Marine Tex?

[Marqus]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Here are a few other tips for repairing gelcoat.

I had a few small areas of the deck that had FP non-skid deck bumps chipped off.
I fixed them with the FP factory gelcoat and hardener that was given to us with the boat.
Takes about 45 minutes to fix them.

Items you would need
1) Acetone to clean areas and a clean white rag to apply it with
2) FP Exterior Gel Coat and Hardener
3) PVA Mold Release or Barrier film and an eye dropper or spray bottle to apply it with
4) Small syringe to apply a small uniform bead of Gel Coat
5) Wooden popsicle sticks for mixing gel coat and hardener
6) One foot square piece of cardboard to mix the gel coat and hardener on.
7) Surgical gloves to protect your hands

Process to fill the non-skid deck bumps
1) Put on your surgical gloves
2) Clean area you want to do with Acetone on a clean white rag
3) Mix ½ teaspoon and 2 drops of hardener thoroughly on the cardboard with a popsicle stick
4) Put catalyze (mixed gel coat and hardener) into Small syringe
5) With the syringe. Start filling the missing non-skid deck bumps
6) With an eye dropper or spray bottle. Put a bit of PVA mold release over all areas of gel coat you put on. Do this as you go so you do not miss any and so you can see where you have been.

Note: Gel coat is designed to be a laminate which will remain tacky unless air is inhibited from coming in contact with curing gel coat. This is why we put on PVA mold release to seal out the air.

Thanks Cotemar, for writing up the details so nicely.

.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Here are a few other tips for repairing gelcoat.

<snip>

6) With an eye dropper or spray bottle. Put a bit of PVA mold release over all areas of gel coat you put on. Do this as you go so you do not miss any and so you can see where you have been.

Note: Gel coat is designed to be a laminate which will remain tacky unless air is inhibited from coming in contact with curing gel coat. This is why we put on PVA mold release to seal out the air.

An alternative to coating with mold release is to use a wax additive (sold separately) or purchase "Waxed" gelcoat to start with. The wax comes to the surface during the curing process and seals off the air, allowing the gelcoat to harden tack free without the need to cover it.

Lots of good articles written on the subject:
WEST SYSTEM | Projects | Fiberglass Boat Repair and Restoration - Repair non-skid and get professional results

Gelcoat non skid repair using Flex Mold - YouTube

The hardest part (IMO) is color-matching your existing gelcoat.

Dave L38 #38

[Sandero]

Nice vid.... but this is a in shop multi person operation... Completely not applicable to the typical DIYer.

[fkittson]

If your worried about any squeeze out put a thin coat of PVA on the area before you start anything. Sand or grind spot with dremal tool. Clean spot with acitone and Q-Tip. Fill with Gel Coat, cover with tape and smooth. When dry remove tape and clean area with soap and water. Any extra gel coat will come off the area. Wet sand to 800 grit and pollish. As long as you have a good color match you won't see it.
Good luck
PS.. I have been doing it this way for years.
Never once have I had a complaint from a customer. In fact I have had people think that I have repainted the whole side of there boat. They couldn't find any of the repairs.