The Boating Forum - Gel coat repair price

Anyone have a ballpark idea of what it should cost to have someone fix the gel coat damage in the pics? I got a quote from a Marina doing a bunch of other repairs and it seemed steep but I have no idea.

Anyone know a good mobile gel coat guy in the NJ? Boat is in Monmouth county.

Cost me $300 to fix two chips in the gel coat about as big as your thumb.

thanks for the pics.....can't tell....has that been ground down with a machine now? How long has it been open to the weather?

thanks for the pics.....can't tell....has that been ground down with a machine now? How long has it been open to the weather?

Nothing has been done to it. The damage is from a dock line about 2 years ago but the boat has been under a full cover just about the entire time since.

When I had the boat surveyed before purchase I was told it wouldn't absorb water as is and other than being ugly it is fine.

I was going to slap some epoxy on it but I don't want it to look like total crap and figure it may not hurt to have it done once the right way.

It will be expensive to repair as it will have to rebuilt to bring back to stock look. Unless you are going to do a total rebuild, your idea of epoxy is sound, remember epoxy can't be left exposed to the sun so painting afterward is the way to go. Mix the epoxy with microballoons filler to get it into a peanut butter consistency so you can spread it. Google "west system epoxy" and watch the videos to get an idea how to do it...All the surfaces exposed will have to be ground down to get a fresh "bite" for the epoxy.

I guess the question is... is $850 a fair price to repair it? Its already at the marina being repaired so if the price is decent the simplicity of the boat already being there makes it a no brainer. If the truth is I can get it done for around half of that then I'll take it somewhere else or have someone come do it.

I'm not doing a "re-build" but It is a 13 year old boat in otherwise great shape that just needs a good detailing and minor work. I'd rather not have it look like crap but am not going to just throw money at it either.

If that is a decent price then break out another thousand I guess...

Nothing has been done to it. The damage is from a dock line about 2 years ago but the boat has been under a full cover just about the entire time since.

When I had the boat surveyed before purchase I was told it wouldn't absorb water as is and other than being ugly it is fine.

I was going to slap some epoxy on it but I don't want it to look like total crap and figure it may not hurt to have it done once the right way.

Most do not or will not put gelcoat over epoxy. I will but moist wont. That is an easy fix if just brought up to what standard the rest of the finish is? but looking at the rest of the boat finish wise it needs some serious work cosmetically. I would charge anywhere between 500 to 1,000+ depending on you drawing the line on what point of looking old or new.

Thats a pretty fair price to repair that damage.

Most do not or will not put gelcoat over epoxy. I will but moist wont. That is an easy fix if just brought up to what standard the rest of the finish is? but looking at the rest of the boat finish wise it needs some serious work cosmetically. I would charge anywhere between 500 to 1,000+ depending on you drawing the line on what point of looking old or new.

I've heard conflicting info on gel over epoxy so that is what was steering me to just have it done with gel professionally from the start.

Agreed on it needing work cosmetically but I am going to take care of all that. It cleans up surprisingly well and the entire hull will be compounded, glazed, polished and waxed. If I'm going through all that trouble I'd like the repair to match somewhat and it seems a cheaper repair may not and just won't be worth it.

Looks like a decent price that was quoted. Might be time to oepn the checkbook and dig a bit more out.