Damaged GRP Repair Estimations

[Jani-SRI]

I´m planing to buy a 2nd hand sailing boat...Dehler from 1992.

The boat is in nice shape, but had couple of issues with the damaged hull.


In the first pictures...It is the hole for the roller furling....I do not know how long time it has been like that and how long the delaminated area really is?


In the next pictures have some broken gel coat on the coach roof...Same spots also couple found from cockpit floor...What caused these burstet pimples/damages?? Some air between the laminate and the gelcoat?


Then the most serious one... Aft have had recently hit by pier. I believe water had not been entered, cause it has not been raining in some months.


How difficult and expensive is repairing of these problems...?

If somebody have ideas or opinions....please share with me.

[skipmac]

As well as I can see from the photos, none of the damage looks like major, large scale structural damage but localized and repairable without taking the boat apart.

Cost would depend on where you are, local labor costs and how much of the work you would do yourself. In the USA to pay a boat yard to do the whole job might be USD$1000-$2000 but very hard to tell or estimate just from some photos.

How perfect you want the final job to look could make a large difference. If you want the repaired areas to be invisible and the finish to be perfect it would probably require a new paint job which would add thousands to the cost.

Knowing the location, size and brand of the boat would help.

[Vasco]

Glass repair cost will vary depending on where you are located. You do not state your location. From the pictures you seem to have many voids in the gelcoat, in addition the core material may have been compromised where damage has occurred.. If you are intending to buy this boat your surveyor should be able to give you a good estimate of repair costs. You should not buy the boat without a good survey.

[colemj]

I'll take a shot at it. I wouldn't worry about the roller furler one. It isn't structural, it doesn't appear to be cored and it doesn't look delaminated. It should be easy to fix, but you should fix the underlying problem that caused it.

The gelcoat blisters are because there were air voids in the original layup between when the gelcoat was applied to the mold and the first layer of glass/resin. Most boats have a couple of these spots, even if they haven't broken open yet after many years. They are not structural at all and nothing to worry about other than the cosmetics. You can just fill with fairing putty, sand and paint over with gelcoat for a quick fix. In your case, it looks like a particularly careless job and the voids in the non-skid will be difficult to repair to a good cosmetic level. Given how many it has, you can probably count on seeing these voids popping up regularly as this boat ages.

The last picture looks more serious. It appears to be the edge of the sugar scoop that rubbed against a dock. It is pretty torn up to see well, but it looks like a foam cored construction. Repairing this will require cutting away the bad area back to good foam and glass and rebuilding it. Luckily, it isn't a structural component and it doesn't look like the damage extends past the lip, so if there isn't further water intrusion or delamination the repair should be straight forward. This one will take a good glass guy to blend the repair well into the rest of the hull.

I can't comment on cost because that varies so greatly.

Mark

[Jani-SRI]

The Boat is in Ibiza, Spain...Dehler 43 1992

and...Yes I´m planing to have a proper surveyor to check the boat, but it seems to be common way to make an offer etc before surveyor can step to the picture.

Just would like to know if these problems are "turn offs" when I´m looking for the boat.

And...I would not do too much anything about it by myself.... Do not have time, interest or knoledge to do it in acceptable way.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Fixable - just a matter of cost.

I'd get a couple of quotes (maybe start off with just estimated figures) and firm up the quotes if negotiations £££ look like in same ballpark and therefore worthwhile getting a surveyor involved. Would still budget for requiring more work / £££ than anticipated - some things you can only fully assess when started.

Upside is that the work will put off plenty of folks.

Downside is that (all together) screams unloved boat / owner stopped caring or ran out of cash. Therefore I'd want to check everything isn't suffering from lack of use / lack of maintanence - especially the engine / mechanicals...........as well as for simply worn out / old age..........so, pretty much like all boats

[cburger]

Qulity fiberglass and gelcoat repairs are not inexpensive and like anything else you usually get what you pay for. I blew up your picture of the supposed air voids and blisters and to my eye it looks more like someone dragged something heavy across the non skid and just knocked the gel off the high part of the pattern, exposing resin. Expert gel coat guys or gals can repair non skid almost invisibly. Thats why they get the big bucks for what to the uninitiated seem like small repairs. In the NY metro area the going rate is between $75.00 to $125.00 per hour. The rest of the problems appear to be pretty cut and dry. Make sure to have the boat surveyed before purchase and if you decide to buy the boat, people in your areas marinas should be able to reccomend who they use for fiberglass and gelcoat repair. Don't settle for some yard person, this tyoe of work is best served by someone who does it for a living.