New Gelcoat

[MightyMike]

Didn't see a forum that discussed gelcoat, so I thought I'd start here..
Got a buddy who scratched up his gelcoat pretty bad. He's looking to get a new gelcoat since he was not too happy with the original gelcoat design.
1) Any recommendations? Looking for someone with a portfolio and references from their past work.
2) How much does a new Gelcoat cost? (24ft boat; # colors?)
3) Can you give me a high level description of the steps?
4) Will a re-gelcoat be as durable as the original?

[flat broke]

Didn't see a forum that discussed gelcoat, so I thought I'd start here..
Got a buddy who scratched up his gelcoat pretty bad. He's looking to get a new gelcoat since he was not too happy with the original gelcoat design.
1) Any recommendations? Looking for someone with a portfolio and references from their past work.
2) How much does a new Gelcoat cost? (24ft boat; # colors?)
3) Can you give me a high level description of the steps?
4) Will a re-gelcoat be as durable as the original?
1)Salvador at Orange County Boat Repair
2) really depends on the condition of the hull, but I would expect a MINIMUM of $6500 for a quality job with quality prep. assuming your hull is in good shape with few/no cracks and a simple 2 color scheme
3)Sand the whole boat down, any areas where their are cracks will be ground down to bare glass, and then the cracks will be repaired with glass, then the repair smoothed with filler. In the case of some stress cracks, they may be the result of poor bulkhead design/installation or a loose bulkhead; that bulkhead/structural issue should be resolved to keep the crack from comming back. Once all of the repairs are made and they have a nice smooth surface to start with, the boat is masked for it's different colors and then different colors of gel are shot into their respectively masked areas. Basically butting one area of gel up against another of contrasting color. Once the gel is shot, it is either sprayed with PVA to create an anaerobic environment for the gel to cure, or an additive was mixed into the gel that will rise to the surface and seal the work. Once the gel has fully cured, the sanding begins. Different folks have different preferences on the steps of grit, but the bottom line is a heavy grit to knock down the orange peel, then finner grits from there. Once it's sanded smooth, it's buffed and ready for pickup. Of course that's the 40,000 foot run down and since I'm not in that line of work, others on here could go into much more exacting detail. One thing I'll pass along is that the $$$ in the job is in the labor. Lots and lots of sanding to get a good base, and then a good finshed product after you spray. Stay away from too good to be true deals on gelcoat, because as some people on the boards have found out, they are just that... too good to be true. It's no fun putting your boat on the water for the first time after it's re-gel only to notice pieces of repair work missing from the hull when you put it back on the trailer.
4)depends on the prep that happened before the new gel is applied. If you're asking about cracking after the fact, some of these old boats have seen their share of abuse and some of that abuse may re appear after time if the repairs aren't done correctly/thuroughly. I've seen a total regel done on a Howard21 by OC Fiberglass that took the orriginal color scheme of the boat, but because of the better gels we have today, made the simple cream, orange and woodgrain scheme look beautiful. THere was also a Spectra 20 done for a guy that goes by Busti on the boards that was completely re-geled and it looks fabulous. Like anything, if you do it right the first time, you work can stand the test of time.
Bottom line, make sure you love the boat, cause to do it right will cost a good amount of money.
Good luck,
Chris

[old rigger]

here's Sals number....714 827 6247
and don't forget about Todd at TRG, good work, good guy....626 839 8846
Flatbroke can speak with experence when it comes to having a boat where the work was done wrong. His Spectra was re-gelled, before he bought it, by a guy in the valley that shouldn't be allowed to re-gel boats but somehow remains in business. It has the gel coming off in strips, takes little more that a ducks fart to lift the paint. You can see that the original gel wasn't prepped correctly, not to mention the spider cracks that are coming back. What a mess. Done right, it'll last forever. And his brother got reamed even worse by a guy that is, I think still in prison, on his old Spectra. Pick who's going to do your work very carefully, which it looks like you're doing. Kenny at BK boat repair in Bellflower is another great one, been around for years...562 925 7111. Kenny's also a v-drive guy, speaks your language.
Ask around and try to look at someones boat that was repaired a while back, not one done last week. They all look good just out of the shop. Find one that's spent a little time on the water and in the sun and see what's what.

[SPECTRABRENT]

here's Sals number....714 827 6247
and don't forget about Todd at TRG, good work, good guy....626 839 8846
Flatbroke can speak with experence when it comes to having a boat where the work was done wrong. His Spectra was re-gelled, before he bought it, by a guy in the valley that shouldn't be allowed to re-gel boats but somehow remains in business. It has the gel coming off in strips, takes little more that a ducks fart to lift the paint. You can see that the original gel wasn't prepped correctly, not to mention the spider cracks that are coming back. What a mess. Done right, it'll last forever. And his brother got reamed even worse by a guy that is, I think still in prison, on his old Spectra. Pick who's going to do your work very carefully, which it looks like you're doing. Kenny at BK boat repair in Bellflower is another great one, been around for years...562 925 7111. Kenny's also a v-drive guy, speaks your language.
Ask around and try to look at someones boat that was repaired a while back, not one done last week. They all look good just out of the shop. Find one that's spent a little time on the water and in the sun and see what's
what.
Oldrigger,
If you are speaking of Flatbroke's Spectra 20, it was never regel coated.
As for the guy in the valley, I would like to know who you are speaking of?
Brent

[old rigger]

Oldrigger,
If you are speaking of Flatbroke's Spectra 20, it was never regel coated.
As for the guy in the valley, I would like to know who you are speaking of?
Brent
As far as I know that's the only 20 spectra he owns.
I don't care if it was regelled or painted with a roller and rust-o-lium paint, it wasn't prepped right when it was done, and the stress cracks weren't repaired correctly when they were done.
I think you know of the guy I'm speaking of. There's no need to name names, I'm just telling mighty mike to do his home work before he picks someone to do the job. I was told that 'so and so' in the valley redid that 20, if that's not the case, it doesn't matter. I didn't say who it was, just to pick wisely.

[Oldsquirt]

OR, you were thinking of FlatBroke's brother, Hack Job's boat

[sawtooth]

Try Don at Pat's Fiberglass in Rancho Cucamonga....amazing work. Sorry I don't have the # handy, I am sure it is listed.

[old rigger]

OR, you were thinking of FlatBroke's brother, Hack Job's boat
No, you may be thinking of hackers boat, which I mentioned above was painted by a guy in prison, but I'm talking about Flats 20 which has the the gel/paint peeling off it as we speak.
I may be old, but I can still tell the difference between a Spectra 19, hackers old boat boat and a specta 20, flats current boat. lol

[MightyMike]

Thanks for the pointers guys! Going to send him over to Pats Fiberglass in Rancho Cucamonga. If you know anyone else out in the area, please post.
Pat's Fiberglass & Gelcoat Repair
(909) 946-3089
1531 W 13th St
Upland, CA 91786

[Oldsquirt]

No, you may be thinking of hackers boat, which I mentioned above was painted by a guy in prison, but I'm talking about Flats 20 which has the the gel/paint peeling off it as we speak.
I may be old, but I can still tell the difference between a Spectra 19, hackers old boat boat and a specta 20, flats current boat. lol
I just remember all the problems HacK Job had with his, thought that's what you were referring to. Wouldn't know who has what boat down there.:)
BTW, that guy is out of prison now. Think I've seen him post here a few times.

[old rigger]

Yeah, those brothers are hard to keep up with . Hackers new boat, the old 20 Southwind, is very nice. He's a happy camper.

[flat broke]

Brent,
Rich is right in the fact that the gell is litterally peeling off over the nonskid, and some of the red that was shot over the camel is coming up in dime to quarter sized chips, but no worries. I still think I got a good deal on the boat way back when and don't think that hull and I will be parting ways for many moons, regardless of whatever new projects I take on. I think the point Rich was trying to make was that WHOEVER you use for your gel, check out their work on some boats that have been around for a while. Don't worry, one of these days the 20 will be sportin some new skin, and the only one I'll have to blame if it doesn't come out right is myself ;)
Oldsquirt,
Hacker's boat was the 19, defintely had issues, and that would be the epitome of why you want to look at a boat that was done by a prospective contractor in the past to see how long their work might last for you.
Chris

[InKahntrol]

It's hard for a young guy like me to add much to this coversation that hasn't already been said. However, it is DEFINATELY vital tht you do your homework and realize that with gelcoat you get what you pay for. A friend and I both started 20' Campbell projects at the same time. He went with the low-bid guys, I went with a more expensive shop that was filled with 33' Daytonas and other big $$ boats.
My guy took a long time (six months) and cost more than he bid ($6,000) but the results are nothing short of stunning. My friend's boat looks like it was painted with a roller, and he's seriously considering grinding it all off and starting over from scratch. Go figure.
I used Fiberglass Reformation in LHC, on Port Street just behind Campbell. They do bitchin work, but it was really hard on me living so far from where the boat was, because I couldn't just "swing by" and check up on progress. So, if you can find a shop near you that does great work, go for it. If not... give Steve or Jill Power a call and tell 'em Dan Kahn sent ya. (928) 855-0877

[BrendellaJet]

dont try to do it yourself. Ask me how I know that... :220v:

[sawtooth]

It's hard for a young guy like me to add much to this coversation that hasn't already been said. However, it is DEFINATELY vital tht you do your homework and realize that with gelcoat you get what you pay for. A friend and I both started 20' Campbell projects at the same time. He went with the low-bid guys, I went with a more expensive shop that was filled with 33' Daytonas and other big $$ boats.
My guy took a long time (six months) and cost more than he bid ($6,000) but the results are nothing short of stunning. My friend's boat looks like it was painted with a roller, and he's seriously considering grinding it all off and starting over from scratch. Go figure.
I used Fiberglass Reformation in LHC, on Port Street just behind Campbell. They do bitchin work, but it was really hard on me living so far from where the boat was, because I couldn't just "swing by" and check up on progress. So, if you can find a shop near you that does great work, go for it. If not... give Steve or Jill Power a call and tell 'em Dan Kahn sent ya. (928) 855-0877
I used this same guy a couple of years ago to do the inside of an engine hatch, nice work but took longer than told and price almost doubled from quote. Just my $0.02 worth.

[flat broke]

Just a point of clarification in regard to my Spectra 20. I was informed that the gel was not done by the guy up in the Valley that Rich was thinking of. That guy did the stringer work and balsa core work in the bilge and deck. That stuff is holdin up just fine and is one of the main reasons I'll probably never sell the hull.
Chris