Re: Epoxy or Polyester for deck
SC
I actually agree with you.
What happens all too frequently is people hear that epoxy is better in almost every category than polyester and it is, but both serve their intended purposes very well. After reading a few things about epoxy they start thinking it's impervious to water, age, poor design or workmanship and will stick to almost anything. The impression that's left is if they coat whatever it is they're doing with epoxy, there will never be a problem with it again.
People start to compare production line polyester boats with custom built wood and epoxy boats. The differences in the construction between the two are huge. Like I said before, people who build wooden boats tend to love what they're doing and great care is taken in an attempt to choose the right products for the job. They also research the correct methods of building, the results can be a very good boat that can be handed down to the next generation if cared for.
Many production line polyester boats, especially the older ones, were made by poorly trained crews, with the lowest cost materials and a design that had very little thought go into it, which was then modified or changed by this crew as they worked on it. This crew was only looking forward to pay day and beer, not the thought of using this boat with their family for many years to come. Then when this boat fails in some way it's blamed on the resin.
It's odd how these differences will effect the quality of construction.
What I try to get across is that both products work well when used as intended or designed, but both will fail when used incorrectly.
The typical repair being done on this site is a 13' to 20', 20-40 year old boat that was purchased for little or no money and the budget to repair it is even less. Most of the people have never done any fiberglass work before and if they have, it was many years ago and didn't turn out well.
There isn't enough money in these budgets for epoxy, good marine plywood, composite cores, high end fibers and such, and for the most part they aren't needed. If these were high dollar custom built boats that were going to see a great deal of stress, as in racing sailboats or mega HP go fast boats, then the answers would be a little different.
Many people also think they want to fix up this old boat they just got and have it last a lifetime. As the owner learns more about boating and what they actually like about it, the current boat no longer fills the need and they start looking for another boat. What normally happens is the boat gets put back into working condition and in a year or so the boat is sold for far less money than it took to fix it, or is scrapped.
The idea is to use affordable supplies, use good methods and get the boat back on the water in a reasonable amount of time. If done with at least some care and skill, the basic polyester and glass repairs will last at least another 20 years and much longer if the boat is well cared for. When the repairs do fail it's normally from the wood rotting from a leak somewhere, not the polyester coming appart.
