Repair hull damage

I have a ches 16 that I trailer, and unfortunately, it sustained prolonged contact with a part of the trailer, that wore a almost through hole near the bow of the boat.  Since I was traveling to paddle for a week, I sealed it with Marine silicone and the trip went on.

Now to repair it.  It is about half dollar size, and goes through glass. I'm not worried about cosmetics, just stongest best way to seal and protect. 

After removing the silicone plug what should I use to remove silicone residue?

Here's what I thought. make a thickened mixture of epoxy with wood filler or carbosil. Will Carbosil be stronger? better. Cover it with round patch of epoxy larger than the hole. epoxy that. Cover again glass, epoxy 1-2 then sand down and varnish? Any help apreciated.


13 replies:

« Previous Post       List of Posts       Next Post »

RE: Repair hull damage

Okay, I now know using silicone was a bad bad idea. the web is full of  no no's on wood saying that it prevents any further adhesion. So, I sanded it down and picked every little piece out of it. Then remove small amout of wood of the damaged hole to see if i can find non residue wood.

Now I'l sand more to smooth the surface fractured fiber glass.

Help? suggestions should i treat with mineralspirits before I begin repair?

 

RE: Repair hull damage

 Wow, I just checked too. That's some good sealant. It being such a small area could you cut it out with a hole saw? Put a piece of material (same as repair) over damaged area to guide the tool and you would have a clean hole and a plug to fit it.

RE: Repair hull damage

Don't want to drill through, then I have 2 places for potential water damage in the future.  It's near the endpour -hard to get to also.

RE: Repair hull damage

 Hi GG,

  I don't think I explained my idea very well, I don't suggest drilling a hole through the boat. If the damage is about a half dollar sized area then a two inch hole saw should be about the right size to remove the perimeter of the damaged area and any of the silicone contaminated end grain. This would leave a 2" diameter hole in your boat easily patched with a 'plug' cut out of the same type of material with the same hole saw. The only hitch is the hole saw will wander around the damaged area as there is no material in the repair area for the pilot bit to guide it. The workaround here would be to use the saw to cut a hole in a scrap piece of Okume (or whatever you want the plug material to be)and use the hole you just created as a guide by centering it on the damage and holding it in place while you drill. The end result will be a new hole with sound perimeter and a plug to fit. You could then use thickened epoxy around the edges of the plug for fastening then finish with the glass/epoxy as you mentioned earlier.

 Hope this helps.

RE: Repair hull damage

To answer part of your original question:

I use a product called Pre-Kleano, which is a wax and silicone remover. You can get it at places that sell auto finishing supplies.

Cheers, Pat

RE: Repair hull damage

 Thanks for the hole saw suggestion. I would prefer however to patch it with some kind of epoxy so it is strong and would be easily faired and smoothed.  Is Carbosil better than wood filler in regards to strength?

My idea is like the fillets. Strenghtened Epoxy first, then  fiberglass on that then clear epoxy.

Any comments? GG

 

RE: Repair hull damage

Any comments?

 

RE: Repair hull damage

"Any comments?"

I think wood flour and epoxy is strong enough - probably stronger than the existing hull plywood. Otherwise what you are thinking is what I would do. The only issue I see is removing all traces of the silicone first. The silicon manufacturer can probably recommend something there.

Good luck,

Grant

RE: Repair hull damage

cab is stronger but very hard to sand.  I agree with Old Yeller, wood floor and epoxy probably stronger then original material.  That said, are you still using the same trailer?  Might want to add a kevlar or cab patch to prevent future wear.

RE: Repair hull damage

I removed the part of the trailer that caused the flaw in the system. Have not trailered it long distances since.  I car top it for that.

I have 4 coats of epoxy on the rest of the boat so will re coat with that. Wood filler would match the color better. I live in WI and the weather is controlling the repairs more than I'd like.  Rain rain rain. Ther's one day of even barometer predicted this weekend. Hope to do the patch then.

I call her Sweet 16 because she's a 16 foot ches.

GG

RE: Repair hull damage

I'd have to agree with sskiff on this one.  Cutting out the perimeter and any areas contaminated by the silicone would actually be a much cleaner repair and I believe easier to accomplish.  Strength wise, I'd say it's basically a wash, especially if it's close to the end-pour because the hull doesn't flex as much there.

FrankP

RE: Repair hull damage

Damn, I hate double posting.  Another option is to "patch" with some sort of onlay directly over the existing damage.  Then a small glass patch over the onlay and you're golden.

FrankP

RE: Repair hull damage

I am with frankp on that. The onlay would look better than the blucky spot of fixemup!

« Previous Post     List of Posts     Next Post »


Please login or register to post a reply.