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Well, I tried to fill a void on my 13' sport with foam and injected a little too much. (I have since learned this is a big NO NO) The deck started to bow and what little water was in there started getting forced out holes I drilled and micro holes I didn't drill and you can't even see. I'm not sure if I caused more delamination and stressed the deck. I'm not sure if these tiny holes were there before I made this mistake. The area is maybe 4"x8 or 9" and isn't really noticeable until you stand on it. Should I leave it alone or cut the deck and remove the foam?

The water in the center and top is from the hole where the foam residue is. The water towards the left was forced through the deck.

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it was discussed there

http://whalercentral.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=6492&pid=39101#post_39101

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http://whalercentral.com/forum/viewth...post_39101

Interesting thread Guts, but I don't think that is what Rob is looking for. He already used the foam and has a raised bit. I am trying to figure out a solution, but I can only think to...

1. Leave it be until it is not acceptable to leave it anymore

OR

2. Grind the gelcoat down to the glass, seal with resin and re-gel. (Yea there is a raised portion but at least we know its sealed)

OR

3. Grind out the glass that raised up, cut the foam down flush if it has raised above the original level, lay a layer of Resin saturated chopped strand mat, followed with some glass cloth, then sand, clean with acetone, then use a filler/fairing putty of your choice and then gel over that. The problem is the nonskid, but some have solved that with the Gibco Flex Mold products.

See http://www.minicraft.com/Retail/Gibco...Inst01.htm It has been discussed elsewhere. Check your PMs.

Gibco Flex Mold-
Phone - (817) 236-5021
Fax - (817) 236-5020
Email - info@gibcoflexmold.com

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Thanks for the link. The foam used was by Evercoat and was purchased at West Marine. It is a one part spray.

Rob

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I would personally leave it Rob. You would hate to have to cut your deck. IF you can't hardly notice it and you only had a little sweat of water appear, it is unlikely you have a serious problem yet. Sometimes glass gets pin holes, i am not a great fiberglass expert, but I have heard of it, I don't know why or how, but a coating of resin should fix pin holes. Beware however, because resin alone does not provide much strength without some fibers or something, much like concrete without rebar.

The only thing you have to find out is if you have delaminated glass.

If you do, I would drill a small hole in the deck, just big enough to ream out some of that old foam with an allen wrench chucked into your drill. At this time, I would use my epoxy recipe from my project album and fill the hole with a syringe as much as possible, then cover the hole with some packing tape. Immediately after that, set something really heavy on the area to depress it and let cure. once cured, you should be able to sand off the bit of overfill and then paint or gelcoat a small spot to conceal the hole.

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Well look at it this way, if you have delam, you'll be able to hear it now clearly by tapping on it because the foam is pushing up that whole area and should be pretty solid in the center where you injected. How does it feel now when you stand on it around that area, still soft or pretty firm?(BTW, tap first before standing on it in case you do have voids)

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It's firm when I stand on it and the area around it seems solid when I tap on it.

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I tend to agree then, leave it as is and keep an eye on it over time. The alternative is a whole lot of work, and in a non-skid area, it gets very tricky when it comes to seamless repairs. What are your other concerns at this point since delam doesn't seem to be an issue?

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My other concern is that I won't have a waterproof deck unless the priming and painting will seal those micro pin holes.

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My concern would be that water extruded from the deck. If water was dense enough in that area to climb up and out -- assuming you have the boat sitting upright. I would be taking it down to the nearest scales to see what my hull weighed. If you had water in the foam and injected foam it does not seem to make sense that it would force it out through a higher area.

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Hmmm...that's a good point...I have no idea. Could it have been a byproduct of the aerosol or foam? We're not talking a lot of water...2-3 spoons maybe. The hull is easy to move around by myself. I would hate to have to put it back on the trailer at this time to go and weigh it but, maybe I should. Any other thoughts?

Rob

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If you can move it by yourself, you are all good. All of these older hulls have some water in them. The idea is to avoid letting any more get in there. I would not sweat it Rob. If it is firm in that spot and you can shimmy the boat around alone, you should be ok. Your primer coat should give you a good seal when you go to paint. I assume you are painting right?

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Take a sample of the foam you injected into the hull and squeeze it. I would just make a little ball of it on a piece of wood -- when it cures put it in the vise and try to "juice it". If you get water or like substance it could be a byproduct of the foam. If no water it came from inside the hull.

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Yes, I'm going to paint it which is the main reason for this project...to gt rid of that ugly pumkin orange color.

Rob

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Well the question then becomes, if there is water in there, what can you really do about it anyway short of major surgery? The concensus seems to be to make sure there are no more points where water can get in, and use the boat as is. The fact that you can move it alone is a very good sign.

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I second or 12th the idea of leaving the hump unless it is something that is going to drive you nuts. If you know you had a soft spot and now you have a hard spot. that seems like you made a improvement. only missing it by a touch, with the amount of foam.

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Thanks to everybody for their input. I've checked the boat out today, the hump is barely noticeable and no other delamination I can see. I can lift the boat from the bow and stern with little effort. I can rock it, slide it and throw it like a shot put. I'm going to leave it alone and move on with my sanding.

Rob