Cockpit Delamination

Vajra · Post by **Vajra** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 1:25 pm

This past fall I was given a Herreshoff Eagle which was in moderate condition. After a long winter of rehab, I only have a few projects left before I can slide her back into Casco Bay. Anyway, the previous owner stripped and varnished the mahogany trim, which is great. However, in the process he spilled a large amount of some type of solvent on the cockpit floor. Thus, in various areas, the fiberglass has been dissolved to a point where I can see bare fibers. The fibers are all dry after a winter in storage but I now need to repair the area. Help!

Any suggestions on what products would work best to cover over the exposed fibers and get the cockpit floor weather proof again? Do I need to lay new fiberglass down or can I just run a layer of epoxy or resin over the exposed areas and then awlgrip the entire floor? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Post by **Tim** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 2:18 pm

It depends on how large an area you're talking, and how severe the damage looks. Most common, strong paint strippers (i.e. those that work) will indeed eat away fiberglass, though usually the problem is caught before it causes serious damage.

If the deck still seems pretty sound (no holes all the way through, and not feeling like you might fall through if you step around the area in question), then clean it thoroughly to remove any final traces of the paint stripper, sand it to remove any raw or rough edges, and fill it with a thickened epoxy. After filling it flush, sand as necessary and prime/paint the deck as you would otherwise. Again, this assumes we're talking a sort of minor crater, not a gaping wound. It sounds like what mostly happened was that the gelcoat disintegrated, exposing the raw laminate beneath.

If you think the problem is larger than this, then let me know and I'll recommend how to do a more significant repair using fiberglass fabric. But I bet you can just to a patch job as described above.

Good luck!

Vajra · Post by **Vajra** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 4:00 pm

Tim: Thanks for the quick response and the advice. Do you recommend any particular brand of epoxy?

Post by **Tim** » Mon Apr 05, 2004 5:19 pm

Well, West System is very consistent in its results, and easy to come by. It's probably the best choice for small projects. There are many other choices, but West System is still some of my favorite epoxy for gluing and patching, price notwithstanding. Go to www.westsystem.com for some valuable information about using their products, including a user manual that explains mixing and thickening. This is worthy information regardless of the epoxy brand you choose.