cosmetic deck repair question

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cosmetic deck repair question

Postby RobH912 » Wed May 20, 2020 11:40 pm

My SLI DS previous owners have had different layouts for deck hardware over the years, with the next owner changing the layout, moving / removing hardware.

There have been various patching efforts to fill the holes left behind. Some sort of hard filler that is now a rough, yellow / golden brown and usually covered with a dab of something white (too much texture to be paint). See pictures as an example.

Everything seems sealed, but I'd like to make these patches look better, not be as conspicuous. There are a lot of patches, e.g., face of the cuddy, foredeck, around the mast, aft with various spinnaker block / cleat set ups, etc., etc.

All of the patches should be sanded down some, but then I don't know what to cover them with, and using something that might match OK with the white gel coat and sanded smoother.

Any thoughts / suggestions ?

Thanks!
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Rob


DS1 #2444
Cape Cod
Eastham, MA
RobH912
 
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Re: cosmetic deck repair question

Postby GreenLake » Thu May 21, 2020 2:27 am

Get yourself a gelcoat repair kit. The color of your deck will most likely be an off white, so you might need a small amount of some of the coloring agents to get an acceptable match. The kit will have instructions on how to achieve a good repair. If the damaged areas are so extensive that one kit looks like it might not be enough, get some plain white gel coat paste from the same brand, should be compatible with the tinting agents.

If you tape the repair (or apply a stiff plastic foil, like the old overhead projector ones - or a "window" from some toy carton) you may achieve not only a flush, but also smooth surface, saving sanding.

(If you have universal tinting colors for house paint sitting around, you could experiment; they might work in the very small quantities that you are likely to need to match an off-white. If successful, you win, if not, no big loss - just make sure to do a sample somewhere other than your boat. If it hardens and looks good when used as otherwise directed you should be fine.)
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: cosmetic deck repair question

Postby RobH912 » Thu May 21, 2020 1:31 pm

GreenLake - ok thanks for the suggestion on gelcoat repair kit.

I ordered this one to start with.
https://www.wholesalemarine.com/gelcoat ... ZUEALw_wcB

Have also watched some YouTube videos.

Thanks
Rob


DS1 #2444
Cape Cod
Eastham, MA
RobH912
 
Posts: 201
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 9:33 pm

Re: cosmetic deck repair question

Postby GreenLake » Thu May 21, 2020 2:02 pm

Yep, looks like you got a good price. Stretch it with their white gelcoat paste if you need more material; doubt you'll use up the coloring agents.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: cosmetic deck repair question

Postby lemsteraak » Fri May 22, 2020 9:36 pm

Hi Rob,
the yellow stuff may be some sort of epoxy filler. Epoxy will turn to a similar color when exposed to sunlight over time. You may be able to take a heat gun and heat it up to around 200 - 250 degrees, it will soften and with a sharp scraper or blade lift it off. Gelcoat can stand a lot more heat without damage. Our club DS had gobs of old yellow epoxy all over. The heat trick really helped. Then you can polish the gelcoat under and your repair area will be much smaller.

I picked up a little sander to get into the deck joint and I have found all sorts of uses for it. It is a detail belt sander, cheap and it works surprisingly well for jobs like this.
https://www.amazon.com/WEN-6307-Variable-Detailing-Sander/dp/B072Q2FTLY/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=wen+belt+sander&qid=1590197218&sr=8-6
Looks like they raised the price about $10 but at $50 it carries its weight, even hooks up with a vacuum. You can get good belts from 3m or cheap belts from Harbor Freight

- Rich
lemsteraak
 
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 2:09 pm
Location: Portland Oregon

Re: cosmetic deck repair question

Postby RobH912 » Sat May 23, 2020 7:19 pm

Hi Rich, thanks for the idea of using a heat gun. I do think it is an epoxy filler. Know that my wife's hair dryer is probably not hot enough and I got in trouble once before for breaking a hair dryer on a car repair project. :roll:

The link to your "detail belt sander" looks good and is timely as I recently found this YouTube video on hole repair and was wondering what the sander he was using was.https://youtu.be/a1VUAaDKQ9c

Thanks!
Rob


DS1 #2444
Cape Cod
Eastham, MA
RobH912
 
Posts: 201
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 9:33 pm

Re: cosmetic deck repair question

Postby lemsteraak » Sat May 23, 2020 8:01 pm

Yeah, probably not the best idea to use the wife's hair dryer... we have all done it. Heat guns are one of the more useful tools for working on boats. It turns out that a lot of coatings are like epoxy and soften with heat. I've taken off a whole lot of varnish, never sand it off, wood is too expensive. Varnish just bubbles and you can just scrape it off.

The Boatworks guy in the video is great! He gave me the idea of the little belt sander too. I went to my local tool dealer to pick up one of those cheapie Makita sanders, wrong, they want big bucks for them. If you use one every week, yes, I can see it but to me it is a real specialty tool. They do have a bit more power and are beautifully crafted. If you use good sandpaper, it should make the difference a bit less. The sandpaper I bought works really well, you just touch it to the work and let it go to work. 3M has different grades of sandpaper, this one is good https://www.westmarine.com/outlet/buy/3m--cubitron-ii-file-belts--P015986730?recordNum=1 and on super sale. Almost forgot, the 80 grit is about as rough as you want.

Our little sailing club beats up on our Whalers. I helped one of our members replace a corner that was taken out. He had a touch with Gelcoat and you couldn't see the repair. Let us know how it goes.

- Rich
lemsteraak
 
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 2:09 pm
Location: Portland Oregon

Re: cosmetic deck repair question

Postby RobH912 » Sun May 24, 2020 9:48 am

Rich thanks for the link on the sandpaper.

I have ordered the belt sander and will follow the video. Sand the blob, fill holes with marine-Tex, then use the gel coat repair kit.

June project and I’ll post some pictures when I’m done.

Thanks
Rob


DS1 #2444
Cape Cod
Eastham, MA
RobH912
 
Posts: 201
Joined: Thu Sep 20, 2018 9:33 pm

Re: cosmetic deck repair question

Postby lemsteraak » Sun May 24, 2020 1:47 pm

Cool, If you get the white Marine-Tex you may be surprised how well it matches. That stuff sands better. It isn't as strong as the gray stuff but it is much finer and will get into the little cracks that always seem to hang around the holes left by hardware. You are lucky and have a white hull so it can take care of battle scars. It isn't shiny, but I don't think it turns yellow either. Good choice.

Let me know how you like the sander. I've found it a game changer. It gets into those little places and makes it fun, well .... maybe not fun.

- Rich
lemsteraak
 
Posts: 66
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2014 2:09 pm
Location: Portland Oregon


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