Well, I want to remove some things from my boat and am wondering what you guys use to fill screw holes with. The holes that I plan on filling and repairing are in plain sight right by the non-skid on the side of the boat. I want to fill the holes and somewhat mimic the non-skid to try to make the repair invisible. I have done these repairs before, but then I Awlgriped over. What suggestions do any of you have? It there an easy gelcoat repair kit that will match the color?
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Patching Screw Holes
- Thread starter GLGrady20
- Start date
Tucker
GreatGrady Captain
Yea know what you mean. Mine had more fufu screwed to it than you can imagine. I just filled the holes with Marine Tex. You can go crazy trying to match the Grady color.
Average Joe
Well-Known Member
Being that the boat is 24 yrs old it will be difficult to get a perfect match but any Grady dealer carries or can get you the gelcoat repair kit that is specific to Grady. It costs $20.00-30.00 if I recall correctly.
I have never used Marine-Tex before, is it similar to anyother filler? Just a filler with a catalyst type product? And what about gel coating this product, will it adhere to the Marine-Tex? I just don't know enough about the stuff.
georgemjr
Well-Known Member
2 part epoxy applied through a syringe to fill the hole from the bottom to the top. A matching gel-coat to blend the repair and match the gel-coat. May be more steps and trouble than you are looking for, but is the best repair. the trouble with trying to shove marine-tex into a small hole is that the thick consistency prevents it from filling from the bottom up, air-pocket free. You could also just fill it with a gel coat but depending on the size of the hole, it would be a thick amount of gel.
I'm going to guess the holes will be close to 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch diameter by the time I get the holes cleaned up. And I won't be able to get to the back side of all the holes, so the 2-part epoxy won't work. So for an application like this the Marine Tex sounds like the best product to use?
richie rich
Well-Known Member
Marine Tex is an epoxy, just very thick....almost too thick for small holes.....since most areas where holes are drilled on a Grady have wood core, you want to use a thin or neat epoxy first with a small brush to soak into the core and then finish the fill with thickened material by adding cab-o-sil, wood flour or milled glass powder....by doing that you are in control on exactly how thick you want the resin to be and ease of pushing or injecting it into the hole. You'll be better off getting some topside paint to try and match the weathered gelcoat color...or mix your own gelcoat with a kit....a new GW factory gelcoat out of a can will be more yellowish than what's there now...you will notice it if the boat is older and faded.
georgemjr
Well-Known Member
2 part epoxy would work, and is the best way to go. I just filled in some screw holes myself last weekend with this product. You mix it and then put it in a syringe (available in the kit or individually at west marine). The epoxy is thin enough to be squeezed through the syringe (which tapers to about the width of a large pin). You can fill the hole (extremely small holes) with this "liquid" from the bottom to the top, avoiding any air pockets, let it harden and wa-la. Marine tex mixes like a putty consistency and when you go to "spackle" it into the hole, leaves air pockets underneath it.
Thanks for the ideas George and Rich. When i get back to the boat I will remove what I want to remove and actually find out what I will be dealing with and how big the holes actually will be, may be a few weeks before I actually fill the holes.