Repairing small patches of wet deck

[JonnyBoats]

I have a friend whose boat has a couple of places where water has gotten into his cored deck on his GRP sailboat. THe whole deck is not shot mind you, just a couple of spots.

Some have suggested to him that the way to fix this is to drill a whole bunch of small holes into these areas and inject epoxy.

I have also read elsewhere that this is not really a satisfactory solution.

Comments?

[Jason K]

Well, that depends on what you mean by satisfactory. In any old boat, you have to determine the ratio of time, effort, and money to time on the water that works for you. I used the "drill and fill" method with some success. It is fairly firm and I believe I stopped the core from rotting further. For me, it works. The boat looks good and is structurally sound. It's in the water and ready to go sailing any time. It's what's for me.

However, if your friend is a perfectionist and must have the deck "like new", then it's unlikely that he will be satisfied with the results. There is simply no substitute for new core.

Another suggestion: be absolutely sure that the core is only wet in small, isolated spots. Water is insidious and can spread far from the place of intrusion. If the core is saturated over a larger area, it will actually be easier to just replace the core.

[Tim]

I think you can use this technique for small areas when there is some debonding of the core from the top skin, or other similar voids. It works best as a method to fill voids inside the deck, and not much else.

It is not a suitable repair when the core is damaged, missing, or soaking wet. It will not displace water, and the water will remain, and may progress. If the water can be successfully removed and the core dried, injection may not even be necessary.

It is a viable technique for certain, limited applications. I would not recommend it when the core is wet or damaged.