water in fibre glass???

[harry styles]

Hi,

I noticed a patch on the bottom of my boat that has had the gel coat ripped off. It is about 4" long and 1" wide. I can see the fibre glass woven mat. Was planning to just re-gel coat it but it seems to be soaked with water and slightly spongey. When I push on it water drips out? What should I do?

Thanks

Harry

 

[Fisherball]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Photos would help to see what you need. If it's spongy I would suspect that the stringer/bulkhead/foam underneath is also soaked, or the whole area around the damage is weaken/wet.

P.S. I haven't worked with fiberglass in 40 years so my guess may be wrong.

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

some picks, It seems that I can dig in quite a few layers.

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

More picks, I had planed to go fishing tomorrow but I guess that is not possible now, Is there a way to patch this till winter? It still seems firm and I cant find any water inside the boat although I can not get to the section directly behind the damage.

 

[drewpster]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Harry, You really need to do some more investigating before you decide how bad it is. It depends on how your keel was layed up.
Are you getting water in the bottom of the boat? Do you have a bottom drain?

Right off it looks like the damage is pretty fresh. If this were a case where the water has penetrated the damaged area only, you may be able to get it dry enough to do the repair and move on. If water has seeped in over time in to the laminate of the fiberglass it will take longer (maybe much longer) to get it dry enough for any repair to stick.

The question is not "can it be fixed easy" because it most likely can. The pressing question is "how long will it take to get it dry".

Do a little grinding to try to get a feel about how far the water goes in. Are there any other pocked or blistered areas in the hull bottom?

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Harry, You really need to do some more investigating before you decide how bad it is. It depends on how your keel was layed up.
Are you getting water in the bottom of the boat? Do you have a bottom drain? I havent had the boat in the water but I dont think that it would get water in the boat due to the stringer being on the other side of the damage. I dont think that there is wood in the stringers. It is a Yamaha SRV 20. The bottom drain is between the stringers.

Right off it looks like the damage is pretty fresh. If this were a case where the water has penetrated the damaged area only, you may be able to get it dry enough to do the repair and move on. If water has seeped in over time in to the laminate of the fiberglass it will take longer (maybe much longer) to get it dry enough for any repair to stick.I dint know how long it has been damaged but I have had it for 6 months and water is dripping from the damage. I keep it on the lawn so Im not sure if condensation has seeped in over winter and that is why it is stell wet. The glass is easy to chip of with my finger. How far should I go? I dont want to go right through.

The question is not "can it be fixed easy" because it most likely can. The pressing question is "how long will it take to get it dry".

Do a little grinding to try to get a feel about how far the water goes in. Are there any other pocked or blistered areas in the hull bottom?There are no other blisters on the hull.

Thank you for your help so far.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Drill a 1/8" hole thru the FG to see if the water is inside the hull. If water runs out, you will need to cut out the deck and get the water-soaked items out of there. That hole is easily repaired.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Hi,

I noticed a patch on the bottom of my boat that has had the gel coat ripped off. It is about 4" long and 1" wide. I can see the fibre glass woven mat. Was planning to just re-gel coat it but it seems to be soaked with water and slightly spongey. When I push on it water drips out? What should I do?

Thanks

Harry

Sounds/looks like a failing repair.. Grind and glass is the only solution.

Whatever glass that has absorbed water has to be removed and replaced .. period.. there is no " wait till it dries and lam over it" simply because its on the bottom ( if the repair was above the waterline it would be a marginal Mebbe .. but Not the bottom ).

Like stated above..grind a little bit and see what you got.

I would not drill a hole in your boat quite yet. Is the bow up and the drain plug out ? .. can you access the area from the inside to see if you have standing water in the area ? .. Most likely being a Yamaha its a molded stringer system and you cant..

Investigate a bit more..as said allready .

YD.

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Sounds/looks like a failing repair.. Grind and glass is the only solution.

Whatever glass that has absorbed water has to be removed and replaced .. period.. there is no " wait till it dries and lam over it" simply because its on the bottom ( if the repair was above the waterline it would be a marginal Mebbe .. but Not the bottom ).

Like stated above..grind a little bit and see what you got. Im worried that il have to remove enough to make a hole. Is there a way I can cover it till summer is over?

I would not drill a hole in your boat quite yet. Is the bow up and the drain plug out ?This wont work as the damage is directly under a stringer but yes have tried this. Also everything I can access is dry. .. can you access the area from the inside to see if you have standing water in the area ? .. Most likely being a Yamaha its a molded stringer system and you cant..I cant and I suspect it is a molded stringer system as what I can see of the stringers is very solid and inpressive looking. I suspect there is no wood used in construction except for in the transom.

Investigate a bit more..as said allready .
I have added more pics, Note the live tank drain/fill hole further down the hull is molded into the same area.

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

new pick today, It seems to have stopped dripping still feels a bit damp.

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Like stated above..grind a little bit and see what you got. Im worried that il have to remove enough to make a hole. Is there a way I can cover it till summer is over?

Its hard to say at the moment. Probably..but you need to do a little bit of grinding to be able to tell for sure ( your going to have to grind anyways ).

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Just ground it back. As I suspected I went right through. Photos attached. I have feathered back about 1 inch and now plan to use polyester resin and chopped mat to build it back up. Is 1 inch of feathering enough?

Thanks,

Harry

Love the forum updates!

 

[oops!]

Re: water in fibre glass???

ill jump in if you dont mind.....

that is now an inside out repair.
that means you glass it from the inside AND THE OUT SIDE.
if you fix it "just for now" chances are you will forget about doing it properly....lol

you will need to take the gellcoat off a good six inches around that hole now.
i would start with a layer of 1.5 oz csm just larger than the hole.....let that kind of get hard....(just hard enough that you have a solid surface to glass on) then a few (3) csm/1708 sandwiches. the last would be a csm or finishing veil.......then gellcoat.
that repair can be fixed in just a few hours.

HOWEVER>>>>>>>>>
the reason that water was dripping out is that the foam around the area inside is holding the water....thats why the drips and not a flood and done.
you have more problems than a hole in the hull.
the gellcoat is....well.....uh.....not looking good....looks like someone painted over painted gellcoat with out prepping the surface.

fyi......
fiberglass does not "rot" so to speak.....however....it does loose its ability to take and hold resin......this is when you see white strands of glass that are void of resin. any glass that looks like that should be replaced....however....your hole looks fine.

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

ill jump in if you dont mind.....

that is now an inside out repair.
that means you glass it from the inside AND THE OUT SIDE.
if you fix it "just for now" chances are you will forget about doing it properly....lol I cant get to the inside so it will have to all be done on the outside. To get to the inside I will have to separate the top and bottom of the boat which is not as easy as it sounds. The boat has a live tank that has holes through the bottom of the hull. This will have to be separated in order to get the top of the boat off. The top of the hull is also all fiberglassed to the stringers and cross members and possibly in other places that I havent even found yet.

you will need to take the gellcoat off a good six inches around that hole now.
i would start with a layer of 1.5 oz csm just larger than the hole.....let that kind of get hard....(just hard enough that you have a solid surface to glass on) then a few (3) csm/1708 sandwiches. the last would be a csm or finishing veil.......then gellcoat.
that repair can be fixed in just a few hours.

HOWEVER>>>>>>>>>
the reason that water was dripping out is that the foam around the area inside is holding the water....thats why the drips and not a flood and done.
you have more problems than a hole in the hull. The foam will not be damaged as after I dug most of the glass out the drip stopped in a few hours so there wasn't that much water in there. Also looking through the hole it seems like the foam is a fair way off the bottom of the hull.
the gellcoat is....well.....uh.....not looking good....looks like someone painted over painted gellcoat with out prepping the surface. I am aware of this unfortunate bad paint job.

fyi......
fiberglass does not "rot" so to speak.....however....it does loose its ability to take and hold resin......this is when you see white strands of glass that are void of resin. any glass that looks like that should be replaced....however....your hole looks fine.

Thanks for your quick response as I need to get this done today.

Harry

 

[Yacht Dr.]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Harry...its Not a today thing repair....

Its an INSIDE and Out fiberglass repair... It cannot be done in a day..sorry..

You can ( Semi-inside repair this ) repair Unless you jump the gun and start glassing the outside. If so .. you will close your option for a IO repair...

YD.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: water in fibre glass???

Harry, I recommend an inside and outside repair as well. I am an amateur, and feed the need to create a repair that is not at all marginal. I would cut out the inside to get to about 3" around the hole. Sand around the hole on the inside, until it is clean fiberglass. Make sure it is dry, and wipe inside and out with acetone. Now cut small oval layers of cloth. Make each one a bit larger than the previous, until you have enough to fill the exterior ground out area. Cut 2 sheets of heavy fiberglass roving to cover the area you sanded on the inside. Now mix up some epoxy resin. Paint the inside and saturate the two layers of roving installed on the inside. Now paint the outside with epoxy and gradually add cloth layers until the ground out area is filled. I prefer to make the repair all at once, so the epoxy is monolithic. Now light sanding and filling with polyester putty and some paint to hide the repair. Cut out the wet foam inside the boat and replace it. Repair the deck and you are done.

Heatlamps will help the epoxy harden. Just warm it to room temperature. That will be sufficient.

 

[oops!]

Re: water in fibre glass???

hey bud....you can get to the inside with out removing the cap.......reguardless of where it is in the boat.

you do need to cut a hole in the deck however.

that is what i was illuding to when i said if you only partially fix it now (by covering the hole from the bottom and not the inside as well), you will forget about it.....you will only remember to repair it properly when you are ankle deep in water in the middle of the lake....lol.

the out side lay up should be at minimum......

one 1.5 csm a little bigger than the hole.....let get semi hard.
one slightly larger 1.5.......then the same sizes 1708 bi ax.
another 1.5 and 1708. slightly larger than the last but the same size 2 peices....then repeat till you have at least 4 layers of the sandwich........and covering a large area around the hole.......dont glass over the gellcoat.....glass to glass.

yes....you will have a big bump.....but im guessing you are not going to glass it from the inside....so it needs a lot of glass to be safe.

again......i really suggest you do an inside out repair.....this will eliminate the huge bump on the out side.

good luck bud

oops

oh.....by the way.......search and read, glassing in colder temps .... i posted it a few years back....it should also be in my hull thread in my sig

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???


Thanks for all the advice. I have attached pics of the layed up glass. 10 layers of 225g csm. One of the pics shows where I would to cut a hole to get to the other side. I will try to take the live tank out over winter to lay up some glass on the other side.

By the way it is summer in Australia at the moment so winter is about 4 months away.

Thanks,

Harry

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

I have investigated more on accessing the back of the repair and I am convinced that it is just not possible. I would not only have to put a hole in the deck I would also need to put a hole through the moulded stringer that I have worked out is what I could see through the hole in the bottom. I have attached a photo of what the moulded stringer system looks like. Is seems to be moulded with integrated cross beams and then the whole stringer system is glassed to the hull creating a fully sealed cavity running the length of the hull. The foam is on top of the moulded stringers and can be seen in the photo so it has definately not been damaged. I suspect that this boat would float without tacking on water even with a gaping hole in the bottom. This boat has a self draining deck so I suspect that is why the bottom of the boat is sealed.

 

[harry styles]

Re: water in fibre glass???

One pick showing the cleaned and sanded new glass ready for Flow coat and one of the first layer of Flow coat painted on.