Bad fiberglass repair

[Revenge]

[FONT=&quot]All,
Could I please get your advice on how I should proceed with a small area I paid to have repaired? Please see the attached pictures of the before and after.

The boat is a 1988 17? Boston Whaler Montauk. The damage I believe was caused by road debris. Unfortunately I didn?t notice the damage until I pulled the boat from a day of fishing.

My main question is this gel coat related or bad glass or all the above? Should I not put this boat back in the water until I have it repaired?

Thanks, Don.[/FONT]

 

[Woodonglass]

Revenge,

IMO, that looks to be some sort of Impact damage. You said cuased by road debris? You mean something from the road hit the boat while trailering?? WOW...Must have been something pretty substantial. Regardless, all of the fractured gelcoat that's loose needs to be removed and then the surrounding area ground and feathered down to the glass. Does the glass in the center appear to be flexing or is it firm and solid?? If solid then you can just build up the area with gelcoat and move on. The Hairline fractures can be V-Groove out and filled in as well with gelcoat paste. Everything needs to be washed down well with Acetone prior to applying the new Gelcoat. As long as the underlying glass is A-OK then you can still use the boat but, I'd do the repair sooner than later. If the glass is damaged and soft and flexible then you'll need to do some glass repair as well. Give us some more details and we'll be able to help with more details on the repairs needed.

 

[GWPSR]

I presume each of those 8 (?) concentric circles can be felt through whatever the covered the glass with? Did they spray gelcoat or just try to match with paint? It looks like maybe 8 layers of cloth (or more), but looks like they didn't fair it before spraying, or didn't block the gelcoat afterward.

 

[gm280]

I would follow WOG's suggestions as well. However, instead of merely "V" grooving the cracks if the area is solid, I'd grind all of it out and reapply new material. Since the area doesn't look that large, grinding it all out would be as quick or quicker then trying to "V" groove all the cracks. And my reasoning to grind the entire area is to keep anymore cracks from forming again. If you successfully "V" grooved the crack, what's to keep a new one from forming a mere 1/2" away again? IDK :noidea: So that is only my opinion...

 

[Woodonglass]

Sooo... let me back up here. Is this a Bad Fiberglass repair OR is this some BAD FIBERGLASS that needs repair? Did this damage occur and then you had it repaired and the cracks appeared due to some bad workmanship??? OR Did the Road Jump up and hit the boat and the rings appeared and then the center part fell out and you're asking how to repair it?? I'm a bit confused. Has it been repaired by someone or not?

 

[JaCrispy]

If you look close at the top photo the circle cracks are there. I guess whoever did the repair only filled the major damage and left the gelcoat cracks alone.

 

[Revenge]

Did this damage occur and then you had it repaired and the cracks appeared??? Yes.

The fiberglass doesn't appear to be soft in the center, but the gel coat cracking has me thinking differently. What do you guys think?

 

[MTboatguy]

so the top picture is before you had it repaired and the bottom picture is what it looks like now, correct?

Gel Coat cracks are a fact of life specially in repaired areas due to flexing, it looks like it is a very thin gel coat in the area that was repaired and normal use has caused the cracking. Is this in the transom area?

I have also seen a good gel coat repair crack out because of poor surface prep before it was applied.

 

[JaCrispy]

so the top picture is before you had it repaired and the bottom picture is what it looks like now, correct?

Gel Coat cracks are a fact of life specially in repaired areas due to flexing, it looks like it is a very thin gel coat in the area that was repaired and normal use has caused the cracking. Is this in the transom area?

I have also seen a good gel coat repair crack out because of poor surface prep before it was applied.

Read my post #6.

I would just vee out the cracks and fill with thickened gelcoat.

 

[MTboatguy]

Read my post #6.

I would just vee out the cracks and fill with thickened gelcoat.

I have read all of the posts, myself, would not worry about it during the season, then after the summer season is over, I might take the time to address is can clean it up some. The gel coat really does not add anything to the structure of the boat, it is more cosmetic than anything else.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Yea..no..they didnt fix it.

Kinda looks like one big air void the got popped. Doesnt really look like Impact as much as not a properly bonded gel in that area. Regardless..the whole thing should be ground down to glass. Just take the gel off, then glass over and gelcoat that sucker ( Like GM280 said up there ^^ ).

You could use it no problem..unless it pops off. And..well that would suck because now you have no recourse against the repair guy. You know..you musta hit it again..or some such thing like that. I would take it back Now and at least show the shop how it is currently. Give them the option to fix it now or sometime in the future.

 

[Revenge]

Never determined what I ran over but it dented the trailer fender and punctured the boat. I took the boat to a recommended guy which was a mistake. He did do the repair in a timely manner but I was never able to reach him. His wife handled all the paper work. To this day I can?t reach him. I also had him repair some scratches on the keel and spray some gel coat. The gel coat came off the first time I put the boat on the trailer. And now these cracks appeared.

Like many others, this boat has been my pride enjoy for the last 27 years. This makes me sick?

Thanks for all your advice. I feel much better about taking it on vacation this weekend. You guys are the greatest.

Don.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Somewhat in his defence ( but not really )..sometimes its Real hard to see micro cracks in the gel. If you miss them they will telegraph through over a period of time. This is why you should always grind the gelcoat off instead of die grinding each one. You never know where the gel is damaged if its to the glass bond.

I hope he is the kind of guy that will back it up when and if you finally get a hold of him.

Have a great 4th out on the water and be safe.