hull gouge

I put a nasty gouge in my hull today. Can I repair this myself. Fairly handy but no experience doing gel coat repair. I've heard parker will send me a kit but is the gouge to deep for their kits? Thinking about getting a professional. The pic is below. The gouge is about 6 inches 1/2 inch to an inch thick. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Craig

Even though I done repairs over the years, I’d find a reasonably price pro.
My uncle however would say “ya can’t see the hull when you’re on your boat”

Wow :shock: hiw did that happen?

Easy fix.

As long as there is no structural fiberglass damage, filler and gel-coat will make that disappear.

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Gelcoat repair is not a problem with proper instructions or experiance. But if you have never done any before, with that nasty gouge,
you should seek out a professional to assure the job is done properly. JMO

Talk to a few fiberglass guys and they are all slamed this time of year. I might try it myself. I can get the matching gelcoat from a local parker dealer. Any suggestions on the best process? Do you have to add pigment to the gelcoat at all. I would think the color of the hull has changed slightly after 10 years. I know west marine sells kit for this kind of thing.

Thanks for the feedbacCraig

Did you read this thread?

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Dont use the west marine gel coat kits. You will never get the color right.

miky2884":14guicj5 said:

Dont use the west marine gel coat kits. You will never get the color right.

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I second that. If you didn't read the thread, get the gelcoat from a parker dealer.

Gel coat is a cosmetic issue. If you screw it up, do again until you are happy with it.

I'd clean that wound and brush in some thick Parker gelcoat that has been sitting a while. As soon as you slather the gelcoat on, cover it with some blue painters tape to hold it in place. Goal is to make the level of gel coat extend slight higher than the existing. Block sand it all smooth (400-1000) buff and it will be undetectable.

If you hire someone..........watch them and learn. Trust me you'll save a bundle of money over the years. lol

grouperjim":10k1b0ow said:

Gel coat is a cosmetic issue. If you screw it up, do again until you are happy with it.

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Just gonna say the same thing. As long as there is no structural damage you can continually grind at it till its perfect.

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen. I think I'm going to go for it. I'll post some pics of the process. Do I need a special tool to grind that out or is there a bit I can use? Also, how much should I open the gouge up. Ive seen posts that say half the size of the gouge on either side. That process is going to make me want to cry.
Craig

Remove any loose chips of gelcoat. Ideally for an undetectable repair sand/feather the edges of the gelcoat where it transitions to the intact gelcoat. If you don't you'll see a faint line at the transition point.

Wipe it down with acetone. Apply gel coat, cover with painters tape. Put a heat lamp on it. Next day peel tape and block sand as mentioned previously. DO NOT SAND unless using the block. This will keep you from burning through the undamaged areas. I use a small piece of starboard to sand with (a little smaller than a pack of cigarettes).

Note: if after peeling the tape you notice some low areas, then apply more gelcoat to that area until you build it up. Use plenty of water and fresh sand paper, and wipe often to check your progress.

Remember........gelcoat may be a little tacky when you first start to sand but that is normal.

Is the PVA sprayed on after gelcoat is applied, the same PVA mixed with gelcoat then sprayed?
or are different types of PVA types based on application?

PVA is not required in this application because you are sanding the applied gelcoat. The tacky outer skin of the gelcoat chokes off the underlying gelcoat from the air which makes the use of PVA or wax unnecessary. The tacky skin is then removed during the sanding process. Covering the area with tape while it kicks will also eliminate much of the tackiness.

PVA would only be used to isolate the gelcoat from the air if you were not going to sand such as applying gelcoat to achieve a textured surface.

What the hell is PVA im a novice guys. So all I need is the parker gelcoat? I dont have to use any type of a filler right? It doesn't look like there is any fiberglass damage but it is definitely right through the gelcoat. Would u guys recommend using a dremel or could I just remove with a utility knife. Thanks again the responses
Craig

IMHO that's too deep a gouge to attempt to patch without using a filler. Gelcoat is thin and isn't designed to handle loading or depth (material thickness). If that were a scar on my boat, I would have removed the loose chips if not used a Dremel on it, wet out matting with thinned penetrating epoxy, would have scratched that epoxy layer up good, then added Formula 27 to sub-flush, and then would use gelcoat as the final finish layer.

PVA = 'Polyvinyl Alcohol', a mold release product, used like stated above to seal off gelcoat for a full cure, as gelcoat without wax needs an anerobic environment.

Sanding: When G-Jim above said sand above, he meant to say WET sanding. Use various grits, I start at or around 200, depeding on the locale and may go up as high as 1000 or more. When wet sanding, the paper and block should be in the water being rinsed MORE than it is on the gelcoat sanding, at least for the finer grits.

As Dale mentioned and I may not have been clear enough.........use lots of clean water when wet sanding.

My philosophy on repairs of this nature is that if gelcoat was removed, then put gelcoat back. If fiberglass was removed then put resin and kitty hair back then gelcoat.

Gelcoat needs to be a minimum of a "credit card" thickness. If only gelcoat was scraped off and any of the void is filled with material other than gelcoat, then the thickness of the gelcoat repair will not be uniform or perhaps less than "credit card" thickness.

Anyways, good luck and as always........YMMV. :mrgreen:

Add a few rags and here is a pic of everything you need to make the repair from A-Z.

Thanks Jim

It seems easier to me to add PVA, wax, wax-sol, etc

grouperjim":zlsfer6w said:

My philosophy on repairs of this nature is that if gelcoat was removed, then put gelcoat back. If fiberglass was removed then put resin and kitty hair back then gelcoat.

Gelcoat needs to be a minimum of a "credit card" thickness. If only gelcoat was scraped off and any of the void is filled with material other than gelcoat, then the thickness of the gelcoat repair will not be uniform or perhaps less than "credit card" thickness.

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That's great advise there Jim on the thickness. It's tough to tell perspective from the picture, but my concern was that the gouge went deep, but maybe it's the holes appearing dark ...