Gelcoat sealer??

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to seal gelcoat?

I ran into porous gelcoat on the Saratogan. Thousands of pin holes, probably tiny air bubbles in the gelcoat that were opened when sanding the surface.

I was aware of the pin holes and went around the hull and filled them at least 10 times prior to the epoxy primer. Thought I had them all, but alas, several hundred more appeared after the first coat of urethane....

I used thinned West System epoxy to fill crazed gelcoat below the water line.
The gelcoat on the hull is quite thick. .125" to .156"! Think I should have sprayed a thinned epoxy coating over the topsides gelcoat before any other fairing and/ or surfacing repairs were made and before the epoxy primer.

Too late for this project, but the info could save someone else a lot of effort. Anyone else found porous gelcoat?

Live and learn!

McSkagit

[travelmatt]

re: sealing gel coat

I am restotring a Bell Boy 18 and have sanded every square inch of it. After that I filled all the bad spots and scrapes with west system epoxy as well. After much research I've decided to go with the Interlux line of paints. I will be sealing the bottom side (many spider cracks) with Interprotect 2000 which is a waterproofing sealer, followed by Classic Bottomkote. The top side will be primed with Easy Poxy primer topped with Brightside. If any one can tell me if im making a mistake... chime in. Got to yachtpaint.com ; as well Interlux tech support is fantastic just call them and ask a question.

Good Luck - Cheers -- Matt J.

[McSkagit Tim Jones]

Pin holes in Gelcoat

This Pin hole issue has been frustrating for me! I thought perhaps of wiping the hull with Restore It.....maybe two coats. Thickened West System epoxy probably squeegeed on is probably the best, but labor intensive.

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Pinholes, Primers

We've had good luck filling spider cracks and pinholes with (first) Evercoat LITE sandable epoxy filler, then Interprotect 2000 two-part primer.

- Marty

[Tim_Mattson]

A good painter I know on Lake Union swears by Rolling out West System with a low profile roller......comes out looking smooth and then can be coated with Epoxy Primer to suit the Color.Lots of sanding and corners are tough.
The Grey 2000 does go on rather lumpy and is very tough to sand smooth.Another coat with the White 1000 will smooth it out as it has more glass bubbles in it`s mix.The Grey 2000 is more like Bottom paint,but will seal the deal.The smell is really wicked versus the 1000.
My Marathon I recently painted Red had many bubbles of stinky Rainwater seeping thru the topsides after being stored on it`s edge for 4 years.The water migrated thru the shell and made the bubbles become little resevoirs like Blisters.
The Barrier Coat primers usually stop them but it is very hard to get each and every one.
The 3 M Premium Filler with the Green label is very easy to feather edge and goes on like Peanut Butter.Or use the Thickeners for the West System ,I think the Purple 410 stuff was what worked really slick on a 95` AK cruise boat I worked on last summer.Used Stir sticks to feather many huge repairs down to the waterline.....
If using Epoxy ,I`m almost always using a 2 part on top of it since the primer will show it`s white layer quickly if the topcoat is scratched.
The single part doesn`t quite hold up to newer gas so beware......
Worst hull I filled was owned by a Golfer who thought it would be ok to wear Spikes while waliking on the Bow.....a buddy showed me his hull and told me about the Golfer who owned his boat before.....suddenly it became clear what made them.
Drying a hull with pockets of potential moisture bubbles is also worth noting......
TimM

[Sammamish1]

Gee, I wonder if golf shoes work better than non skid paint?