FRP Deck Rot Repair Costs

[UNCIVILIZED]

Ouch! It's the surprise bits that you find underneath that hurt. In your case, the glass gone bad. Good luck with it!

BTW, some folks go nuts in terms of the paint type that they use, & putting down a perfect finish, only to overlay nonskid on top of it. My suggestion is to think that part through, so as to save yourself both time & $.

As to why they go with 2-part poly, & a mirror finish first, I've zero idea. Loco if you ask me. I'd be testing out industrial epoxy nonskid paint samples, only making things pretty in the drainage raceways. $50/gal beats $250/gal in my book.

[zeta]

Uncivilized--exactly what I'm gonna do! Since I have durabak up the sides of the gunnels anyway gonna just apply that over the top of the glasswork. 30+ year old trawler "do need no stinking gelcoat!"

[Scout 30]

Here's a couple of products that might save you some time & money:
KiwiGrip
https://www.basspro.com/Tuff-Coat-Ru...product/74554/

[zeta]

Thanks Scout30, I knew about the Kiwi but not the tuff coat. Boat had Durabak coating over teak and the up the side of the gunnels--this is proving to be the hardest part to remove. Tuff Coat appears to be the bargain of the bunch.

My learning curve grows by the minute and I'm seriously thinking not to cut out any more fiberglass from above, and to glass over existing fiberglass deck, then Nida Core and add another layer of glass and attack/remove all rot from below.

[Scout 30]

I found out about Tuff Coat on shipshape tv. They've used it on a couple of boats & it looks similar to Kiwigrip but you have to use their primer. It does appear that the best results are obtained by spraying it on using a hopper gun which is what they use to spray drywall mud. I think the finer texture version might look better if you're rolling but either way this stuff goes on thick & hides a lot of imperfections. A great source of epoxy & fiberglass is Fiberglass Coatings in St Pete. They have a new brushable gelcoat that they can match to any color if you provide a sample.

http://shipshapetv.com/video-library/
https://www.fgci.com/
https://www.fgci.com/bp_subcats.aspx...&cat=BRUSHABLE EXTERIOR GELCOAT

[Scout 30]

I recently had a rotten deck core in the bow of my boat due to a leaking windlass. I left the outside alone & removed the inner skin & core from the inside which was a really nasty job. I epoxied in a core using FiberglassCoatings superbond which is already thickened & really easy to use. I glassed the inside of the core prior to installation & then glassed the edges after it was up. I think if you go this route you don't need to touch the outside but getting the core & glass out is really a messy job.

I met a guy with an Albin trawler who had just glassed in a layer of plywood over the flybridge deck without replacing any of the original deck & he was happy with the results. If you go that route I would at least grind off the gelcoat to help your thickened epoxy get a good bond with the deck & scarf the plywood edges where you meet another sheet. I would also use a lot of countersunk fasteners. Even if your core is rotten screwing through the skin will suck the plywood to the deck & help hold it in place. Whatever you do please use epoxy! I've seen polyester resin delaminate from plywood too many times. The added cost is well worth it.

[Cheechako]

I used Treadmaster on my Hans Christian 38 when I removed the teak decks. It's nice stuff in some situations. In the tropics I may not use it as it's a bit abrasive on the bare feet, but I've never had such good non skid. On the narrow side decks of that Grand Banks it would be perfect.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

I recently had a rotten deck core in the bow of my boat due to a leaking windlass. I left the outside alone & removed the inner skin & core from the inside which was a really nasty job. I epoxied in a core using FiberglassCoatings superbond which is already thickened & really easy to use. I glassed the inside of the core prior to installation & then glassed the edges after it was up. I think if you go this route you don't need to touch the outside but getting the core & glass out is really a messy job.

I met a guy with an Albin trawler who had just glassed in a layer of plywood over the flybridge deck without replacing any of the original deck & he was happy with the results. If you go that route I would at least grind off the gelcoat to help your thickened epoxy get a good bond with the deck & scarf the plywood edges where you meet another sheet. I would also use a lot of countersunk fasteners. Even if your core is rotten screwing through the skin will suck the plywood to the deck & help hold it in place. Whatever you do please use epoxy! I've seen polyester resin delaminate from plywood too many times. The added cost is well worth it.

We use polyester resin for deck and hull repair all the time. Rarely use epoxy, except under the waterline, and then often use ISOPHTHALIC polyester resin.

There is no excuse for poor bond between wood and polyester resin, just poor resin mix or application.

Some epoxy manufacturers have brainwashed the DIY market that only epoxy is suitable for boat repairs. Pure nonsense.

[Scout 30]

For secondary bonds epoxy is undoubtedly superior to polyester resin. The easy proof is cold molded boat construction in which epoxy resin has always been used. If you're gonna glue to pieces of wood together would you use polyester resin? No boat builder in his right mind would cold mold a boat with polyester resin. When you walk the glue isle at Home Depot do you see a lot of polyester resin? You sure see a lot of epoxy. If you're gonna glue fiberglass to wood you might want to actually use a glue.

If you're gonna invest that much time in a deck repair it's foolish to use an inferior product just to save a few bucks.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

For secondary bonds epoxy is undoubtedly superior to polyester resin. The easy proof is cold molded boat construction in which epoxy resin has always been used. If you're gonna glue to pieces of wood together would you use polyester resin? No boat builder in his right mind would cold mold a boat with polyester resin. When you walk the glue isle at Home Depot do you see a lot of polyester resin? You sure see a lot of epoxy. If you're gonna glue fiberglass to wood you might want to actually use a glue.

If you're gonna invest that much time in a deck repair it's foolish to use an inferior product just to save a few bucks.

Sorry, that is flawed thinking. The boat was originally made with wood
Core and polyester resin. As long as someone doesn't botch a deck penetration , the bond will last forever. Nobody promotes polyester resin to the DIY market because the margin $ per u it of epoxy is much higher and the epoxy manufacturers have brainwashed the DIYer.

The only real advantage epoxy has on polyester is that it doesn't shrink as much when curing. Meanwhile, polyester resin had many advantages over epoxy. And yes, one can glue wood with polyester resin no problem. Almost every production boat has polyester tabbed plywood bulkheads.