Gel Coat
Does anyone out there know why older fiberglass boats get repainted instead
of being re-gel coated? Paint is advertised to last 5 years or so, and the
original gel coat lasts about 20 plus years. They repair damaged gel coat to like
new by spraying, etc, and believe it if not, gel coat costs a hell of a lot
less than paint.
Brian
a quality paint job will last MUCH longer than 5 years... awlgrip, imron,
etc.. you routinely see 80s or even 70s vintage hatteras for instance with
their original paint. on the other hands, some gel coat get all chalky
after 4 or 5 years and require a lot of maintenance (buffing, waxing,
etc...)
some paints (awlgrip) are virtually maintenance free requiring no waxing.
can you just spray gelcoat? i thought it had to be covered or sealed to
cure?
pascal
miami, fl
70 hatteras 53my
----- Original Message -----
From: Jake2124@aol.com
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 11:49 AM
Subject: T&T: Gel Coat
Does anyone out there know why older fiberglass boats get repainted
instead
of being re-gel coated? Paint is advertised to last 5 years or so, and the
original gel coat lasts about 20 plus years. They repair damaged gel coat
to like
new by spraying, etc, and believe it if not, gel coat costs a hell of a
lot
less than paint.
Brian
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-----Original Message-----
From: Brian,
Does anyone out there know why older fiberglass boats get repainted
instead
of being re-gel coated? Paint is advertised to last 5 years or so, and
the
original gel coat lasts about 20 plus years. They repair damaged gel
coat to like
new by spraying, etc, and believe it if not, gel coat costs a hell of a
lot
less than paint.
Brian
We recoated a hull with gelcoat at one yard I worked in. The amount of
sanding and compounding required to bring the gelcoat up to a full gloss
was phenomenal.
The yard super swore - never again!! - it is simply too time consuming
and expensive compared to fairing and painting. And the newer paints
last a long time.
Arild
From: Brian,
Does anyone out there know why older fiberglass boats get repainted
instead of being re-gel coated?
snip>
Gel coat is normally a polyester resin formulated to apply as the outside
coat on a fiberglass mold. Gel coat has two main functions.
- to hide the fiberglass pattern
- to provide color and gloss to the final finish.
A few boat manufacturers use a specialized gel coat in their molds to
accomplish just one of these tasks and that is to hide the fiberglass
pattern. Hatteras would be one of these. They and others of their ilk spray
the molds with just enough resin to hide the fiber print thru.
Very simplified, if you use a gel coat your mold must be near perfect
because any flaws will end up on your boat. As everyone has read in this
forum, blemishes and damage to gel coats are hard to repair. Manufacturers
painting boats as a finish do not have to be so careful with the mold but
will require more steps to finish the boat. They have to prep and paint.
Urethanes have better gloss and color retention than polyesters under most
circumstances. But they cannot be applied thickly as a gel coat so they
can't hide the fiberglass pattern. Polyester can do both jobs. Also the
polyester is thick and uniform thru the thickness so you can polish off the
sun destroyed layer, wax it to help keep the sun off and your back to the a
good finish again. Urethanes can be buffed up too but they are usually only
5-6 mils thick so you run the risk of going right thru or more likely
you'll grind it down too far and the sun will get to the undercoats and it
will time to re-paint.
I'm sure that both Hatteras and the gel coat boat makers have a longer list
of things for their gel coats or lack of gel coats to do, but the above
covers the big picture.
Skooch
Hatteras LRC 42, repainted 2003 with Interlux Urethane. I will use there
new one next time.
David Stahl
Beacon Technologies Inc.
Serving The Delaware Valley
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