Join the discussion 12 Comments

  • Steve says:

    Your the best.

  • Derf says:

    On the grinder, what kind of grinder wheel do you use? Thanks for the videos and keep ’em coming. I need to learn more!!!

    • ~Andy says:

      It’s a 36 grit ‘flap disk’.. I’d have to look up the invoice for the brand, but I’m thinking that a quick google search should pull something up for ya ;-)… If not, let me know. Only thing I can think of to note would be to make sure that the arbor size of the wheel fits your grinder..

  • simon says:

    Hello I have a 18 foot fiberglass boat (hydrostream v-king) that has six holes in a 1.5 foot square area, the holes are the same size as the one in the video. my problem is if i repair the holes the way you show in the video most of the repairs will be over lapping each other is this ok or should I remove the section of the bottom and replace it ?

    • ~Andy says:

      You should be fine to overlap the repairs. Since it’s such a small area I would probably do the final couple glass layers over the entire area, then fair the repair for gelcoat..

  • Greg says:

    I can’t do a two-sided repair as you suggest. I’m repairing a sailing dinghy, and the inside is inaccessible – a very narrow space between the hull and cockpit.

    I was all set to buy the laminating resin when I realized I won’t be able to coat the inside with the mold release. In this situation, it seems I must use the pre-waxed resin. Is that correct, or is there an alternative?

    Thanks!

    • ~Andy says:

      Hey Greg, I think I understand your situation but if you could please email (or post on Facebook) a couple pics of the repair area I’ll be able to give better advice 🙂 Thanks!

      ~Andy

  • Storm says:

    Aloha Andy
    I have to say I have been in the composit industry for 20+ years and your videos are awesome. I know for me the understanding is super clear, but the way you go about explaining things is great for someone to tackle there own repairs and fiberglass project. Thank you for sharing your knowledge it is rare in our industry for people to be open and informative. Great job aloha Mike Storm maui, Hawaii

  • RodB says:

    In repairs where there is no access to the interior surface of the hull would a repair completely from the outside not work fine… where you copy the thickness of the hull over say an circle area of say 8 inches in diameter with a taper around the hole so that succeeding larger pieces of biax and mat are used to match the thickness of the hull ?

    I ask this as it seems to be published in West’s fiberglass pamphlet and other places using epoxy. I’m wondering if using only polyester to repair would require a stronger engineering approach…

    Also, I wonder if you only applied a “form” piece of plastic glued to the inside surface of the hull covering the hole as a stop gap for your repair… then ground out the entire area the thickness of the hull in a gradual bevel and did the entire repair from the outside … would this not be just as strong as your illustrated method considering the pressures from use would be from the outside inward? … with water etc.

  • RodB says:

    I really enjoy your website and youtube videos… thanks for such a good source for information. I’m wondering what bedding compound you use to re-bed older aluminum or stainless ports …. life caulk (polysulphide) over silicone I’m presuming…. comments welcomed.

    RodB

  • Mark says:

    Hey Andy – Your vidoes have encouraged me to get into fiberglass and gelcoat repair on my old sail boat that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise. I have also been sharing them with members of our yacht club and on sailing blogs. Really appreciate your great work!

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