What is the acceptable level of flat - see rollers in the repair!!

[EKM]

I hired a fiberglass guy to repair some spider cracking around and below the stantions. I pulled about 6 stantions off the boat to give him access.
When you feel the repaired area you can feel the surface is not flat and you can see it when the sun is right.

When you look from the stern along the stantions you can see it clearly (again, with the sun behind you). Is this commercially acceptable?

 

[copb8tx]

If the guy you hired was a professional fiberglass repair guy then that's absolutely not acceptable. I'd make him fix it.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I agree. After he's done the repair it should look like it never happened, with no sign of a repair.

 

[Dani-Lu]

Agree with the above - I have had fiberglass repair done and I can't tell. He needs to fix his work. Or if he lacks the skills you will need to bring someone else in and try to get your money back. Good luck..

 

[EKM]

He is a professional glass guy....yard used him for some work after Sandy so thought he was good. Maybe he was rushed, but lots of other small blemish issues in the job too. He is coming back tomorrow to fix the other issues and hope he can fix the rollers. Only have about 1/2 quart of gel coat left and it takes about a week to get.
Thanks for the help.....

 

[ZZ13]

I had a professional do bodywork on my last boat. I could immediately see it bit no one else ever noticed. I personally did lots of patch paste filling on my current boat and can see most every one with the right light. No one else has ever notices.

So, you know it's there so you are looking for it. It may good enough such that it does not really need to be reworked. If it were me I would have someone who doesn't know where the work is, see if they can point it out.

 

[EKM]

The outside area I would say might pass...when you look along the stantions, it looks pretty poor. This would never, ever pass on a car. I was going to have one of the guys in the yard take a peek at it.

 

[fwebster]

Most of the glass guys around will work to the minimum accepted level. If most boat owners in your area accept that quality of work, then that is what they get. Not that is is right; it is just the way it is. Where you go from here is important and if you aren't happy, don't pitch a fit, just ask the glass man to come back and talk with you about the repair then cover your displeasure in a calm professional manner.

I am blessed to be at a Sea Ray dealer with a big old raw boned country boy for a glass man. His work is always perfect and even on colored hulls I have problems seeing what was done. They aren't cheap, but I'd trust Paul with any cosmetic or structural repair on any fiberglass boat I owned. I also find that an owners reputation precedes him. If you keep your boat clean, the bilge spotless, ask good questions, the service folks figure out who is on the ball and who isn't and that actually prefer working on a knowledgeable owner's boat over one who doesn't care.

 

[Gofirstclass]

We're fortunate to have an excellent fiberglass repair company right here in town. I dinged the aft port corner of Beachcomber coming through one of the locks a couple of months ago. It wasn't a huge ding, but involved gelcoat, the stainless rub rail and the grey plastic strip behind the rub rail. He replaced about 6'-7' of rub rail and about 3' of the plastic, fixed the gelcoat and sealed the whole thing with some kind of silicone-type sealant.

Here are the results. I can't even see where he did it and when I run my hand over the affected area it feels as smooth as new.





Like I said above, a good fiberglass repair is not detectable by touch or sight.

 

[EKM]

looks great....sent my fiberglass guy pics of the numerous pits he left behind after the repair also plus an area he buffed thru. It was hard to take pictures of the waves. Will call him today to see what he will do. I've paid him a little less than 1/2.

 

[EKM]

Glass guy worked on my boat this morning and he says its all flat and shiny....going after work to check it out. Hard to believe you can sand this out so quickly. He said the fixes were done by noon.
If so, boat launches tomorrow

 

[vernh59]

It doesn't take very long for the gel coat to set and then it's just sanding and buffing. Pretty easy really. The hard part on my boat is matching the color. I hope you got it taken care of.

 

[trit21]

I agree with the above statement, sanding to a flat smooth finish with gel is the easy part as long as you put enough gelcoat on so you are able to go through a couple layers. Matching color, especially after fading, is the tricky part but really just a time consuming endeavor. Once you have the color, you are set to spray, roll, or brush on. I hope he got it right this time for you but I am sure he did (I say hoping he actually did).

 

[EKM]

It turned out OK...when I look down the boat, I see the waves. Should have been better. He sanded with an orbital sander and never finished with a block sander so no wonder its looks this way. Not using him again. Boat is in the water so life is good....BTW, wanted to charge me more to fix his defective work product. Right!!