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Once you have all of the bad gel coat removed youll have a few options - - Re-coat with gelcoat which would provide a smooth surface that is UV stable but would not prevent growth from forming in the water and is not completely resistant to water intrusion. Use a putty knife to fill in the spider cracks.
They then direct you to carefully fill level and wipe around the crack.
Fixing spider cracks in gelcoat. Hairline spider cracks must be opened wider and filled with an epoxy filler to be permanently repaired. Learn how in this tutorial with Andrew Price. BoatUS Magazines Mark Corke shows you how to easily repair those pesky spider cracks that show up in your boats fiberglass gelcoat.
While this may seem lik. Gelcoat cracks also known as spider cracks indicate that your boat has suffered from severe structural problems or impact damage. As such you need to address cracks in gelcoat on boat surfaces immediately to prevent them from spreading.
While it is possible to fix these cracks yourself your best option is to hire a contractor to fix the cracks. This can be done by using a Dremel. Once the crack is open and it has a good size you can sand and clean the area.
For cleaning you may use acetone or soap and water. Now you are ready to use the Gelcoat Putty. Mix in a 1-12 ratio of MEK-P Catalyst into the putty and mix it properly.
Use a putty knife to fill in the spider cracks. The process of fixing a hairline crack differs from that of a spider crack. Heres how to fix a Gelcoat hairline crack.
First drill two holes on the ends of the crack to prevent its front from extending further during the repairing process. What causes spider cracks in gelcoat. Spider cracks can indicate impact damage or serious structural problems that will need to be addressed to prevent spreading but most often they result from relatively inflexible gelcoat that is too thick.
Stress by thermal expansion or when bulkheads and liners were installed can cause minor flexing. The instructions direct you to clean the cracks out with a fine needle and then to wash rinse and dry. Although slightly tedious the needle step is very important.
Do not attempt to widen the crack-the Fix will seep into very thin cracks. They then direct you to carefully fill level and wipe around the crack. Step 4 As soon as the crack has been channeled out wipe it clean with a solvent like acetone and using a plastic putty knife flush-fill it with gelcoat matched to the color of the surrounding area if the channel isnt too deep.
Polyester filler if the channel is of medium depth. Or polyester resin and fiberglass strands if the channel is very deep and wide. Its a good idea by the way to mix up a couple of small batches of gelcoat.
Brush a thin layer of gelcoat onto the sanded area feathering it out a bit onto the surrounding fiberglass surface. Step 9 Allow the gelcoat to sit for three hours then spray it. Note that I have started to route out the hairlinespider cracks emanating from the hole.
To repair these cracks and have the repair last IMHO you need to route out the gelcoat down to the glass and provide enough surface area for the new gelcoat to adhere. If you dont get down to the bottom of the crack the crack will telegraph and reappear. The instructions direct you to clean the cracks out with a fine needle and then to wash rinse and dry.
Although slightly tedious the needle step is very important. Do not attempt to widen the. To repair this type of cracking remove the gelcoat from the area and inspect the fiberglass for deeper cracks.
Simply wipe the area with a wet cloth so the cracks or fractured fiberglass will appear as white lines in the laminate. Repairing Spider Cracks. The good news about these cracks is that theyre largely cosmetic problems.
This means you can apply a simple cosmetic fix. Move your boat to a safe workplace. First get your boat to a well-ventilated area where it can be sheltered overnight.
Clean the crack area with acetone. The other repair for spider cracks involves a little more work. Start by wiping down the area with acetone and sanding the damaged gel-coat down to the fiberglass.
Try not to remove any of the fiberglass resin or cloth. Next wipe down the area with acetone again. For properly fixing a spider crack you will want to open the cracks to properly fill them.
Usually the easiest way to do that is with a Dremel. Once you open the cracks to a good size you can lightly sand the surface and wash it down with soap and water or Acetone to get the surface clean. From there you will want some Gelcoat Putty.
Spider cracks in the floor will not generally lead to water intrusion unless a pressure washer is applied directly to them. I see your options as this. Leave as is and enjoy boat regardless of minor spider cracks.
Repair cracks by your self for under 50. Pay someone else to do it for you for over 500. Thick gelcoat UV will cause spider cracks More data.
Structural flexing may not the only cause of spider cracks. My westsail still in kit form has spider cracks all over the deck. It has been sitting on the hard in the sun for the past 30 years.
So structural flexing could not be the cause. Must have been the sun. Spectrum paste gelcoat and polyester resin cured slow and fast just cracked right through again as did marine tex marine fix goop product and several other epoxy type products.
I would love to see photo links to work like Keltonkrew on different spider crack remedies and their costs and labor needed. It is a good sign that the cracks dont seem to have gotten into that layer. Once you have all of the bad gel coat removed youll have a few options - - Re-coat with gelcoat which would provide a smooth surface that is UV stable but would not prevent growth from forming in the water and is not completely resistant to water intrusion.
More often than not spider cracks only affect the thin layer of gelcoat surface. It rarely goes or extend beyond the coating thus not affecting the pool parts underneath or behind it. However you may still want to contact a pool crack repair specialist and address the problem before it becomes worse.
What causes gelcoat cracks. Spider cracks on gelcoat surfaces are usually the result of applying strong pressure in a portion of the gelcoat. Its not a great deal and this is plenty to fix this crack and more.
Follow the manufacturers instructions when it comes to adding the catalyst. But you wont need much of this a lot of people overcatalyze. They put way too much in there.
So for the amount of gelcoat Ive got in there two drops is going to be plenty. Using the highest speed possible bits turning at lower speeds tend to grab and rip the gelcoat causing chips and splinters instead of a smoothly ground surface start at one end of each remaining crack and grind all the way to its other end.