Yep, I'm an idiot

[Justin Rossiter]

Just put new boat pedestals in using 10g coach screws only to discover, yep that 2 of them were happily peering at me from the bottom of my hull. Faaaarrrrkkkkkk have used a 2 part epoxy to fill the holes, will this suffice ?

Any advice appreciated and yes I already know I am idiot


J

[Scalem]

My guess is it should be alright but I would make sure you got plenty into the holes and then flow coat over the top to prevent any chance of water ingress.

Back to the original problem, securing pedestals ( now that you have resin) might be done like I did in this thread


http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?185528-The-shingles-will-jarr-anything-loose!!

Scalem

[Dignity]

here I was thinking I was the only idiot who had done this on a previous vessel, as Scalem suggests do use some flowcoat over the patch job on the hull

[Shark Poker]

Two is pretty poor.
I have seen it happen with 5 or 6 coming through.
Don't feel bad at all mate.

Shorten or replace the coach bolt. Repair with Epoxy.
We are talking about Hex Head Self Tapper Style Fasteners on 304 or 316 Stainless Steel when we say "coach bolt"? Please confirm?
Pauly

[Justin Rossiter]

Thanks Pauly

Yes Hex self tapper in stainless 316, have purchased some shorter ones from Whitworths today and just waiting for the epoxy to harden and will apply flowcoat over the top. Lesson learned !!

[battleon]

Have a mate that was mounting his microwave and put a screw through a bracket right up through the bottom of the microwave .... so dont feel too bad lol

[Luc]

Not as bad as the idiot I saw this afternoon towing his tinny with his dog in it completely unrestrained >:(

Hopefully the dog got to the destination OK :o

[Justin Rossiter]

Thanks Guys

Have made me feel much better :)

[Spin]

That's nothing this bloke i know was 25 miles out the front when he noticed water up to the floor
Only thing was it wasn't the screws it was the drill bit that went through the hull the screws were fine
Drill holes in the hull OMG
He reckons his mate put the seats in
You can work the rest of the story out ? lol

[Homebrewpig]

Don't feel like a idiot mate it's good in a sense that that your honest and true to yourself you don't get that much nowadays, hence the good advice your getting!

[Scalem]

Don't know how the pros do it but because the holes are underneath flow coat will naturally drip because of gravity. My little DIY discovery was to use a generous amount of sticky tape once you have applied your patch of flow coat. The sticky tape holds the flow coat flat against the hull until the flow coat hardens. Then a light sand with wet and dry, polish it with extra cut and bingo bango. I might be showing my backyard novice ability here, but recently repaired a chip in the gel coat near the rear bung, a few scrapes on the keel and this works for me, might help you too Justin.

Scalem

[Justin Rossiter]

I waited until the epoxy was nearly set then used an old drill bit to poke the epoxy right up into the hole, will then put a bit more more over the top in the morning and then the flow coat during the week. When I put the new screws in I filled the holes with a heap of Sika before driving them in.

Cheers

[Justin Rossiter]

So the sticky tape peels off OK Scalem when it hardens ?

[marto78]

Just put new boat pedestals in using 10g coach screws only to discover, yep that 2 of them were happily peering at me from the bottom of my hull. Faaaarrrrkkkkkk have used a 2 part epoxy to fill the holes, will this suffice ?

Any advice appreciated and yes I already know I am idiot


J

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry no advice but good luck with the repairs. ;D;D

[Scalem]

So the sticky tape peels off OK Scalem when it hardens ?

Yep, easy.

Scalem

[TheRealAndy]

Given you are using epoxy I assume a glass hull? Should do a proper repair. Grind back a bit of glass, some chop strand mat and vinyl ester. Us yachties are always moving deck hardware about, and I have done the old epoxy in hole trick with flow coat, and eventually it always shrinks and pops out.

Tip, use masking tape around the bit you grind out, then fairing it later is much easier!

[deckie]

hey relax...the stupid stuff we've all done could fill a book.
yeah problem becomes the flowcoat shrinking underneath over time. Can even take about 6mths-1yr to become noticeable and u dont want it coming off due to the water abrasion.
After doing shedloads of screw/bolt and press dud repairs i'd head straight down to the local hardware and grab my favorite friend....a quality 1" countersink drill bit. Its a kind of conical shaped fella with maybe 4-5 blades..obviously designed for easy countersinking screw heads, but i would never install or screw/bolt into/thru gelcoat ever again without using it to the bevel the gelcoat edge before installation. Stops the stress cracking and chipping. Apart from install...its really cool and fast at repairing/prepping small holes prior to a gelcoat finish to get a bevelled edge to the hole. Make sure the hole is well feathered with some wetndry and use masking tape.
Probably not woirth bothering but if u want to try colour matching white gelocat with a little bit of cream tint if u want...can get small pots at whitworths. The amateur colour matching "deckie style" service is to wait till sun (easier to see subtle shade changes in the white) is on the outboard well and prep a small patch of the gelcoat with 1200 wetndry and/or a polish. i.e. get the patch close to original/after polish. Add a tiny tiny bit of tint to the white (less than u think) mix well then smear and rub off with clean acetone rag and repeat till it becomes very tuff to spot any difference between new wet stuff and the existing. Outboard well is good coz it cops a lot of exposure and ages. It'll dry a tiny bit darker shae with the catalyst on the proper job. Finish main job with some 800 then 1200 wetndry. Keep an eye out in 3-6mths for edge shrinkage.
Amateur hour 101 :P..but works good enough i reckon.

Those treated discs scalem used are great for pedestal installs. Only difference i;d do is pay the bit extra and buy some plexus ma from nuplex which is a methacrylate 2 part epoxy, prep deck, scour surfaces and glue the bastards down whilst working fast. That stuff is just unbeleivable and i'd guess with the big surface area contact it'd even be enough to hold the discs alone without the self tappers into the deck...like scalem did tho i'd still put them in too. Tall pedestals on smaller trailerboats, the tougher the base job needs to be. I have a pet hate for pedestal seats tho...much prefer to rip em out than put them in ;D
Steve

[Justin Rossiter]

Given the possible shrinkage factor of the epoxy/flowcoat, would it be worth using a fibreglass patch (selleys fibreglass repair kit) over the top of the epoxy rather than the flowcoat ? Not bothered by appearance at the hull is pretty old, just want it to be rock solid.

Thanks

[ScottB]

Just to save you a bit of trouble here, flowcoat wont stick to epoxy, so I wouldn't go there......

[Justin Rossiter]

OK so at this stage the epoxy resin is now rock solid, so tomorrow I plan to sand it back with 60 grit sandpaper, wipe down with acetone and then use the selleys fibreglass repair kit (includes resin, hardener and CSM) over the top to ensure that the epoxy plug doesnt come loose at some stage due to shrinkage. Christ I hope Im on the right track as I do not want an 'I am an idiot part 2" post!!!!

[FNQCairns]

Surface area is your friend...doesn't strictly matter if the surface area happens at the inside or outside with such a small repair...I would rather it happen inside though if my boat....actually it could end up a 3/4 inside and 1/4 outside.

Epoxy shrinks less than does polyester, epoxy resin 'keys' to old polyester better than new polyester does...vinyl ester polyester resin keys the best of the polyesters to old polyester but still sticks not as well as epoxy resin does...notice I mentioned epoxy 'resin' because on a boat we only talk in resins.....but epoxy in truth is a glue...here lies the difference.

Flowcoat is just a polyester resin...nothing much more or less..often cheap and nasty polyester...polyester will not key to an epoxy repair but epoxy will 'key' ( relatively speaking) to polyester resin because it is a true blue glue first.

IMO create enough surface area around the hole to allow whatever resin you choose to get a grip...if old polyester resin (so not a 4 day old hull) you will will get a weak keyed bond from polyester resin...if you use epoxy 'resin' you will get a strong (er) glue like bond because it's a glue.

If you choose to over coat with gelcoat...it doesn't matter so long as all exposed (original hull) polyester resin was coated in epoxy...gelcoat sticks to epoxy well enough if the surface is roughed up (many boats/hulls have been made of epoxy sheets over coated with polyester gelcoat) ...and the lack of shrinkage and the impermeability and better adhesion of epoxy compared to new polyester and the actual old hull means..... who cares.

Oh and epoxy will not flex like polyester....but if one includes surface area in the repair this is of little concern.

good luck.

[TheRealAndy]

The guy who does my major glass mods/repairs uses the 'ears' of chopped strand, that is, he always snipps of the corners of the choppy and keeps the little triangles in a jar. They measure about 5mm or less! When filling holes, he wets out the ears with vinyl ester resin (a piece of old glass or even aluminium is good for this) then jams them into the hole. A bit of flow coat afterwards and the plugs never pop out!!

BTW, if you ever want a good glasser, look for the guys who repair sail boats. Crashing is par for the course when racing, and in big regattas we always have a boat builder on stand by to do overnight repairs! These guys are usually pretty good.

[Justin Rossiter]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Headed to the fibreglass shop in Hobart and walked out with 1m of fibreglass tape, R180 and H180 epoxy, sandpaper, measuring jug and scraper for just over $20. Had a practice on an off cut of wood to ensure I didn't mess up on the hull first and when that worked out OK did the real deal this morning. Drying nicely at the moment with no sagging.

If I was ever to put some screws through my hull again I would def go with Andy's suggestions above, as now I have used the stuff I could see this would be the simplest solution.

Cheers

[TheRealAndy]

If I was ever to put some screws through my hull again I would def go with Andy's suggestions above, as now I have used the stuff I could see this would be the simplest solution.

Cheers


Forgot to add, he also countersinks the hole before glassing it.