Fixing and painting fiberglass coated boat -How?

Discussion in 'Wooden Boat Building and Restoration' started by louischallies, Nov 30, 2013.

  1. michael pierzga
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    michael pierzga Senior Member

    Thats the normal way.. Glass the hull, fair the hull, paint the hull....then hang the rubbing strake. Rub rails.., spray rails are. sacrificial...so they must be replaceable. Dont encapsulate inside glass cloth



    Think of this when you fit your rails...

    You could bond with glue...then remove by chiseling and planning the rails off...some folks prefer this over mechanical fasteners.

    Your choice
     
  2. djaus
    Joined: Jun 2013
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    djaus Salted Nut!

    Who were you aiming that scenario at Michael?
    I don't need to fit rub rails to mine. They're already there. My only issue is that when I paint the hull it's final colour I want to seal up some of the existing cracked paint between the hull & rub strips. No point just painting over it 'cause it'll crack again.

    My rub strips are Huon pine & in pretty good 'nic, the only other issue I've got is sometimes when I load the boat onto the trailer, if it isn't lined up properly the rear rollers slide against the inner edge of one particular rub strip. Has subsequently removed some of the touch up paint I had applied. I need to re-adjust the tail light post angle on that side of the trailer is all.

    Louise doesn't have serious issues to contend with so he'll get on the water pretty quick hopefully.
    We need some photo's Louise, if only to put our collective minds at rest.
     
  3. michael pierzga
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    michael pierzga Senior Member


    Im simply refering to your quote

    "The person that built mine glassed the hull before fitting rib strips but then chose to fit them with screws that go through the glass, that's a no no! "

    Mechanical fasteners are commonly used.
     
  4. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Mechanically fastened rubs are preferred, to gluing them. Penetrations through the hull (regardless or hull materiel) need to be bedded. Liquid Nails isn't a bedding and is typical of the wrong way to do things, likely to cause issues (leaks, rot, etc.) down the road. In this case polyurethane is the logical choice, unless you'd prefer to use an oil based pure bedding compound, instead of an adhesive/sealant. If you use an oil based product like Dolfinite, you will have no choice but to mechanically fasten the rails on. Mechanically fastening things to sheathed hull shells is a necessary evil, so do it right, with the right materials and you'll be fine.
     
  5. djaus
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    djaus Salted Nut!

    Here's a couple of pics I took today. Thought I might post them to illustrate the issue's I'm having with my boat.

    20131204_101946.jpg View attachment 87017

    The first pic shows where the the boat rubs on the local pontoon. Mainly due to some new stainless steel hand rails that were recently fitted, of which I have no complaints with. They're real handy for the older folk who struggle to get on & off their boats.

    The second pic' shows what I plan to do in the coming days. Shown in red are some offset vertical rub strips I'm going to fit. Similar to what you'd see on a commercial vessel.
    The deck rub strip I plan to sheath with plastic or rubber so I don't need to worry about damaging the paint work once it's actually painted. The offset vertical ones will stop the boat rubbing against the pontoon, again so it wont damage my new paint...when I get around to it!

    Usually one would just use fenders when against a pontoon but these would be a nuisance if I want to move the boat along the pontoon, like trying to move it toward the trailer etc.
    I plan to attach some Huon pine (the vertical strips) by screwing them on. The screws will go down through the top of the deck rub rail & up through the bottom of the lower rub rail. At least I'm not piercing the hull with more screws this way. I might not even glue the edges of the existing rub rails PAR. They're already glued between hull & strip so I think the super enamel I plan to use will seal them up well enough.
    I was merely concerned with the potential for cracked paint between the hull & strip to let water in, don't think it'll be an issue though honestly.

    View attachment 87019 I didn't think I had a pic of my local pontoon but here you go. Displayed in red is where the new hand rails have been fitted. Easy to see the issues this way.
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2016
  6. PAR
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Your upper rail is poorly shaped and looks easily damaged. The bottom edge should be tapered upward considerably, so it can't hook a dock, float or pile as it bobs from wave action. The top edge should also be heavily radiused for the same reason and to shed water from the deck. Lastly, rails if wood, need to be a dense hardwood, preferably with a guard of some kind (plastic, metal half oval, aluminum extrusion, etc.). This is the first line of defense (like the rubber hose you mentioned), usually saving the rub rail from major damage. The interface between rubs (or anything else) and the hull is protected with bedding, often just called caulk. Of course, it needs to be waterproof and it would be wise if it was mold and mildew resistant too. Liquid Nails isn't even close to what a bedding compound need to be.

    [​IMG]

    Fenders like these can have a line fed through them and hung vertically and will walk down a wharf or float with few issues (they roll).
     
  7. djaus
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    djaus Salted Nut!

    Totally agree PAR, there's a few things on my boat that could've been better designed.
    Nice looking fenders too, they really have thought of everything!

    Anyhow enough about me, put up some photos of your boat Louise.
     
  8. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Ditto . . .
     
  9. djaus
    Joined: Jun 2013
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    djaus Salted Nut!

    To put up photos Louise, when replying to a message click on "go advanced", then click on the little paper clip in the top tool bar, a second small window opens,
    then click on "choose file" select the photo from your PC,
    then click on "upload",
    when done close that particular page so you go back to the message box,
    then click on the paper clip icon again & select the photo you want to post on your message.

    Obviously you need to have the photos on your PC already. That bit's up to you to figure out!
     

  10. epicjohn
    Joined: Jul 2020
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    Location: BIH

    epicjohn New Member

    Hi guys, this is my experience with fiberglass painting;

    I work for Epic Doors which manufactures high-performance fiberglass entry doors. We evaluated several paint suppliers including TruCoat 623, Sherwin Williams Polane 2K Acrylic, and Aquasurtech D200.

    We were looking for an environmentally friendly, single component water based paint that was super durable, had great adhesion and laid down smooth.

    Based upon our evaluation we selected TruCoat 623. It was much more environmentally friendly than Polane 2K and is a single component and TruCoat had better adhesion than D200 and was priced better.
     
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