Blistering dilemma and local shop

[LegacyT]

Here's my situation. This summer I had the bottom of my hull repainted by a local fiberglass boat repair shop. The hull under the water lines had quite a few 3/8" and smaller blisters in the gelcoat. I had the guy sand the hull, do the blister repair and repaint the hull with vc performance epoxy. He said it would be fine to sit in the water and ge good for a long time. Well 4 grand later I got the boat and it did look good. I launched the boat at the end of July and took it out in the beginning of October so it was in the water for 2 n a half months. When I pulled her out for the season to my disappointment the hull had blistered throughout again! I was furious after spending that kind of money! What would you guys recommend I do? Give the guy a call and demand repairs. Or demand money back since he didn't do it right in the first place. Any experience would be appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Blistering dilemma and local shop

Did you get a warranty "In Writing" for the job? If not, then you're at the mercy of his graciousness, or small claims court. Blister repair is not an easy thing. Once it starts it's difficult to remedy. It can be a very involved and expensive repair. One of our members, Ondarvr, has extensive knowledge on the subject, so you might want to send him a PM.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Re: Blistering dilemma and local shop

Of course the shop needs to be held accountable for what they did (or didn’t do in this case). You paid them 4K, don’t let them get out that easy. The real question is, do they really know how to fix it. Ondarvr is our gelcoat expert and from what I learned from him on the subject, it is really involved process. Read his posts here
http://forums.iboats.com/boat-restoration-building-hull-repair/hull-blisters-need-repair-603250.html
and search the forum for gelcoat blisters. Best of luck

 

[harleyman1975]

Re: Blistering dilemma and local shop

The blisters are caused by osmosis (sp) The repair process is really involved. I know of no PAINT that is WATERPROOF. I have been experimenting with epoxy resin on bottoms with some sucess but not long enough to say it is 100%. That being said I think that your guy is only guilty of ignorance. $4000 is a fair price for the amount of work he must of had to do to paint the bottom of your boat. I don't think you were cheated...you just went to the wrong guy who I am sure was as convinced as you were that he COULD do the job.

 

[chrisf695]

Re: Blistering dilemma and local shop

Ive herd alot of good things about the VC performance epoxy and that people have had there boats in the water for long periods of time with no issues. Maybe it was the prep work before applying the VC... Did he put the barrier coat on or interprotect 2000 before putting the top coat? Im planning on using the VC performance epoxy on my boat this winter and I leave my boat in the water for 2-3 weeks at a time...

 

[pauloman]

Re: Blistering dilemma and local shop

most likely those 'new blisters' were had already formed and just grew to be visible between the time of the repairs of the old blisters and now - I don't know that particular epoxy - how thick was the coat?

Paul Oman - MS. MBA
A.K.A. “Professor E. Poxy”
Internet Epoxy Confederation (IEC) EPOXY HOMEPAGE
epoxies since 1994
Member: NACE (National Assoc. of Corrosion Engineers) -- SSPC (Soc. of Protective Coatings)

 

[LegacyT]

Re: Blistering dilemma and local shop

He did not apply inter protect 2000. I suggested to apply it but he was confident that the vc performance epoxy would be good enough as a top coat. That stuff is really good n tough as nails as I beached the boat quite a few times and there's no sign of it on the keel. He said he sprayed 3 coats of it on top of the repaired blisters which he used poly resin and silica powder. The "good" gelcoat was sanded with 80 grit. I mean this guy has been working on fiberglass for 30 yrs so he should know how to repair this stuff...

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Blistering dilemma and local shop

30 years of experience . . . you would think the guy would know how to repair blisters. Oh well, some people are just slow learners

You are probably best to address the issue with the fiberglass shop. 2-1/2 months in water is nothing, so the repair job should have held up better than what you experienced. This may be a 'failure to perform' on the shop's part.

There is an issue of blisters that were in their infancy stage 'blooming' during the season. Also, epoxy is often used as the blister repair material (not poly resin), since the repair area is already compromised.

"Inter-protect" would be the barrier coat of choice and is recommended for blister repair . . . at least that is what Interlux states. They do not indicate that VC Performance Epoxy is intended for blister repair

 

[LegacyT]

Re: Blistering dilemma and local shop

It's sucks cause I've heard good things about him and have seen some of his work. And it looked good. Problem is its 3 hours away since I'm in the middle of no where in northern Ontario. Ill give him a call n see what he has to say...