I shaped my first board this week (EPS if that matters) and It being my first shape and glass job, I made my fair share of mistakes and screw ups, which mostly felt cosmetic, but now I think they all came together and are making the sealcoat less than ideal and I doubt watertight. On my deck, there are sections that have pinholes and fish eyed (pics attached). While other sections are seemingly perfect. Then on the bottom there are no fish eyes, but there are these little points sticking out (pic attached). I wanted to see what people recommend I do? Is it something I can just re-coat those trouble areas with a thin layer or should I sand down with 80 grit and redo a fresh coat, taping off the rails and the whole process? Is there another option that would work better saving me time and money?
What EPS foam did you use? Obviously not from a blank manufacturer . Did you seal the blank? Just asking because it doesn’t look like it. Almost looks like another layer of cloth is needed to save it. Yeah it looks like it’s going to suck water like a sponge. Sanding will probably make it worse. And by that I mean a first timer has a tendency to over sand, expose weave that is open etc. you can try sanding and recoating but my concern is that the final coat of resin will be brittle, where as the core looks soft. This could result is cracks that will allow water in. Had to go back and reread your post. I’m concerned about the softness of the core. What was your cloth schedule? Six? Four? If you put another layer of 4oz on it you’ll have to sand the whole thing anyway. So I guess that is your next step. I’d probably drop down to 120 or 150 to make sure I didn’t get to aggressive. Especially along the rails and laps. Not awake yet as indicated by my many edits.
The little points are sometimes called zits. The other stuff is, yes, fisheyes as well as orange peel. If you search for any of these terms you should find a good amount of threads discussing these problems; and their multiple solutions.
I would sand it with 100 grit to remove all the shiny sections, wipe it down with denatured alcohol and lay on another layer of resin. The sanding is not to remove everything, more to scuff it up and remove the shiny so the next layer of resin will bond.
That’s what I would do; definitely not the end all/be all of solutions. And if McDing chimes in with a fix, I’d probably go with his advice over mine.
Thanks for the advice. I reached out the Green light too since that’s where I got the kit and they reccommneded the same thing so I think I’ll give that a go and see what happens.
I would go on Greenlight’s advice. I’m sure the EPS they sell is quality, so I would disregard my comments about soft foam. Just go easy on the sanding. You’ll know more once it’s sanded.
Thanks McDing! Yea I think I am going to do what they said and go with the grit you reccommended. I have a palm sander I plan on using for the deck and bottom and them I will just hand sand the rails to avoid screwing it up.
