Am I screwed? Fresh fiberglass work got wet, cloudy

[Intermediate Mariner]

Hi guys,
Hope not everyone got rained out this 4th like the midwest has!

I am working on a old 60ish Red Fish fiberglass runabout.

I just glassed in the new stringers and it rained last nite and today. Although I thought my new fiberglass work was cured it apparently was not. After the rain my fiberglass work is all cloudy. I fear that I am going to have to rip it all out and do it again (I did have this happened before and it dried back out clear... am I screwed?).

Thanks
Shawn T
Wichita, KS

 

[sasto]

Re: Am I screwed? Fresh fiberglass work got wet, cloudy

Sounds like to me you will be fine. Fiberglass actually takes years to fully cure. I have had FRP cloud on me in high humidy atmosphere. I hope others find this acceptable as well. Stay tuned.

 

[Intermediate Mariner]

Re: Am I screwed? Fresh fiberglass work got wet, cloudy

Thanks Sasto for the reply, much appreciated!

 

[jimmywayne]

Re: Am I screwed? Fresh fiberglass work got wet, cloudy

Is the surfaces of the resin still sticky? Im working with epoxy resin on my boat rebuild. My surfaces was cloudy and still sticky after almost 2 days. I had to take sand paper and i went trough several sheets of it cause it gunked up to get to dry resin. This is my first time doing glass work like this. I then coated with more resin. Thats the way ive done it though. like sasto said, Youre probably ok.

 

[starcrafter65]

Re: Am I screwed? Fresh fiberglass work got wet, cloudy

I found the number one cause of slow reaction time is actually not shaking the can of resin mix adequately before mixing with the hardener.

If it doesn't set up in 3-5 days you may an issue.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Am I screwed? Fresh fiberglass work got wet, cloudy

If the resin (laminate) was hard before it got wet then you're OK, it will only be the surface that's effected by the water, just sand it to remove the cloudy surface and you're good to go.

If the resin was still soft, the water can penetrate deeper and may ruin the entire laminate, resulting it needing to be completely removed.

I should expand on this a little.

If it was hard and got wet, then there's no need to do anything if it was the final layer, just leave it as is. If another layer needs to be applied, then sand it to remove the cloudy layer.

 

[sasto]

Re: Am I screwed? Fresh fiberglass work got wet, cloudy

To finish the surface I would recommend using gel-coat (if you used polyester resin) or an epoxy paint. Parafin wax must be added to polyester (such as gel-coat or resin) for the surface to become hard and not sticky. Without wax the top layer of resin or gel-coat will will remain somewhat sticky and difficult to clean.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: Am I screwed? Fresh fiberglass work got wet, cloudy

Hi guys,
Hope not everyone got rained out this 4th like the midwest has!

I am working on a old 60ish Red Fish fiberglass runabout.

I just glassed in the new stringers and it rained last nite and today. Although I thought my new fiberglass work was cured it apparently was not. After the rain my fiberglass work is all cloudy. I fear that I am going to have to rip it all out and do it again (I did have this happened before and it dried back out clear... am I screwed?).

Thanks
Shawn T
Wichita, KS

Hello m8...

Erm... Epoxy or Poly ???? ( I dont think anyone cleared that up yet.. ).

YD.