Moisture warping a half glassed hull.

Just a warning to all.  I am building a petrel and had the hull glassed only on the inside of the hull.  Then had to take a break for a few weeks.  During this time, between rain and snow melt, my basement, where I build the thing flooded with one inch of water over the whole floor for somewhere from one to two days before I realized that the sump pump was not working.  Got the pump going.  then realized that the high humidity had caused the strips to swell on one side and the epoxy kept the other side dry.  The result is that the hull has "warped" and is now 2 " narrower at the widest point than it should be.  I now have the dehumidifer and a heater going to dry things out and assume that in several days the hull should return to its origional shape. 

I considered trying to brace it open with a bunch of crosspieces but I am afraid it will bow between braces and become wavey.  I may force the forms back in for a while but will have to remove them before gluing the deck to the hull.   

In the meantime I'm finishing the hatches and coaming.

So, a word of caution.  Once you put fiberglass on one surface get the other surface coated as soon as possible.

 

 

 


1 reply:

« Previous Post       List of Posts       Next Post »

RE: Moisture warping a half glassed hull.

My friend John does this when he has the hull off the forms and before the deck is on. btw, he's built some great boats http://www.outdoorplace.org/paddling/

« Previous Post     List of Posts     Next Post »


Please login or register to post a reply.