As spider cracks are a universal issue (even on new boats), I thought I would start a thread on various ways to repair spider cracks that occur on boat decks.
This IS something you can do yourself.
Shallow cracks (gel coat only):
- Fill with a product called MagicEzy (made in Australia) https://magicezy.com/. I haven't tried this but have bought some and will post results of my experiment. With MagicEzy you just clean out the existing crack and fill. No dremmeling. No gelcoat afterward. There is also a video for an epoxy product called Araldite Standard (http://www.go-araldite.com/outside-the- ... r-standard) which demonstrates the same principle. Clean the heck out of the existing cracks using denatured alcohol, and press a long working-time epoxy down in the cracks with a plastic edge. Wipe off excess. Practical choice for large surface areas.
- Dremmel cracks (don't go beyond gel coat) a bit wider and fill with gelcoat. This is only practical for small areas.
Deeper cracks (into underlying fiberglass):
- Dremmel cracks into the fiberglass a bit wider and fill with epoxy to below the surface, properly prepare (wash and sand), and cover in gel coat
- Deeper cracks that appear to result from continuous stress (e.g. under ladder stanchions) should be reinforced from underneath with an additional layer of fiberglass roving and epoxy.
- For several or larger repairs on non-skid surfaces, a recommended suggestion is to roll on Kiwigrip (again from those innovative folks down under: https://www.pyiinc.com/KiwiGrip/) onto the entire non-skid area after repairing with epoxy. No need to deal with gelcoat, texture matching, color matching, etc. Recommended by a very good (and meticulous) marine surveyor.
Regarding gelcoat finishing:
This should be done with wet-sanding using soapy water. Surface should be prepared with 120 grit prior to applying gelcoat. After applying gelcoat, instructions generally start with 250-400 grit and finish with 1200-2000 grit, with at least two stages in between (i.e., increasingly finer grit). Polish, wax.
Regarding gelcoat repairs (i.e., matching gelcoat, applying gelcoat over a repair) I recommend the following videos. They are EXCELLENT.
1. Gelcoat Color Matching (Part 1)
2. Gelcoat Color Matching (Part 2)
3. How to Apply Gelcoat
4. Sanding Gelcoat
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