what type of epoxy to use

[Xplicitlnck]

What type of epoxy would one use to waterproof a cored deck? For example. If I needed to put a 1/4 " thru bolt I would drill a 3/8 hole then fill with ....... epoxy to water proof, then drill the 1/4 hole for the bolt thru the epoxy. Fill in the ..... please.

 

[trit21]

I think the question was asked incorrectly. Question should have been what type of resin should I use? Polyester resin or epoxy resin. Epoxy resin is stronger and more water impermiable BUT polyester gelcoat can not be applied to epoxy resin. It will not stick very well and may flake off. Most would use an epoxy resin in this case but not sure where or what you are bolting to what.

 

[Xplicitlnck]

That's exactly the answer I am looking for. I do not need to gelcoat anything so epoxy resin it is.thank you very much

 

[Air O'Nautical]

West System is great for such things.
105 epoxy with a hardener (205) and 400 series filler.
Buy the yellow measuring pumps to make life easy...

Great stuff to have on hand for general life needs outside of boating.
Being able to whip up a batch of thickened Epoxy to fix something is almost a weekly thing around my house.

 

[peterkvs]

I'm not sure that you are making the thru hole correctly. I think the correct way to do it is drill the 3/8" hole and then take a dremel tool and eat out the core around the hole between the inner and outer Fiberglass skin. Then fill it with epoxy and after it cures drill the 1/4" hole. This way the epoxy plug has a lip on it and is actually sandwiched between the fiberglass. This will be much stronger and seal much better. It will also be much more resistant to cracking and leaking. Do NOT use polyester resin. It only has 1/4 the adhesion that epoxy does. It also shrinks and is not as waterproof as epoxy. Epoxy is much better for almost every application. And contrary to popular belief gel coat sticks to epoxy just fine as long as the surface is prepped correctly.

Here is a comparison of epoxy vs resins. And btw, sea ray uses vinyl ester resins. http://www.ncspldc.org/ncspldc/topics/epoxy_resin.htm

And West Systems is the way to go as previously stated.

Good Luck,

Pete

 

[Xplicitlnck]

Very nice guys great info thank you