GRP protection

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Anonymous (not verified)
GRP protection
Hi - I have a grp tiki 26. I have stripped off antifoul and looking to protect hull and strengthen keel v abrasion. So I have glassed some biaxial cloth c 350 weight with polyester resin to keel.. As it wasnt tape, there is a pretty rough edge although bond seems ok - what do I do now:! Sand back cloth and paint with an epoxy paint (eg jotun hb) Sand back cloth and coat with epoxy and micro ballons to take out uneveness? Consider putting an additioanl but narrow strip of tape with epoxy or as lots of people have said wack on the antifoul and get sailing... any thoughts cheers JOhnny
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: GRP protection
Johnny, typically you would apply the right fairing compound and then sand smooth. You don't want to sand the fiberglass, you want to cover it with resin and/or fairing compound.
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: GRP protection
Thanks for that - finally made my mind up what to do. It seems using polyester resin wasnt very clever...but having left it two weeks the styrene should have evaporated. I called West Systems help line and they advised caution putting epoxy onto poly resin. So my plan - rub down with 80 grit, then put one more layer of glass with epoxy, then fair in with epoxy...overcoating every hour subject to conditions and then I have splashed out on some copper bottom epoxy based anti-foul which will protect grp and do the antifoul, and then over the winter stick a thin rubbing strip on with sikka flex...to work! kim thanks for your reply best Johnny
Anonymous (not verified)
Re: GRP protection
With regards to using the epoxy over polyester, please do lots of research on the bonding abilities, especially between the two different products. Their individual chemical makeup is vastly different and even if they hold together over the short time, the interface of the two products may gradually breakdown over time leading to delamination. I have seen this occur on a repair to a wooden sea kayak. Better to determine this now rather than later resulting more work/less water time.