How To Repair A Gelcoat Gouge

There's nothing more than disheartening for a boat owner than to encounter their carefully-maintained hull all of a sudden suffer a gouge. Gouges aren't only unsightly, but tin pb to more than substantial bug such equally leakage and long-term hull damage. Nosotros've put together a few tips for the best practices in fiberglass hull gouge repair to assist you maintain your craft.

It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better

Many boat owners look for the quick fix solution—a simple putty they tin put in their hull, the equivalent of duct tape for boats. But a fiberglass hull is more than subtle than that. Like cleaning out the kitchen cabinets—it volition expect worse before it looks better. That's considering one of the best ways to repair a gouge is to use a high-speed dice grinder or rotary tool featuring a burr nose. This gives you a chance to smoothen out the edges a bit, which in plough makes it possible to add together the gel coat more effectively.

Understand What You've Lost

A fiberglass hull gouge is and then serious because information technology gets right through the layers of your hull's protectant. It's of import to understand what yous've lost with a gouge like that. One of the most important layers is the gel coat—the outer layer that creates a de facto seal between your gunkhole's hull and the aquatic surround. When this gel coat is damaged, your hull is susceptible to all sorts of problems.

FamilyHandyMan.com recommends using the following to repair the various layers of your hull:

• Powdered fiberglass filler
• Gel Coat
• Gel Coat reducer

To gild the proper gel coat, y'all should have a wait at your make and serial number and contact the manufacturer of your boat to get equally close a match as possible to your colour. The gel glaze reducer volition thin out the glaze so it'southward capable of spraying, which will provide you with an even coating.

Safety Beginning

Treatment something as challenging as gel coat will crave focus and attention. So pay a good scrap of that attention on safety, wearing goggles and chemical-resistant gloves to keep yourself out of harm's fashion.

One time you've mixed the gel glaze properly—shoot for a consistency like peanut butter—you can then apply the batches to the boat with a tool. Don't exist afraid to work in small batches to ensure that y'all handle each 1 properly, just keep in mind that the gel coat tends to cure rapidly.

Caulking & Sealing

What if your hull gouge didn't come in the fiberglass, simply you find areas of your boat that you demand to caulk and seal? We have a range of gunkhole caulking and sealing products available for quick repairs. The key, equally always, is to friction match the proper sealant with the material getting sealed. It's critical that y'all shop from a qualified boating store like BoatLIFE to ensure that all the products you use are marine-grade and designed for boats.

Source: https://www.boatlife.com/boatlife-blog/fiberglass-hull-gouge-repair/

Posted by: brooksreptit2000.blogspot.com

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