Fiberglassing For The First & Last Time I Ever Do This Myself.

,

I had some good original areas, and you can see where I had to patch in the new stuff.

I used 16 x4 feet of Fiberglass sheets.

When this job started I asked a bunch of folks if they knew how to do fiberglassing, the answer was, ya, I did it once but kinda forgot. Then they would run away like I had Covid. What could be so bad?

This is how it looks wet down, you are supposed to clean with water.

Well, here is the truth. It all starts out okay. Stripping and cleaning and prepping the base area. But then it slowly gets worse, and never ending if you are trying to get a finish coat out of it all.

At least the seams of old and new is not visible, my plan is to skim coat it and then two different colors of primer so I can sand the low and high spots.

Gotta say it is kinda rewarding, but it will al be covered up with two coats of Kirby goodness

Lets put it this way, I would go strip varnish in other areas of Sweet Peas brite work just to relax. UGH

Also, working from 4-7 in the evening is very very relaxing

Maybe I can just keep water on it.

The real issue is using the small fibers and a very sticky goop. UGH, and then walk away. And repeat it that step until she is smooth. 

All this while wondering how bad have I screwed up?  Oh, I am sure I did, and thank god I know how to do body work from my youth, cause a bunch of that memory muscle kicked in. I suppose the good thing, is I now have done it, and can run away whenever someone asks me if I know how to do it.

14 replies
  1. Greg Lewandowski
    Greg Lewandowski says:

    Brings back not so fond memories when we did the same thing to the cabin roof of my Uncle’s CC cruiser many years ago. It may have been even worse since we did it in 90 degree weather!
    Looks like the worst is over.

  2. Dan Overbeek in MI
    Dan Overbeek in MI says:

    It does look kinda good from your photos. It is just another one of those tasks, where it seems there is always another step in the process and the finished product is so far away. You do have a beautiful place to work!

    • Dan Overbeek in MI
      Dan Overbeek in MI says:

      That is kinda strange, I received an email response from you a while back. I will try again with some photos. Thanks for getting back to me!

  3. John Rothert
    John Rothert says:

    Good job for nautalex cabin tip material….guess that stuff is long gone now too….

    looks good though….

    John in Va

  4. Art
    Art says:

    Matt this brings back some NOT very good memories of my restoration of “Old School” my 14 foot CC Kit Boat. The previous owner Fiber Glassed the bottom, but never did a final finish. It was glassed but NOT smooth. My initial thought was to strip it all off and just paint the bottom. Boy, was I dreaming, there was NO way it was coming off. Plan B was to sand it smooth and paint it. Still dreaming, as my big disc sander with many, and I many, discs,36,50 gritttt. would clog up in about 1 sq foot…..grrr. Out of desperation I got out my palm sander and it worked like a charm with regular sand paper. It turns out that the fiber glass didn’t like the speed as it would heat up and clog instantly.

  5. Art
    Art says:

    Second try

    Matt this brings back some NOT very good memories of my restoration of “Old School” my 14 foot CC Kit Boat. The previous owner Fiber Glassed the bottom, but never did a final finish. It was glassed but NOT smooth. My initial thought was to strip it all off and just paint the bottom. Boy, was I dreaming, there was NO way it was coming off. Plan B was to sand it smooth and paint it. Still dreaming, as my big disc sander with many, and I many, discs,36,50 gritttt. would clog up in about 1 sq foot…..grrr. Out of desperation I got out my palm sander and it worked like a charm with regular sand paper. It turns out that the fiber glass didn’t like the speed as it would heat up and clog instantly.

  6. Bill & Linda
    Bill & Linda says:

    Found the “refresh” thing….had to ask our kid.
    Learn something every day…well, sometimes.
    We do epoxy ok….computers, not so much.

  7. Michael L Watson
    Michael L Watson says:

    Fairing compound and sand, faring compound and sand, high build primer and sand, high build primer and sand, finish primer and sand, finish primer. Then paint. Glass boats are easy to take care of. NOT.

  8. Dick Dow
    Dick Dow says:

    Somehow, the old Irish felt and canvas process I’ve used on a few boats seems to me to be preferable… Natural materials, non-slip and relatively durable if maintained and not abused… That said, for a boat moored without cover, the epoxy/fiberglass makes more sense and will last a long time. It looks like you’re doing a great job. Now comes the work, as Michael details above. Oh, and don’t forget to put some texture in the surface if it is something you’ll be walking on! 🙂

  9. Wolfgang
    Wolfgang says:

    I think you did a fantastic job. Coating plus laying the glass for such a large area is not easy. Plus now adding resin to fill and smooth it all out. I did this for 25 feet long by 5 feet wide. Again, I think you did a great job. West Systems is promoting a new product called Pro-Set. Formulated for fiber glassing and getting that smooth surface.

Comments are closed.