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1975 27' Deck Delamination

Marc Gottlieb

New Member
I recently bought an Ericson 27 circa 1975. The sole previous owner seemed to take care of it except for severe deck chipping and delamination. The gelcoat is visble. It has not gone over the gunwahl but needs to be repaired. I have been told that this old a boat had poor manufacturing methods for the fiberglas.

Any suggestions on corrective action?
 

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Brent Wright

Please Contact Admin.
Marc,
Sorry I don't have any answers, I have the same cracking or crazing problem with the Gel Coat on my 1967 E26. I haven't heard of any easy solutions or any direct answers yet. I will be eager to see what solutions you come up with. Please keep me posted, Thanks for any help.
 

Jim Baldwin

Member II
gelcoat cracks

Surface gelcoat cracking is a common problem associated with the aging process of the resin under years of sunlight and the constant flexing of the deck under your feet or other loads. These cracks are usually slight but, look like hell and sound worse.

Epoxy undercoating and painting is the recommended treatment. Several coatings of epoxy are applied over the sanded deck and then paint. If the epoxy is applied to thin, the cracks will resurface. The idea is to build-up a substantial layer of epoxy to not only hide, but prevent surface cracks. I think part of the real problem, however, is that the deck bends or oil-cans under your feet. The light-weight, balsa-core sandwich construction was supposed to minimize this. My foredeck sounds like crackling leaves under my feet and the cockpit sole is a trampoline. I applied a thin coat of epoxy and paint a year ago and the little cracks are coming back. A brand new boat would cure the problem but then I would have to work every weekend to pay for it.

Good luck!
 

Graham Cole

The Zoomer
deck delam/cracks

An application of epoxy over a stress crack will only provide a temporary solution. Most likely, when the loads are re-applied to the area (rig loads or body weight etc.) the crack will re- appear. The method we use to give a more permanent solution is to first ascertain the extent of moisture intrusion into the core material. Asuming tere is no significant core damage we then use a dremel tool to create a groove following the stress crack. This groove is filled with an epoxy based structural putty. (most likely stranded glass) then sanded smooth and then sprayed with gel coat. Over larger areas you may have to grind down a more extensive area then rebuild the deck following the manufacturers layup schedule.
When I totally rebuilt my boat, I found that you may as wekk do it right the first time and return the repaired area to as new condition. To do any less is a waste fo time and effort because you will likely have to do it again down the road, or your surveyor might catch the half arsed job.
Graham Cole
 

Hobbster

Junior Member
Gelcoat cracks

Gelcoat cracks are almost always do to thick gelcoat. Gelcoat is a polyester product. Polyester, Vinylester and epoxy are great products. However, when applied thick need reinforcing. That is where fiberglass comes in.

I have found the only way to repair such cracks is to grind off the gelcoat, fair the surface with either epoxy or gelcoat puddy, prime and paint the surface. This works and the resualts are wonderful.

Good luck.
Hobbster
 
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