WEST Repair System - Soft Spot Near Swim Ladder

[obsessive]

CPES Repair System - Soft Spot Near Swim Ladder

Hello, all.

I have noticed a soft spot in our swim platform in between the mounting rails for our swim ladder. I discovered a few years ago that SR appeared to use almost NO sealant to bed the fasteners as they passed through the swim platform surface. Eventually, this led to water wicking into the plywood in the center.

My attempt at the time as far as a stop-gap was to remove the fasteners and ladder and plug the holes from the top, which exposed the bottom (open) holes to the bilge area. I left these open while the boat was in lay-up, hoping that it would dry out.

Fast forward and it appears that either moisture has somehow found it's way in again, or the moisture didn't work it's way out. This being said, I'm stuck with a possibly expensive repair. After speaking with a local boat repair/restoration shop, they quoted me $2000 for the repair, given the fact that the wood is only really accessible from the top (non skid) area since it is an integrated platform. While there is a little space where you can get to the fasteners underneath the platform surface, it's not enough room to work in.

The gentleman did say that he had used CPES products for repair/sealing in the past, but not for this type of repair (where the wood was inaccessible), but said since it's a relatively small area, he suggested that it is worth a shot. He plans on plugging the bottom of the holes and chamfering out the damaged wood and slightly increasing the hole size. He then stated that he will inject the product (into the area in the center of the mounting rails, then also perform a pour of the epoxy (he said it's near water in viscosity) in the holes which should wick into the wood and then cure - providing a solid core.

He stated that we would know if it didn't work, as it would degrade over a couple of years, of course then we'd have to take the expensive road and have the non-skid cut around and separated, then dig out the affected wood and put everything back together.

He is going to charge ~$250 for the injection/pour - and I told him I'd be his 'experiment' in this repair. Another boat yard had performed this on jet skis with good results (pump housing areas).

What are the thoughts on this?

Eric

 

[trit21]

If done properly it should work just fine. To do it properly, the wood must be dry and all the areas will need to have the CPES injected into it by either capillary action or drilling small holes for access and then resealed. In the area that the wood if falling out or just plain won't hold any CPES and the wood is very rotten, an epoxy filler can be used. I would recommend filling the holes completely with the filler and redrilling for the swim ladder.

 

[obsessive]

Great - thanks.

Yup - he was going to use heat lamps, etc. to dry it out, then use capillary action. The wood is still decently solid, is wet and I'm sure delaminated. He is going to chamfer the holes to get a better cavity to get it to sit in, then let cure and re-drill the holes.

 

[trit21]

Haven't used the West System as I know West Marine sells that but I hear the Smith brand has more penetrating depths. Of course it is on the website as such but sounds like a good product.

rotdoctor.com

Check it out, lots of information. BTW....I am not affiliated with the company at all, actually it is clear across the country from me.

 

[KC_Sundancer]

Sounds like it's worth a try. Just have as much rotted wood as possible dug and vacuumed out through the upper hole.

 

[fwebster]

In their magazine, "Epoxy Works", West Systems explains the method whereby you enlarge the hole as large as you can hide under washers, brackets, etc then insert a bent wire chucked in a drill. YOu can usually clean the rotted core out of about a 2" diameter circle this way. Then you seal the bottom hole with something and fill the void you created from the top with epoxy resin. Let it cure, then re-drill the mounting hole. This way you have a solid epoxy core where the bolt passed thru the swim platform.

I did this exact repair on the little platform on a Whaler Dauntless I restored last year. Bubba had a cooler mounted on the platform and I wanted a factory ladder. I didn't even try to match the gelcoat because the hole that needed filling was going to end up under a surface mount ladder. I ordered and used some white paste coloring from West Systems and the white was plenty close enough since all but about 1/32" was covered.