Screws through gelcoat HELP!!

[SeaRayHo]

I took my sundeck 240 to a local audio shop and had an amp and sub installed. I got home and power washed the boat and notice the tips of 3 screws poking through the gelcoat. Two barely through and one showing about two threads. I will get this fixed but I am leaving for lake of the ozarks in two days. What can I do to make sure that water won't leak in and ruin my amp or flood the storage area on the starboard side where the cooler and other electonics are. Any suggestions to patch till I can get this done professionally would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[David Morgan]

Is this through the hull? In other words, if you were to pull the screws would the boat start taking on water? Obviously take the boat out of the water and back the screws out. As a temporary measure put some silicon sealant in there. Silicone sealant will work for now until you can do a proper repair. The silicon sealant will need to be removed to do the proper repair so for god sakes don't put something in there like 5200. A proper repair will involve epoxy and some glass tape. What you want to prevent is for water to soak into the foam core, if that's what you have.

 

[SeaRayHo]

they are acutally on the side and I believe they are above the water line.

thanks

 

[Asureyez]

they are acutally on the side and I believe they are above the water line.

thanks

Well the screws are holding something to the hull, that needs to be corrected in all this as well.

These three holes require a temporary patch to get you on the water this week end.

Buy some epoxy putty in a color that best deals with the issue. I know its available in grey, light green and near white. Mask Tape off the screw tips with maybe 1/8 inch sguare surrounding the tips. Apply the epoxy over the screw tips and smooth as best one can. pull tape carefully. This stuff will cure in a few minutes to a few hours depending on how much hardner is used. If you use plain silicone caulk on gelcoat, it can peel back easily and allow leaks which can be pesky when repairing next week. Backing out the screws could work if they are then bedded in sealant. But do not use 5200 on the temp patch, but until i had the Sterweo Shop mgr. by the wind pipe I wouldn't mess with backing out the screws.

Go boating for the W/E. Upon your return take the boat to the Stereo techs and slap them silly for making such a DA error. Then extract a pound of flesh to pay the dealer to make a proper install and repair.

Obvioisly the amp will need to be re situated, or the hull properly preped for screw down install.

 

[HavingFun]

If the holes are closer to the rub rail then the water line then I would leave them there for the weekend. I would put a dab of silicone on each tip. Between the screw and the silicone I think the water would stay out. The holes can be fixed but I would insist on a repair person with a lot of experience.

 

[Henry Boyd]

SRH,

Chad has it right on the temp fix. For a better idea of how to properly install hardware to the inside of a hull look at the following link:

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20071

The key is to glue a mounting board to the side of the boat, then screw the hardware into that. This serves two purposes, one you don't drill holes in the side of the boat, and two, you don't crack the hull. Over time a heavy lump, like an amp, or a battery charger, screwed into the fiberglass could cause cracking at the screws from the motion of the boat in the water.

There is more to fixing this than slapping some epoxy in the holes. Since a stereo shop did this to your boat, they are responsible for fixing this. So you can explain why a fiberglass shop should repair this mess, let me explain how this should be fixed. By the way the stereo shop is not smart enough to know how to fix this given their stupidity in creating the problem in the first place. (This is still within the realm of DIY if you are patient and can work methodically.)

All of the screws need to come out and hardware removed. The next part is going to sound crazy, but hear my explanation first. Some of the screws have gone through, and some have barely gone through, and potentially if there are other screws the same size, they might have almost come through. As a result, the screws have cracked the gelcoat. The best thing to do for a long term fix is to drill all of the screw holes out all the way through. Doing this will remove any cracking that might have happened if the screw holes were too small for the screws, and it will remove any cracked gelcoat in the vicinity of the screw tip. After this, on the outside the gelcoat will have to countersunk at each of the holes. Again this removes possibly cracked material and provides plenty of surface area for the replacement gelcoat to be blended into the exiting gelcoat

As long as we are talking number sized screws (# 8, # 10) and not dimensional sized (1/2", 3/16"), the inside can be filled with a mixture of epoxy and thickening material. (Larger sized screws require a little more prep and reinforcement.) The epoxy is also usually a paste variety, but careful use of tape on the inside and outside can be used. The epoxy goes up to the bottom of the countersink. After the epoxy is cured, the countersunk pits can be filled with a good paste gelcoat. and from here there is a bunch of wet sanding and then buffing. For more DIY info on gelcoat repair see the 'Spectrum Color Rocks' thread in the fiberglass gelcoat forum.

Henry

 

[Nehalennia]

Is the place that "screwed up" (pun intended) paying for the repair?

 

[Tail Chaser 661]

Reminds me of another thread of someone paying to have new seats installed. Eight 1/4" screws sticking about 2" through the bottom of the hull. :wow: And he paid for this :smt089