Should the Gel coat come off?

[Tarpinmon]

I have the intention of spraying the boat with awlgrip. I talked to someone that said it might be to my advantage to strip the gel coat and start fresh. Since I have some outer hull repair work to do any way would it be worth it or am I waisting my time. I would assume just fix the spider crack spots and sand the gel coat to 220 to get good adhesion and spray it. Any opinions or truths? Thanks [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[warthog5]

You are think correctly. The person that told you to strip all the gellcoat off has never done that. If he had, he wouldn't be telling you to do it.
Think about it. How are you going to get the gellcoat off the boat? Only one way I know and that's with a grinder of some sort. Now the hull will be wavey. So now you need to fair the whole hull out.

[Tarpinmon]

Yea thats what I thought as far as the gel coat goes. But I also have bottom paint that needs to come off. So I have been for the last week trying to track down someone in the south to central jersey area who does soda Blasting and have also been trying to track down the equipment to rent if I cant find anyone to do it. Both have been difficult, I went around in a circle with enviro strip already trying to find some one local. Does any one happen to know some body that does this or if I can get a hold of the equipment is it hard to get good results? any tips? Thanks

[warthog5]

I have a buddy that was thinking about getting into that business. He didn't. Way to much EPA BS. I asked about it and said well the soda doesn't cause problems. He said yes, but the paint that falls off does.

There was a thread on THT that the guy's were using some kind of stripper from Home Depot with good results.

[Scott]

Winter's Yacht Basin / Mantoloking

Comstock's / Bricktown

Both are reputable high end marinas that do that type of work .... As far as do it yourself ... I do know you have to be real careful or you will really mess up the bottom. Even the gel strippers can damage the gel coat if not handled with care

I don’t know anything about these guys .... but see ad's for them .... SHORE SANDBLASTING 732-262-8850

I think they are mobile and will come to you.

Good Luck

[Billybob]

I did my bottom with the hydroblasting (sand)and rented the equipment at a local Ct. tool rental place. All it is is a pressure washer with a sandblasting attachment.
The work goes quick, I just did it in the driveway and swept it up when it dried.
The sand is a little agressive, which was good for my bottom because it had HEAVY buildup. It also exposed a lot of blisters/ weak gelcoat. I used the Interprotect fairing and barrier coat system then bottom painted.
For your purposes, I think the soda would be better but you may have to look around for the soda. It leaves a nice eggshell finish which should be a good base.
Bill

[Tarpinmon]

Can A barrier coat product be used for the paint on the bottom Ive heard its tough as nails. My concern with awlgrip IS that this boat will be trailered and ive heard that over the coarse of time Awlgrip will wear away on the boat when it comes up on the trailer. Has anyone had this problem? Im not looking to put any more bottom paint on the boat. I would hate to go through all the effort of restoring this boat to throw Bottom paint on it.