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Both are pricey. Gel-coat has a learning curve (for me) and is a lot of elbow grease on already worn shoulders and elbows. Is there an appreciable longevity advantage to re-gelcoating the interior of a 17' Whaler vs. Awl Grip? The boat won't get alot of use but will be used as needed when needed for fishing, boat camping and general boating fun in mostly fresh water with a bit of ICW thrown in for good measure. Boat will be stored under roof and with a cover over it.

Thanks,
Vince Zappia

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Express composites has a really good price on tint gel coat.

When I sanded my boat, paint sanded off a lot easier than gelcoat. The gelcoat seems to be much more durable

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Awl grip will last a long time. I have a 15 footer that I painted about 7 years ago. The boat still looks great. I Have never worked with gel on a large area so I really can not say much about the work involved with it.

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done right, your gelcoat will last 30-40 years, paint will never last that long. Paint seems harder to repair chips and dings and in some cases to redo you will need to sand it off and start all over. Not sure what the interior looks like, but if's just a lack of shine, buff magic will solve the issue a lot cheaper than either gelcoat or paint.

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Gelcoat is a lot less expensive than awlgrip but a lot more labor. Also the prep is more with alwlgrip. Either way it will look good.

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If you buy gel coat from Minicraft or Spectrum, Alwgrip will be cheaper.

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I`ve sprayed a lot of boats with AwlGrip over the past 30 or so years, and always got good results. A few weeks ago I rolled a 27` sailboat hull with AwlGrip. First time I used that method. It looked as good as a spray job, but took longer. I prefer spraying. AwlGrip will hold up as long as gel coat, at least 15 years if not abused. To say a gelcoat job will hold up for 30-40 years and still look good is ridiculous. Maybe if it was stored in a barn for most of its life, However, gelcoat can be rejuvenated when it dulls out over the years, but the spider cracks are still there. not so with Awlgrip, but AwlGrip retains its shine longer. Gelcoat tends to spider crack faster than AwlGrip.
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Here is another approach.
I just finished spraying an antique (1959) fiberglass 14` runabout with automotive enamel. Used a single stage acrylic enamel with reducer and hardener. It shines as well as Awlgrip. Should last 10 years or so. How long does the finish on your car last? I wouldn`t use it on a boat kept in salt water all year. The cost was $26 a quart, + the reducer and hardener. It is a 8-1-1 mix. That means for 16oz of paint you use 2 oz. of reducer and 2 oz. of hardener, so a pint of reducer and hardener go along way.
Buy it at your local Automotive Paint dealer I used PPG brand. They have factory stores. So does Dupont. Finishmaster Automotive and Industrial Paint stores (Dupont dealer) will carry AwlGrip at much cheaper prices than any marine related supplier. Check them out on the Internet, probably a store near you.

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If i took either buff magic or wet/dry sandpaper to my 13 foot, the gelcoat would look as good as the day it was first sprayed. the boat will be 39 years old this year, show me a painted boat that can do that? My 13 was in no way stored in a barn or under cover, it is just the nature of the product that you can renew the shine by removing a thin layer. If I did that every year, you would need to respray the gelcoat at some point, but i still contend it will last longer than paint.

Interesting discussion, since the original poster hasn't yet said why he feels the need to paint/regelcoat his boat? What's it real issue?

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The issue is: Improper prep 8 years ago on gelcoted interior prior to my recent purchase. Interior gelcoat is flaking off.

Another question: Lets say I'm able to remove the poorly adhered gelcoat w/o significantly removing much of the original gelcoat. What wet mil thickness of new gel coat should I apply?

Also: When ordering the blue gelcoat for the interior is there a color name I need to ask for?

Thanks to all for the help.

Vince Zappia

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Awlgrip has had some severe problems with their finishes since the paint was reformulated roughly 3 years ago. They are now running a major dog and pony show at various sites worldwide (40-50 of them) to try convincing people that they've got the problem licked, but there's still an awful lot of the bad paint out on the market. They were at the 2010 American Superyacht Forum, for example, with discussion of how they are remedying their defective product along with sample paint demonstrations allowing yard painters to test the old vs. future formulae on metal panels. This paper and demonstration were delivered 25.May.2010 at noon by Ken Hickling, International Manager for Awlgrip/AkzoNobel.

Symptoms of the defective paint are not immediately apparent, but show up in the first few weeks after application. These include dimpling, mottling, hazing/dulling, and irregular surface effect (think of privacy glass as used in bathroom windows or glass shower enclosures).

In the meantime there are other products that are reliable and at present superior to the storied Awlgrip brand.

Hopefully Awlgrip DOES have a good handle on the problem and returns to its former - and well deserved - position at the top of the market. In the meantime, safer to stay away from it for a while.

In case anyone decides to question the validity of this information, they are welcome to read more info at http://www.synfo.com/news/allnews.asp?news=&id=15307

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If the interior gelcoat is flaking off are you sure it's gelcoat? try taking either a sander or a wire brush to the coating and see what happens. No matter what you need to get it off before you gelcoat or paint or neither will work out well.

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Flaking sounds like a surface that was not properly prepared. Could be either gelcoat or paint.

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There is no question that it's gel coat. Sounds like I'll be scraping and sanding for a bit.

Thanks to all for the advice.

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I just spent the last few months sanding off OEM gel coat because of crazing and none of it flaked. I bet its gel someone applied after the fact.

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My apologies, it is non OEM gel-coat from 8 years ago.