easy.

How can I really tell if this stuff had adhered to the fiberglass?
It has dried for 30 hrs and quite a bit of time in the direct sunlight.

Can says recoat time is 24 hours and I would have guess it would have completely set up by then. Of course is has been fairly humid the last 24 hours. It is not sticky or tacky at all.

 

[nbaffaro]

Re: 14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

The paint seems to be getting harder. How long should I wait to make a descision?

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 14' Fiberglass Boat Questions

If you did not add Hardener to the rustoleum it can take up to 10 days for it to fully cure.