Repainting

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James Power
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Re: Repainting

Post by James Power »

Hey Amytom, one way to do the repair is to sand the entire nonskid section smooth, then re apply a coat of thickened gelcoat with a roller. This is how the original finish was achieved when the moulds were made. When finished there may be a slight diffrence in the texture compaired to the surrounding deck, but that section will have a consistent pattern. James
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Re: Repainting

Post by amytom »

Thanks James

What are the differences between paint and gelcoat as far as this repair? I will be resurfacing both non-skid and smooth areas.
James Power
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Re: Repainting

Post by James Power »

I would do a "gel repair" on the smooth areas and then roll the nonskid texture. This way everything remains gelcoat and you dont have to worry about the secondary bonding of paint, especially on the nonskid areas, since they would be hard to clean and prep properly. James
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maxicrom
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Repainting or Redoing the original repair

Post by maxicrom »

A-T,

Those repairs are pretty ugly - I'm not familiar with how thick the glass is around that hatch area but if it were my boat I would not be pleased with that look either.

Option 1: If there is significant glass thickness I would begin fairing it down to see how it smoothes out, you may be able to fair it out (sand out the rough edges and major uglies and then use a thin F\G micro-balloon mix or premixed F\G fairing filler to even out any pits or high spots) then sand it smooth - once you are pleased with the look you have the option to go with gel coat or primer and paint. If you plan to eventually paint the topsides you can skip the gel coat and even use a filler primer primer paint just don't go to thick.

Note: I just took a second look at the repairs - from the photo it looks like it may have been painted once already (the non-skid looks rougher than the original molding). If it's already been painted once you don't have to worry about preserving the gel coat (you may need to verify that it was not painted with an epoxy variety paint - sanding will tell you pretty quick). Also those little foam rollers work great for Gel Coat, just stop before the Gel Coat starts to cure or the finish will have runs where the roller pulls on the curing gel.

Option 2: If the fix is structural, you may want to consider re-doing the repair cleanly. Sand off the uglies to where it is smooth, use a F\G filler to level any pits or voids and sand smooth. Cut some cloth the correct size and make the repair, feather edges and add layers until structure is restored - you will be surprised how thin F\G cloth will lay - add build up layers of resin until correct thickness and smooth, then sand and use filler as needed to complete repair. You canuse Gel coat or paint afterwards. The Gujon Bros pamplet on West System F\G resin is really good.

Option 3: If you need a Bullet proof fix, patient, and sure that you are going to paint the topsides. Sand down the ugly spots and redo repair with epoxy - requires less glass cloth and will be stronger. Only consider if you need structural strength with minimal layers of glass. System 3 Epoxy has a great online tutorial.
Epoxy Pro's: It is strong and will last forever
Epoxy Con's: If you are not familiar with F\G work, epoxy sands like iron so you want to get it right the first time. Epoxy takes longer to cure, must be mixed correctly and Clean up is a pain

Note: After Epoxy you can no longer use gel coat (you can add coloring to epoxy but the effects are limited not even close to Gel coat). Epoxy is fine over F\G - F\G resin cannot go over epoxy. Only mentioned it because it may be what you need.

Painting tips:
1) Rolling: You can get a gel coat like finish using the little 1" foam rollers, you have to be patient and change them fairly often.
2) Brushing: You can get a decent finish having one person roll and another following to brush out (apply lightly, multiple coats).
3) Non-skid: If you are using a non-skid material go with a fine organic or soft commercial (will save a fortune in sand paper the next time you prep the topsides - fine sand non-skid eats up sandpaper). Also use a slightly different color undercoat than your finish will be (for the non-skid to stick to), that way when you prep for the next paint job you will see the other color before sanding into the gel coat.
4) It never hurts to do a little practice first, you can use a sheet of FRP (Fiberglass reinforced plastic) available at any Home Depot or Lowes - used for lining bathroom showers for under $20.

Hope this helps out,

Mike
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amytom
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Re: Repainting

Post by amytom »

Thanks Mike

The PO that did the repair actually wrote a book about it so I'll re-read for reference. I hope to find out if it was resin or epoxy. I know that he mentions the West System in the book.

I went ahead and purchased some 105 etc... We have an old Expedition with rust holes in the roof so this will be my practice repair to get used to it. Of course it will be a different kind of paint but it's a start.

I also need to find out about rules and customs at the marina. I've seen people sanding and painting but I don't remember seeing any resin work on the water.

Tom
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Re: Repainting

Post by maxicrom »

Tom,

Sounds like you have a plan, I think that someone already mentioned using a sander with a shop vac (even the smallest shop vacs work OK), if you make the effort to keep the dust out of the water and be considerate with your sanding hours most marinas are tolerent to a point. I've found that work goes exponentially faster in the yard vs. in the slip, if it's an option.

You'll find that you can do most sanding with an inexpensive orbital sander, until the final prep - then it's hand sanding as the orbital will leave little swirls. I've found Ryobi's on sale for $17 and they last just as long as the expensive ones for sanding F\G - good deals on tools online at Harbor Freight company. Another hint after sanding F\G start your shower with cold water, it closes the pores and lets you rinse off the fibers before they become one with you (for the next week). My old F\G supply shop had logo T-shirts that said "Itchin' for fun", unfortunately it's one of the joys of boat repair.

Good luck,

MB
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IMHO you need to get a 4 1/2 to 5 disk sander and learn its

Post by thinwater »

It will do things you just can't do with an orbital sander, but there is a learning curve.

Anyway you look at it, there is goin to be some fairing. You can't remove that much "hump" of hard epoxy without getting a little under somewhere. Like spackling a room, there are multiple steps.

I've never had to learn gel-coat; my last boat was finished in IMRON from the factory.

Many coating problems over epoxy come from not removing the blush. Sanding won't do it and you will have both curing and adhesion problems; 3M pad with soap and water.
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Re: Repainting

Post by amytom »

Thanks everyone. Like I said I'll start with the beater Expedition then loook at the boat once I've figured it out. For the finish, I think all of the PO repairs were painted; I'm re-reading the book.

Tom
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