I spoke with Interlux about the excessive number of cracks in the non skid of my CD-33. They said it was not necessary to grind (or gouge) out the cracks - just cover with 2 coats of epoxy primer, followed by two coats of Interthane-plus. Any thoughts? I thought it was necessary to grind the cracks out first??
Barry
Painting my deck cracks
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Fred
Re: Painting my deck cracks
If you cover up the cracks with paint, they will come back. The only cure for deck cracks is to: grind them out, and repair with fiberglass and or putty. Unfortunately there is no quick fix.Barry wrote: I spoke with Interlux about the excessive number of cracks in the non skid of my CD-33. They said it was not necessary to grind (or gouge) out the cracks - just cover with 2 coats of epoxy primer, followed by two coats of Interthane-plus. Any thoughts? I thought it was necessary to grind the cracks out first??
Barry
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Larry DeMers
Re: Painting my deck cracks
Barry,
I would not do this. The problem is the gelcoat being slightly too thick, which makes it less able to flex with the boat..at least that is the problem with a majority of fine gel coat vracks found in Cape Dory boats. You are right to be worried about them however, especially if you are in a freezing zone. The freeze/thaw cycling will make these cracks progressively worse, eventually they will work down to the laminate, and that will be trouble. You want to prevent this from happening. Short of removing the gel coat and starting over (kidding..only kidding!), I can think of only one other fix besides that already talked about (digging out the crack and filling it). There is a product out there, carried by West and Defender for certain. It's called Captain Tollys creeping crack cure. Sounds silly, but it is a very viscous epoxy..thinner than water, and able to be wicked into the cracks of the gel coat. It hardens into a clear, slightly flexible seal of that crack. I started working on our boat this past weekend, and am hoping it will do the trick. I do not have any previous experience with this product, so the end results are still to be learned. But the idea of using a viscous fluid that would seek the depths of the crack, where the crack had the possibility of allowing water into the laminate is a good one I think. The main requirement of the product would be stability after curing, but the abilbity to move witht he decks movement is also important. THis product appears to be the right answer here.
Cheers!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30
demers@sgi.com
I would not do this. The problem is the gelcoat being slightly too thick, which makes it less able to flex with the boat..at least that is the problem with a majority of fine gel coat vracks found in Cape Dory boats. You are right to be worried about them however, especially if you are in a freezing zone. The freeze/thaw cycling will make these cracks progressively worse, eventually they will work down to the laminate, and that will be trouble. You want to prevent this from happening. Short of removing the gel coat and starting over (kidding..only kidding!), I can think of only one other fix besides that already talked about (digging out the crack and filling it). There is a product out there, carried by West and Defender for certain. It's called Captain Tollys creeping crack cure. Sounds silly, but it is a very viscous epoxy..thinner than water, and able to be wicked into the cracks of the gel coat. It hardens into a clear, slightly flexible seal of that crack. I started working on our boat this past weekend, and am hoping it will do the trick. I do not have any previous experience with this product, so the end results are still to be learned. But the idea of using a viscous fluid that would seek the depths of the crack, where the crack had the possibility of allowing water into the laminate is a good one I think. The main requirement of the product would be stability after curing, but the abilbity to move witht he decks movement is also important. THis product appears to be the right answer here.
Cheers!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30
Barry wrote: I spoke with Interlux about the excessive number of cracks in the non skid of my CD-33. They said it was not necessary to grind (or gouge) out the cracks - just cover with 2 coats of epoxy primer, followed by two coats of Interthane-plus. Any thoughts? I thought it was necessary to grind the cracks out first??
Barry
demers@sgi.com
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Don S.
Re: Painting my deck cracks
Larry,
How about a report on the results of your experience with Capn Tolly?
Thnx
Don
don@cliggott.com
How about a report on the results of your experience with Capn Tolly?
Thnx
Don
Larry DeMers wrote: Barry,
I would not do this. The problem is the gelcoat being slightly too thick, which makes it less able to flex with the boat..at least that is the problem with a majority of fine gel coat vracks found in Cape Dory boats. You are right to be worried about them however, especially if you are in a freezing zone. The freeze/thaw cycling will make these cracks progressively worse, eventually they will work down to the laminate, and that will be trouble. You want to prevent this from happening. Short of removing the gel coat and starting over (kidding..only kidding!), I can think of only one other fix besides that already talked about (digging out the crack and filling it). There is a product out there, carried by West and Defender for certain. It's called Captain Tollys creeping crack cure. Sounds silly, but it is a very viscous epoxy..thinner than water, and able to be wicked into the cracks of the gel coat. It hardens into a clear, slightly flexible seal of that crack. I started working on our boat this past weekend, and am hoping it will do the trick. I do not have any previous experience with this product, so the end results are still to be learned. But the idea of using a viscous fluid that would seek the depths of the crack, where the crack had the possibility of allowing water into the laminate is a good one I think. The main requirement of the product would be stability after curing, but the abilbity to move witht he decks movement is also important. THis product appears to be the right answer here.
Cheers!
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30
Barry wrote: I spoke with Interlux about the excessive number of cracks in the non skid of my CD-33. They said it was not necessary to grind (or gouge) out the cracks - just cover with 2 coats of epoxy primer, followed by two coats of Interthane-plus. Any thoughts? I thought it was necessary to grind the cracks out first??
Barry
don@cliggott.com