Gel Coat, why?

[James S]

Originally Posted by seawind_hazzie

I have a timber deck one inch thick /25mm it has a fibre glass matting over the timber wrapping over the gunwhales onto the hull,, and has been painted over with about 10coats of poor quality paint which is now cracking and looks ugly,, I want to remove the paint exposing the glass matting and from this i want to know can i cover it with gelcoat ,i would rather not paint again, any advise would be appreciated... cheers harry Bryce... SV Seawind.. Qld. Aust.

I hope you don’t find any delamination between the glass and the wood...its all to common with polyester and this form of construction.
To answer your question, I've sprayed gel coat with good results, and because it can go on so thick it does act as a sort of sanding sealer/filler if your surface is not true, but defiantly an expensive one.
I would think you would be happier with an LPU over a properly faired and primed surface.