Gelcoat blister repair

Dust-Free Gelcoat Peeler. Remove square foot in seconds. Sizes and Styles to Choose From. Get in Touch with Us Today! Can gelcoat blisters be repaired?

How do you repair a boat blister? What is the best filler for gelcoat blisters? What causes a fiberglass boat to blister? However, if you have isolated blisters and a manageable number to repair individually, we often recommend that you patch individual blisters and continue to use the boat until you determine the cause and extent of the problem.

How to Repair Gelcoat Blisters : A Brief Guide Drain the blisters. When you have your boat out of the water, you can begin draining the blisters. To do this, you’ll need to use a hard tool like a screwdriver.

Replace fiberglass as needed.

Surface Preparation and Hull Drying In the case of a severely blistered boat , it is generally recognized that complete removal of the gelcoat is necessary in order to correctly address the blistering problem. Gelcoat removal may be accomplished by grinding, sanding, sandblasting, water blasting, or gelcoat peeling. Answer: Following Interlux InterProtect 9Bulletin, assuring blisters have been ground out and the hull is drie products such as Epiglass can be used as epoxy resins to seal the missing areas of the gelcoat. Then the products Watertite, fairing and filling compounds, may be used if there are any minor areas of gelcoat missing or if there are any surface imperfections present. Gelcoat blisters can often be repaired before the laminate is damaged by hydrolysis.

Keep in mind that gelcoat blisters can be an indicator of hydrolysis, and that hydrolysis can occur without the appearance of blisters. If a large portion of the hull is affecte boat blister repair generally requires removal of all gel coat and perhaps even a thin layer of the underlying fiberglass. We use a specially designed peeler.

Our fiberglass and gelcoat repair technicians are trained in new fiberglass boat construction and the reconstruction of fiberglass and composite structural damage. Then, we sand the affected surfaces. New and old world industry techniques are used by our fiberglass repair techs to insure professional and quality repairs. Vessel collision and restorations are what we do. We provide mobile fiberglass repair and restoration services at theme parks and for other large projects for your convenience.

Our on-site services range from minor paint and gel coat touch-ups to significant fiberglass repairs. Unless you have a lot of time to dry out the boat and the money to cover the costs of peeling the hull, it seems repairing blisters is a black art. Everything You Ever Need to Know.

Drying of the hull - This is the most critical step in the process. If you do not get the hull dry it will re- blister. Other protective measures such as dry storage, frequent spot repair of defects in the gelcoat and additional hull coatings will help slow down and delay the possibility of blisters forming. Important Steps in the Repair of Gelcoat Blisters.

PROPER PREPARATION OF THE GELCOAT. He was also told that the repair would eliminate his blistering problem, although the yard manager did tell him that it was possible that a few blisters could possibly reappear. This includes getting all of the antifouling paint off and removal of as much gelcoat as necessary to get the hull dry (i.e. the entire gelcoat or just small areas).

The repair method included stripping off all the paint and old gelcoat with a specially designed machine by an outside contractor. Option – Partial repair It is possible to treat the symptoms rather than the cause by popping open the blisters, washing them out, and then filling them with an epoxy filler. Some people are tempted to put on an epoxy barrier treatment anyway, but this is inadvisable,’ Richard explained. All this does is accelerate the blistering.

Re: Gelcoat Blisters - What To Do. Get a plastic pump sprayer (usually for spraying poison around the house) fill it with muratic acid. Wear gloves and respirator. This creates an easy to sand putty that will help fill in transitions and hull imperfections. FMicroSphere Fairing Filler thickens to a white lightweight fairing compound for small to large areas.

Technically gel coat is porous so if left continuously in the water there is always a possibility of blistering, seen exposed boats go unaffected year after year while others blister after just one season. Proper repair will require removing the gel down to the glass and respraying, likely to be very expensive.