GELCOAT HOW-TO Wet Sand Gel Coat, Polishing, & Waxing to a Like New Finish with PRO-level results

[@howellgrange8257]

I have learned so much from your videos over the pass few weeks I even watching. Watching from Belize

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks for watching all the way from Belize! I appreciate your comment!

[@williamfloyd7687]

Yo u may have a video on it But would like to see one in repairing heavy damaged metal flake in a.bass Boat Bought a Older boat color is bad and mostly silver is left from the flake

[@kevinjamescerce]

I’ve been doing gelcoat for years now. It is literally an art and so hard to get a repair perfect. U know your shit thanx for donating your knowledge

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad you found the videos interesting, Appreciate you watching!

[@ewjorgy]

Hi Captain Joe! I know I am probably going to regret saying this but I think I am almost looking forward to trying to fix a few of the worst gel coat dings on my boat! Outstanding video series and exactly what I needed to light a fire under my butt! Thank you and all the best from California! 🧡

[@yangsong6583]

I am from Taiwan, great video. Its really helpful to me. I didn't have any gel coat repair experience . Now I can start preparing for gel coat repair😉

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@yangsong6583]

@@FishBumpTV Following your videos I have done many gelcoat repairs and it looks great. Dry guide coat helped me a lot!👍👍

[@johnpaulrine62]

Im so thankfull for these gelcoat repair videos, im gonna get my boat back in shape quick now

[@FishBumpTV]

You are very welcome, Happy to share what I know. Thanks for the comments!

[@Whodidwhat9821]

Just wanted to drop a comment to say thank you for making these videos. You do an excellent job explaining the process as well as the tools and materials you are using. I’ve learned a ton and I’m looking forward to trying my hand at a few boat repairs in the near future using your methods. Keep up the great work!

[@FishBumpTV]

You're very welcome! Thanks so much for the kind words!

[@sandmanwolfpack]

Thank you for the informative video - the razor blade tip was really helpful in minimizing unnecessary sanding and leaves the undamaged areas intact

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@bobellis3667]

Yep I used the blade on a recent repair. In all my years never thought of that. Saved lots of sanding!

[@redtide941]

Haven't done a gelcoat repair in a while and I found this video. Great techniques I've never seen before and excellent results. Will try

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks for watching! And good luck with your repair!

[@jonnooney7102]

Why in the world had I never thought of trying the razor blade. That is going to be a huge time saver and definitely reduces the number of oops where you sand through the gel and have to do another revolution of spraying .

[@FishBumpTV]

Yep, the razor blade is one of those little tricks that can save a lot of time. The 3m guide coat is another big time saver. Glad you found the video helpful!

[@JerryMartin-m6u]

Great video. Detailed and to the point. Excellent!

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad you enjoyed it! Appreciate the comment!

[@RyseImpxct]

Thank you for the knowledge sir, i just bought a boat that needs some fiberglass and gelcoat repair and this helps a lot

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad to help. Good luck with your project!

[@dannywilliams8057]

Watched your repair videos a few times in order to repair a non structural ding. So far it’s about half as pretty but it’s patched ! Hopefully I can clean it up after wet sanding the gel. Thanks for taking the time to pass on your knowledge so clear and concise

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad to hear you found the videos to be helpful! Gel coat repair is like anything else, the more you do it, the better you are going to get. Don't be disappointed if your first repair doesn't look as good as mine, I have had a LOT of gel coat repair practice over the years. The wet sanding and polish are where things really start to look nice anyway, so long as the repair has a good foundation. I really appreciate you watching and commenting, and good luck with your project!

[@kkutube1972]

This video is so detailed and very well explained. Thanks.

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad it was helpful, Appreciate you watching, and welcome to the channel!

[@markbuskens6070]

That is a lot of work but it looks good as new.Thanks for showing us the products that you like to use so I’ll know what to get.I enjoyed watching 👍

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!

[@hawk8743]

1st time I see your videos. Awesome teaching.

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful and welcome to the channel!

[@chunkyfather29]

Sir, you are a wizard ✨️

[@FishBumpTV]

Haha, thank you much!

[@AdventuresofHappyOurs]

Great job. You make it look easy. We have quite a bit of fiberglass repairs for our boat after a Hurricane Ian. I hope the guy we hired is half as good as you!

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks! Maybe the video will help you guys know what to look for in a quality repair. Appreciate you watching!

[@dannymeadowswa6mqz212]

Thank you Joe I am going to tackle a 1980 Ranger boat😊 Gelcoat😮

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad to help and thanks for watching!

[@markrowe2227]

Nice finished product. Looks great. Professional result.

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks 👍Appreciate it!

[@jamesfiore8620]

Great video! That indicator powder is a sweet tip.

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks, glad you liked it! The guide coat is a time saver for sure.

[@cheetoz6902]

You have great skills bro

[@FishBumpTV]

Thank you! appreciate you watching!

[@FS-vh7mf]

Great video Thanks for posting.

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@kennethemichael]

Turned out nice. Good job.

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks 👍 Appreciate you watching.

[@CNArea51]

Thank You Very Informative

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!

[@bakervinci163]

Great video. I have an Allison with a defect in the black below the rub rail.

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks, Glad it was helpful.

[@barcabrothers9098]

Amazing work thank you for sharing your knowledge brother.❤

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks for watching! Glad it was helpful!

[@natalietrunow8380]

Thank you for the videos! I have an older (‘70-s) Sunfish in good general condition but faded gel coat. What is the best way/steps to proceed to refresh the top coat? Also wondering about how to replace a rivet on the aluminum edge. Thank you!

[@rafatmonem4863]

That the way it’s done good job

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks! Appreciate you watching!

[@JeffPrice-xz5qc]

Nice job

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks, Appreciate the comment!

[@aljosadimic697]

Thanks for this!

[@FishBumpTV]

You are welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@bruceweaver7573]

Thank you for your video. Got some spiderweb to repair.

[@FishBumpTV]

Glad it helped! Good luck with your project!

[@brucebergren652]

I have a festool rotes sander. It has different sanding pads and also a white wool pad.i want to deoxidize a 280 Sundancer over the winter and then wax. I have used these products with woodworking finish work. Do you know or can you give me a link on how to best use the sander on gel coat?

[@jeremystory6981]

Thanks again

[@FishBumpTV]

You are very welcome, Appreciate you watching!

[@michaelwalsh6961]

Great video. Very detailed instructions. What do you do if ots a rounded corner.

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks! The prep and filling process would be basically the same, but curves and corners make things more challenging. It can certainly be done, but it will take some practice. Pretty hard to explain the exact process in text form like this. That might be a good video for me to make in the future. Appreciate you watching!

[@greggkathy1892]

Great stuff! Got a 1994 SeaRay 220 BRS, deep red over white. Found out the hard way that it was previously repaired by painting not gelcoat when I buffed through to the grey primer. Is there an accurate way to match the red without having the experience to custom create it on site?

[@debrisbox]

Thanks for the awesome work and education. I notice the yellowish color above where you repaired. Is that just video compilations or does the rest of the white surface need to sanded and polished?

[@FishBumpTV]

It is just what we call a water stain. White boats that get used a lot develop that pretty quickly in our area. It can be removed relatively easily. Thanks for watching!

[@Thewindingstairs747]

I have a question Joe! Can I get a gel coat that is colored to a 1970 Cobia Cutlass? I need to repair a few spots. That’s a walk thru windshield pleasure boat/ski boat. It’s supposed to be an orange color but I don’t know what the color is called. If you have any ideas!?!?! Thanks for all the great tips in these videos too!

[@FishBumpTV]

You could buy a small gelcoat matching kit like we showed here on the channel and attempt a custom mix of you own. You might also reach out to spectrum gelcoats or Minnie craft of Florida for some help with a custom.mix. I hope this helps and thanks for watching!

[@patriciapotwora3361]

Enjoy your videos, but how do you get the new repair and the older yellow finish to match

[@FishBumpTV]

You have to clean the old gel with a acid-based hull cleaner, and or lightly sand the area around the repair with very fine sandpaper to remove the stain prier to matching the gel. Hope this helps, and good luck with your project!

[@KruiserIV]

Thank you for these fantastic videos. I’m about to repair gel coat damage, but it’s on a light blue section. Is there any way to dye the gel coat for finishing?

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks so much, Glad you are enjoying the videos! Yes, you can buy blue pigment to tint the gel coat, or you could contact the manufacturer of the boat for some factory-matched gel. There are also a couple different companies that sell custom gel coat colors, one is Minnie Craft the other is Spectrum. Hope this helps, and thanks for watching!

[@bryandiehm8949]

Great Video! I purchase many of the products to fix a similar scratch on my boat when the board came off during loading.. I put the base coat down with the colloidal and it looked a lot like your finish. I have put one coat down with the Wax additive. My question is, do I just keep adding layers until I have a fairly smooth finish and the divot is gone? And, do I just keep adding layers without sanding?I still have a small divot from 2 fills (Base & 1st Wax layer).. I believe I have to be a little faster and light handed when smoothing it out.

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks, glad you found the video to be helpful! Sometimes it can take 3 or 4 layers or coats of gel coat to completely fill an area. The more You do this kind of work, the more You will develop a feel for how much is needed. I recommend wiping the repaired area down with acetone to remove some of the wax from the repaired area. Then sand the gel coat with 220 or comparable grit sandpaper to remove any remaining wax additive residue. Wipe the surface down again with acetone to remove any dust or wax residue that may be remaining after sanding. Then add more gel coat without the wax additive, until the damaged area is completely filled. Only on the very last coat would you apply the wax additive to the gel coat. You just want to be sure you have a clean, dry, wax-free surface before adding more coats of gel. It is pretty common to have to come back and add more gel, so it sounds like you are doing ok. Hope this answers your question. Good luck with your project!

[@bryandiehm8949]

@@FishBumpTV thanks, looks good now. Moving on to the razor blade, then wet sanding. almost done, time to tie one on!

[@bryandiehm8949]

@@FishBumpTV well the cracked area came out last weekend. But, I did catch some nice fish:) I have talked to a friend who has worked with gel coat and was told to sand between each layer. the coating around the cracked area held up. I believe I need to sand around the cracked area a little deeper, until I can see the next layer below the gel coat? The razor blade worked great. I did have to sand quite a bit to get the edges flush, but I could actually see the cracked area below the surface. Not all of the cracked area came out. Also, I did have moisture coming out that was soaked into the fiber glass, but I did vacuum and heat gun the area. Let it rest overnight and felt no moisture prior to first colloidal fill. Gonna go at it again, maybe I still had some moisture that worked its way back to the crack. Not giving up :)

[@jassielgomez9056]

What if its a really small scuff ? Like 1/16 deep 1/2 long straight ;do i need to fix it right away?

[@michaelmclaughlin5748]

Awesome

[@FishBumpTV]

Thank you!

[@chunkyfather29]

I have some fiberglass work for you. Would love to have you work on her. Unfortunately boat trailer took some gel coat off. Anyway not sure what state your in

[@FishBumpTV]

Sorry you damaged your boat! We do have several more gelcoat repair videos on the channel, and we have links below the video description for most of the products we use, maybe it's a diy project for you. Thanks for watching!

[@tombeckerle7974]

How do you factor for sun bleaching? I hit a steel doc attachment on the top part of the starboard hull of my bow rider. I found a company that matches the color (it’s a 2000 beige). It’s not left-in-the-sun-all-summer bleached, but it’s someone faded over 24 years.

[@FishBumpTV]

One thing you could do is wet sand and polish the surrounding original gelcoat to bring back its original color and shine. I have a video on that topic here on the channel where I restore the dark green gelcoat on a boat I built over 20 years ago. It is one of our channels more popular videos. I hope this helps and thanks for watching!

[@tazeat]

You can definitely color match by hand too... A lot of the pre matched gel coats are very expensive and for older boats generally not even that great of a match. Take your time matching with uncatalyzed gel coat directly on the hull until it's perfect then you can clean it off with a rag and acetone, plenty of videos on yt showing the process.

[@carracer48]

Nice! How long do you let the repair cure before going back in the water?

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks! 24 hrs is more than enough. As long as the repaired area is hard, and tack free you should be good to go. I hope this helps and I appreciate you watching

[@carracer48]

@@FishBumpTV thank you!

[@kevinjamescerce]

I saw your video where u used the colloidal silica. I feel like cabosil shrinks too much. But I’m not a chemist I don’t really know the science behind these products I use

[@FishBumpTV]

There are many different methods and additives that can be used with success. You just have to do your research and find what works for you. I have tried to show a couple different ways to repair gel, and both repairs are holding up very well on our charter boat. I plan on making more gelcoat repair vids, if you have any recommendations just let me know. I will consider making them. Appreciate the comments, and thanks for watching!

[@lawrenceciaburri8029]

Question you do a wonderful job I'm having some gelcoat work done on my boat a few little screw holes and they're telling me that they have to match the color with paint is that right do you need to spray paint when your boat? Thank you

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks! Sometimes you do have to match colors. You can spray gel coat, I have not shown that in a video yet. There are so many different techniques, it's hard to say what method another shop is going to use and how it might work in your application. Wish I had a clearer answer for you. We will have more gel coat-related videos coming soon. Hope they will help.

[@UnderGround3491]

I coated the gelcoat 2 days ago. There is no stick to the hand yet it seems soft. It has been humid and rainy both days. When I hit it with sandpaper after acetone dried it was gummy. Do I just need to give it more time to cure out before sanding? This was an attachment to existing hull and I was Knocking down high spots for additional coats.

[@FishBumpTV]

Just curious, did you add 1 to 2 percent mekp catalyst to the gelcoat and mix it in very thoroughly? It won't cure without it. Gelcoat will also remain tacky for some time if you don't add wax solution on the last coat. Hope this helps and thanks for watching!

[@samuelcunningham8611]

Love your Gelcoat videos! If you don’t mind I am a new boat owner and the previous owner has the keel worn down to the fiberglass (most likely from beaching). I’d like to get your recommendation as I see suggestions on boat forums saying just use a gelcoat or first use something like Marine Tex (epoxy). I am planning on purchasing totalboat white gelcoat with wax it do you believe I should add a coat before the gel? And what would you recommend? I’d like to use the same manufacturer like totalboat but if something else is better please let me know. Thanks for the help, Sam

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks, Sam, Glad You are finding the videos helpful! I would be happy to give you my thoughts on the best repair method. I do not ever recommend using any kind of epoxy-based filler under Gel coat, you can use a vinyl ester or polyester-based filler if a filler is needed, as long as it is marine grade and made for below the water line. 3M makes some very good fillers for this. I recommend buying a gel coat that does not have any wax added and then buying the wax additive separately. This way you can apply 2 to 3 coats of gel coat with no wax added as your base, Then add wax on your last coat so that you can get a full cure and a tack-free surface. We have more gel coat-related videos planned, so be sure to stay tuned. Hope this helps, and good luck with your project!

[@greggwendell7562]

What would you charge for a repair like this?

[@keithahern9152]

How soon do you remove the tape? Can waiting too long cause it to chip the edges of the repair?

[@FishBumpTV]

I usually remove the tape as soon as the application is complete. Thanks for watching

[@kkutube1972]

Would you spray paint black on gelcoat? My jet ski hull is black. Thanks

[@FishBumpTV]

You can spray black Gelcoat on a black hull, but I think you might be asking if you would use the black guide coat on a black hull. In that case, it would not work because you would not have any contrast. You would just have to wet sand slowly and carefully and use light and reflection to see any imperfections. Let me know if that answers your question or not, I am happy to help if possible. Thanks for watching!

[@tazeat]

​@@FishBumpTVthey also make white guide coat that can be used on darker colors, never used it myself, but it's an option

[@MooreFishing-ky3wq]

Can you use a DA sander or a jitterbug wet sander ?

[@FishBumpTV]

DA's and jitterbugs usually have soft backing pads, they will not usually produce as flat a surface as an actual block will. You could possibly use a block initially, then switch to a DA to finish out. Hope this answers your question. Thanks for watching!

[@VladAptovcov]

How much would you charge for something like this?

[@FishBumpTV]

It would probably be between 500 and 700 for a repair like this. Every repair is different though. Really need to see one in person to give an accurate estimate. Thanks for watching!

[@jeanmarcsaliou9336]

jm saliou . Avez vous la même video pour du gelcoat bleu marine et des conseils pourenlever de très legères griffures sur du bleu marine.SVP merci

[@FishBumpTV]

I do not have another video for navy blue gel, but the repair process would be exactly the same. Just use navy blue gel for filling the repair instead of white. For removing fine scratches in the gel coat, you can usually just wet sand them out, then buff and wax .You can use our video for a reference, just pick up the process when we start wet sanding with 600 grit, then 800, and 1200 you can go even finer if you like. Just be sure not to sand through the gel. Then buff and wax just like in the video. Hope this helps, good luck with your project, and thanks for watching!

[@Dragon-Slay3r]

😎Ⓜ️🐂

[@FishBumpTV]

Thanks for watching!

[@jeanmarcsaliou9336]

jmsaliou

[@greggwendell7562]

What would you charge for a repair like this?

[@FishBumpTV]

You could have easily have 5-6 hrs of shop labor in a repair like this one. Most reputable repair shops charge around 100 hr. But the prices can vary a lot based on what part of the country you are in. Hope this helps, thanks for watching!