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Amazing video!
Is it possible to use ”car wax” if the area to repair is small (instead of PVA)?
Regards
Hi Simon!
I’ve not tried it, so can’t say if it’s a good idea or not. For the small cost I think I’d play it safe and just get a small bottle of PVA or wax additive to mix with the final coat of gelcoat or poly resin…
Hope this helps!
I’m repairing damaged area in a hatch lid/seat on our sailboat, where something heavy struck the nonskid pad a few inches from the corner of the lid and made a 3 in crack. There’s no evidence of damage under the lid but any water that gets in seeps out when the sun hits it and this awful brown water comes out and gets all over everything including anyone wearing white shorts! I really need to fix this soon. I saw the video where you were able to line up the pattern nicely but unless the mold is clear how do you know it’s lined up perfect if you can’t see through it? Unless you happened to make the sheet mold before the object struck damaged the area you’d have no idea where to align the pattern.
I can get the measurement off the closest edge next to the ding but shifting the mold left to right would only be a guess. I really don’t get how you did that unless you waited for the gelcoat to kick and press into it with the mold, trial and error until the pattern looks good and tape it in place. Otherwise, I wish you could explain the mechanics of this to me please. I would be willing to buy one of your extended version videos if this topic is covered.
Hi Cliff! That step looks more confusing than it really is 🙂 The two halves (the mold and the surface that is being repaired) are copies of one another. The mold being the female side and the part being the male side. When the pattern is aligned properly it locks together and cannot shift. It’s very easy to feel, but more difficult to explain. Hope this helps!
Hi Andy,
We have a 1979 Sabre 28 Sailboat with a deck in white gelcoat. We have three ‘problems’, all cosmetic, that we would like to fix.
1. the backrest to the helmsman’s bench has some spots where it looks like the gelcoat has worn away, but the texture is the same as the rest of the white gelcoat. Could the pigment have disappeared from the gelcoat, or is the gelcoat itself gone?
2. The cockpit has many epoxy spots from work done by the previous owner. What material would be the best to cover the spots and what would be the easiest to prep for and apply?
3. We have a raised diamond pattern non-skid deck. Recently, we have noticed that while the raised diamonds retain their white gelcoat, the gelcoat is gone only in the recessed areas between the diamonds. This is an area that doesn’t receive much contact when walking. What could be the cause and is there a good solution?
All this being said, what are the signs with a fiberglass boat that it is time to invest in getting her deck awlgripped? If we were decide to do this, is there a way to preserve the nonskid pattern when preparing for paint without sanding it off and applying sandpaper type nonskid? Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Nicholas DeGraff
Thank you for taking the time.to make these videos, very informative! Im about to attempt this process to repair some old holes in my gunnels. You mentioned you were using some stock gelcoat you had mixed up, my question is did you use a gel coat with wax for this repair or was the mold with the pressure of the cans enough to seal the gelcoat to cure?
Thanks,
Mike