How to repair fiberglass boat hull

How to patch a hole in a fiberglass boat hull? You should not attempt to repair fiberglass that is actually damaged. Step – Remove the Wax. Before you can start working on the area, you need to remove any wax and mold release found on.

Stir in enough chop to get the mixture to the consistency of peanut butter.

Then add hardener (follow the manufacturer’s ratio) and stir , stir , stir. To fix gouges and deep scratches , you’ll need “chop” (powdered fiberglass) filler, gel coat and gel coat reducer. You need to start on the inside of the hull. Essentially you need to bond a fiberglass patch to the back side, about times the size of the hole. You might have access issues.

The surface must be opened up, usually. As has been sai the devils in the detail. A small hole in the hull can be best repaired by first cleaning te area of any damaged or loose gel coat and CSM.

Bevel the gel coat at about degrees. Place a piece of thin formica, polished. Clean affected area with soap and water insuring anything that could cause contamination is removed. In this short video I take a minute to fix up an old bad repair ! Many boat owners look for the quick fix solution—a simple putty they can put in their hull, the equivalent of duct tape for boats.

But a fiberglass hull is more subtle than that. Like cleaning out the kitchen cabinets—it will look worse before it looks better. I fixed it using marine tex.

This product is stronger than fiberglass. If you are just fixing gel coat, t. Starting at one end of the hull, press the cloth against the hull of the boat and rub in the wax using a circular motion. You can move clockwise or counterclockwise , but stick to one direction. For as little as $ 24.

MSRP), you can purchase a tube of MagicEzy Second Chip Fix, which as the name suggests, is a fast and easy way to repair gelcoat and fiberglass damage. This colored filler comes in popular boat colors and is ready-to-use straight from the tube. Free Shipping Available.

Gather sandpaper for sanding the outside edges and an epoxy brush for applying the epoxy for the fiberglass.

Adequate cleaning supplies. The first step is to clear the area of debris and clean out the affected part of the fiberglass boat hull. Use Boat Cleaner as an effective, non-damaging cleaning agent.

Either method involves plenty of wet-sanding and buffing to get that new-boat shine. This is about how much time you’ll have before the resin begins to dry and harden. There are two essential types of scratches you’ll encounter.

A light, surface-level scratch. A deeper, penetrating scratch. In the case of the surface-level scratch, your mission. Using a polishing compound like.

Buy fiberglass rubbing compound to finish the repair. To prepare a firm base for the patch, enlarge the hole. To restore shine to a fiberglass boat, it’s necessary to remove the oxidized portion of the gelcoat, and return the outer surface to the glassy reflective finish it once had.

It’s necessary to polish, or compound first and then polish the boat to restore the finish. To make sure you're stripping away all the damage, always remove an area at least half an inch (cm) larger than the damage you see at first view. To repair a fiberglass boat , start by cutting away the damaged area.

This type of boat is always waxe so before you attempt to repair the hole, wash the area with a solvent. Carefully mask around the edges of the fiberglass boat repair area with two-inch-wide 3M ScotchBlue Multi-Surface Painter's Tape No. Hold the cloth in the palm of your hand.

Give yourself a 16th of an inch of unmasked margin around the scratch, gouge or hole. Also, mask off any adjacent areas or items to protect them from inadvertently applied gelcoat or errant sanding. Money Back Guarantee!