The Rot Doctor


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Subject: paint, CPES and fiberglass
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000

I am redoing my A scow and have gotten to the point where I need to decide on a bottom finish. At one point in its life, a previous owner covered the hull in a lite cloth and then used the West System over it. I have replaced numerous planks which needless to say have no cloth or resin on them. Would you suggest covering them with your L and L resin, or would several coats of the sealant do the trick? I am not concerned about leakage, as the planks fit tightly and have been bedded well.

If it were me, and the boat was not subject to bottom impacts, beaching, etc where the epoxy/glass cloth would help, I would just do 2 coats of the CPES on the planks and then the paint. All things considered, I do not generally favor resins on good wood surfaces without a layer of light cloth. Anyway, the CPES would do everything you want done.

This leads to my next question. Is it a good idea to put another layer of resin or sealant over the existing one already on the hull or simply filling in the dings and small cracks and then painting? What paint products do you suggest?

I would treat anything that goes through the existing covering to the wood with CPES, allow a day or so for solvents to vent away, and then go back and fill with a little epoxy filler. If the glass is clean and lightly sanded, it'll bond strongly.

We tend to favor the one-part polyurethane paints. They're easy to apply and seem to give good duration. Several manufacturers make them, and we have no preferences.

On a totally different note, the same person who glassed in the hull with West "painted" the insides with the product as well. Over the years the product has cracked, peeled and generally looks terrible.

Yup. That's why it should not be used without the light glass cloth.

I have scraped and chipped away to my hearts content and will never be able to get the stuff out of there. As a precaution I want to re-seal the exposed wood with the clear sealant. I then need to get some type of finish over that. What do you suggest?

Varnish. Any marine grade will do, as they all have plenty of UV chemistry, which is one of the things that makes them more expensive. The UV stuff is costly.

I appreciate all the help you have given to me. It has made the project go much smoother.

Bill,

Glad to help. It's what we're here for.

Doc

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