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Thanks for the instruction. I enjoy the easy way you bring the message across. thanks again for being their.
Howdy. You have provided me HOPE for repairing my gel coat on my Lido 14 racing dinghy. She’s a beautiful little sailboat, but suffers from scratches and, in some places gouges, where her previous owner slid her on and off the beach (a lot!).
The current train of thought held by the ‘elite’ racers (the ones who kick my butt regularly in our club Twilite series) is that you never, EVER, under any circumstance, alter or – I’ll just say it – PAINT the bottoms of these boats – it slows them down (something about hull speed or some such nonsense). I am not that good of a racer, so here I am ready to fix my scratches and gouges.
Your videos demonstrate how to fix a hole beautifully (well done by the way; I don’t have a Facebook account, but double thumbs up!!!). But how would I go about fixing deep scratches in my gel coat? Syringes come to mind. I’d much appreciate your opinion. Better yet, how’z about a video targeting severely scratched gel coat (cause there’s more than one in mine, like 10 or twelve worth fixing). Some say to just spray the whole thing with gel coat (obviously not racers). My buddy at West Marine says to fix each scratch individually by taping off the area and applying gel coat. What’s best?
Thanks for the great website and the hope you provide the rest of us.
All my best!
David McDaniel
Hi David,
As long as the is no damage to the glass beneath the gelcoat, it’s a pretty simple fix (just repair the individual spots). For the deep scratches I’d use a product called Adtech P-14 and fill the gouge just shy of the surrounding gelcoat leaving a bit of room for the eventual gelcoat. Sand with 80 grit, clean, then go over top of that with the color matched gel. Wetsand with a block and buff to make it go away 🙂
This video shows the process, except rather than painting you would use gelcoat for your finished surface (like I’ve outlined in the vid you just watched). The part that would pertain to you begins at 19 minutes into it
http://boatworkstoday.com/archives/947
Good luck!
~Andy
Hey I just finished watching the episode where you had finished prepping and applied the gel coat–toward the end you were applying something called PBA–the sounds not that great on my laptop and even though I replayed it several times I still didn’t pick up on what PBA is–can you clarify for this old half deef guy please.
PVA – Poly Vinyl Alcohol 🙂
just bought 84 whaler needs a little bottom work , I want to restore it any help ,would help, great videos could send pictures. thanks This is my first boat
David,
Kudos on your video “there’s a hole in my boat” found it extremely helpful, thank you. I have a two-part question.
1. How would you handle fixing hole (5/8″) in fairly aggressive non-skid surface and no access to underside of hole?
2. I removed the bow rail from my express sport fishing boat (permanently) and was thinking of using Marine-tex to fill holes and then either re-gelcoat or paint toe rail…thoughts?
Opps…sorry Andy, the above question was meant for you…after reading Davids post to you for some reason I typed in his name.
I am interested in re-gelcoating the outside of my 27 center console. is this possible to do with the brush method and would it be the same basic process?
It is, but given the amount of area to cover I’d really try and find a way to spray it (it will save many hours of wetsanding). But, if that’s not an option, try rolling it on with a foam roller and tipping it smooth with a brush. You’ll want to do this in multiple coats rather than 1 or 2 heavy ones. Apply a coat, let it set up (wait maybe an hour or so) then apply the next. Repeat until you have a good thick film built up. Roughly half of this thickness will get sanded off in the finishing process. ** Couple important things: Make sure you’re using laminating gelcoat (NO WAX ADDED), also, after the last application of gel, let it set up for an hour or so and apply a very thin coat of PVA so that it fully cures. Temperatures of 65F or warmer have to be maintained for 24hrs… Hope this helps. Good luck!
What polish do you use?
I really appreciate the help you provide do-it-yourselfers!
Are you mixing fresh batches of gelcoat for each coating?
Why not just add wax to the final application of gelcoat instead of PVA?
You said in one of your videos that you would post a list of suppliers. I haven’t seen that yet. Who is a good supplier of best quality gelcoat – UV/fading resistant, scratch resistant, durable, long-lived gloss?
Are there high limits for temperature and humidity for rolling or brushing? Direct sunlight should be avoided I suppose.
Thanks!
Andy,
As I am working towards doing the same thing as Ted. after rolling and tipping the gel coat, what sand paper grits would you start and finish with? I.E. 80 grit to 150 Grit to 500 Grit?
probably 320, 600, 800, 1000. Finish with 1500 and buff 😉
Andy,
I am trying to gelcoat some areas on our boat where the gel coat has rubbed off due to beaching the boat. What kind of gelcoat would you suggest in restoring these areas (brand, non-laminating vs laminating)? How many applications would you apply? How much time in-between applications should i wait. I plan on using 80 grit sand paper to rough the area up, then clean it with acetone. Thanks again for any help!
Hi Andy,
I’ve just found your website and You Tube clips searching for how to repair my children’s sailing dinghies. They sail Minnows which are foam core, fibreglass things, and i’m just a Mum lol. Anyway they have lots of bumps, scratches, dents etc especially at the front end, and i’m trying to work out the best method of repair. One question i have though, is how do i work out if they have gelcoat or are just painted? 1 has a bright shiny appearance, guessing that might be gelcoat. The other has a dull appearance and in areas the paint work has crazing, so i’m thinking that one is just painted? Would i follow the same method of repair for both? Sand back, epoxy or fibreglass fill, sand, paint or gelcoat depending on which boat and sand/polish at the end?
Thanks for any help you can offer to me and my kids 🙂
Hi Amber! easiest way to tell if the surface is paint or gelcoat is to look at one of the chips to see how thick the material is. Gelcoat can be 1/8″ thick or so, while paint will be paper thin. Once you have that determined then we can try working up a repair process 🙂
PGreat videos. I have repaired a few fairly large sections and sprayed the gelcoat on. Not horribly orange peeled, but not flat either. Ready to start sanding. Does it need to be done by hand, or can I use a da sander w/ compressor?
Andy, I’m wondering after buffing the gelcoat, do you wax or seal the finished product? Thanks.
Hi Fincher!
I do go back over the gelcoat with either a wax or sealant depending on the condition of the gelcoat. I’m waiting for materials to come in, but I will be covering this topic in the next video 🙂 Hope to have it out within the next week!
Found you on the Westsystem site, couldn’t be happier. Just bought a ’77’ Outrage 19, Gel coat blisters and plenty of stress crackers and a few machined holes. Still in cleaning phase and finding more as grime is removed. As soon as the budget allows my first purchase will be the bottle opener, gotta have it.
Thanks again,
Harold
Thanks Harold!! Look forward to hearing your progress 😉
Andy thanks for your presentations – they’ve helped me in my big project replacing my 138 gallon fuel tank, which I had to cut out my floor to access. Now that the tank and original floor are back in place, I have over 20 feet of kerf to fill to finish the job. The kerf varies from nothing up to a little over a quarter inch. Most of the bottom of the kerf is epoxy, though I’ll have to stuff some kind of material down in the kerf in a few areas as a substrate so the gelcoat wont just run off. Should I make a v-cut in the entire kerf to provide more surface area?
I have some knowledge from watching your work but have a question about mixing the wax additive to the final layer of gelcoat. Is this added to get a glossy finish to the final coat?
Also, do you like the technique of placing a layer of plastic wrap over the final layer and gently scraping over the top of it?
Lots of questions but I’d be grateful for any light on the subject.
Hello Andy, love the tutorials brother, what compound are you using to buff out the gel coat before sealing.
Thanks,
Alan
Hi Andy,
Love the videos. You are a great instructor. You might need to open your own school. I just purchased a 9.2 Boston Whaler Squall complete with a 2 inch layer of Zebra Mussells from Lake Saint Clair, MI minus the keel, and sailing rigging for $150. Blue topside is pretty good gel coat. Bottom has been painted, but I have found that I can hand sand it off. Gel coat needs to be touched up in a few spots. What top coat finish material would you recommend to get this craft in the water? Just looking to protect the boat, not make it a show piece.
Thanks.
Tom
Hi Andy,
You are such an amazing teacher! I have so much more confidence in my repair work after studying your work. I had a quick question: What do you use to seal the laminating gel coat you used in the “there’s a hole in my boat” series??? Can you use PVA or would it be better to use a finishing gel coat with wax additive? Keep up the good work… a donation is forthcomming.
What Make and Model of Palm Sander would you recommend for sanding GelCoat,
V arable speed is handy feature isn’t it ?
Hi Edward,
I’m presuming that you’re asking about finish sanding and not rough knock-down sanding? If so what I’ve switched to are the cheap pneumatic sanders offered at the big box stores. I think the one I have now is made by Husky and it works great. I keep a spray bottle with soap water to keep the surface wet and it works very well. The downside is that you need a decent sized compressor to run them properly. If you don’t have a compressor large enough to run an air sander, electric ones *may* be an option, but because of the risk of electric shock I can’t really advise it. People do it, but personally I’d feel more comfortable just doing the sanding by hand :-/.. Hope this helps!
Thanks for doing this video series! One thing that wasn’t clear from your video: How long does one actually have to sand with every grit? When do you know you are done at one grit before moving on to the next? (I’m staring at my now-maybe-to-be-buffed gel coat and am wondering if the swirls I see are back from when I was doing 400.)
-Nils
Hi ! My Name is Mr. Herman Woods , I watch your video “s all the time . I Have a princess 1105 RC boat. And I have some damage to the front of my boat on top . I HAVE FALLOW ON WHAT YOU HAD SAID . BY USING GELCOAT WITH NO WAX . ON THE TOP OF MY BOAT , I HAVE A TRIM LIP THAT GOES AROUND ON TOP OF THE BOAT HOW! TO SAND THAT . AND I HAVE 3 COATS OF WHITE GELCOAT OON IT . I WONT TO KNOW ON HOW TO SAND AND WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR IN THE GELCOAT . WHEN IT IS READY FOR BUFFING . AND HOW TO BUFF BY HAND ! THANK YOU ! MR. HERMAN WOODS !