I am just about done putting in a new transom and moving on to the
stringers. The hull/old glass roven that I will be bonding the new roven to
is extremely dirty looking, mostly black from years of being wet I think.
What is the best way to get it as clean as possible for bonding the new
stuff to. Is sanding the only thing to do? Has anyone used TSP for boat
cleaning, paint preping etc?

Thanks

A pressure washer will remove the mildew/mold which looks black and dingy.
JR

Steve Lortie wrote:
I am just about done putting in a new transom and moving on to the
stringers. The hull/old glass roven that I will be bonding the new roven to
is extremely dirty looking, mostly black from years of being wet I think.
What is the best way to get it as clean as possible for bonding the new
stuff to. Is sanding the only thing to do? Has anyone used TSP for boat
cleaning, paint preping etc?

Thanks




--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

A pressure washer is a good idea. I'd try to spray it down well with some
degreaser first too. When I did what you're doing I also put a bunch of
cheap fans on everything for a couple weeks to make sure I had drawn out all
the moisture before I started the new glass work. Are you replacing the
stringers with wood again? I was able to make stringers from that new
composite deck material. I also left the foam out and added drain holes.
You have my sympathies, replacing wood in a fiberglass boat was about the
most underestimated home project I ever undertook.

"JR North" wrote in message
...
A pressure washer will remove the mildew/mold which looks black and dingy.
JR

Steve Lortie wrote:
I am just about done putting in a new transom and moving on to the
stringers. The hull/old glass roven that I will be bonding the new roven
to
is extremely dirty looking, mostly black from years of being wet I think.
What is the best way to get it as clean as possible for bonding the new
stuff to. Is sanding the only thing to do? Has anyone used TSP for boat
cleaning, paint preping etc?

Thanks




--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

He's washing the inside and if anything the raw polyester is even more
porous than gelcoat. That's why I recomended the fans and lengthy drying
time. But it's important that he get a really clean surface to bond the new
glass and stringers too.

But I would not worry about pressure washing the exterior. The extremely
short period of pressurized water is not going to cause any noticable amount
of water to be absorbed. It's sitting in water for years that does that.

"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
JamesgangNC wrote:
A pressure washer is a good idea. I'd try to spray it down well with
some degreaser first too. When I did what you're doing I also put a
bunch of cheap fans on everything for a couple weeks to make sure I had
drawn out all the moisture before I started the new glass work. Are you
replacing the stringers with wood again? I was able to make stringers
from that new composite deck material. I also left the foam out and
added drain holes. You have my sympathies, replacing wood in a fiberglass
boat was about the most underestimated home project I ever undertook.

"JR North" wrote in message
...
A pressure washer will remove the mildew/mold which looks black and
dingy.
JR

Steve Lortie wrote:
I am just about done putting in a new transom and moving on to the
stringers. The hull/old glass roven that I will be bonding the new
roven to
is extremely dirty looking, mostly black from years of being wet I
think.
What is the best way to get it as clean as possible for bonding the new
stuff to. Is sanding the only thing to do? Has anyone used TSP for boat
cleaning, paint preping etc?

Thanks



I've never used a pressure washer on any of my boats. Perhaps it is just
an old wives' tale, but someone my foggy brain internalized the idea that
a pressure washer would force water through the gelcoat and compromise it
and wet down the fiberglass underneath.

I don't know whether there is a lick of truth to this belief, but I do
know that gel coat is porous, and that water under high pressure can
certainly push its way through a membrane and that is all gel coat really
is.

Or am I inhaling too much smoke from that burning manilla rope?

Never occured to me to use a pressure washer. Sounds like it just might be
the best way! Thanks.

"JR North" wrote in message
...
A pressure washer will remove the mildew/mold which looks black and dingy.
JR

Steve Lortie wrote:
I am just about done putting in a new transom and moving on to the
stringers. The hull/old glass roven that I will be bonding the new roven
to
is extremely dirty looking, mostly black from years of being wet I
think.
What is the best way to get it as clean as possible for bonding the new
stuff to. Is sanding the only thing to do? Has anyone used TSP for boat
cleaning, paint preping etc?

Thanks




--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

Yes I am replacing the stringers with wood. If that job is worse than
replacing a transom, I'll die. The transom is 12' wide at the top and around
9' at the bottom, 38" high. I'm just about done but I never thought I would
see the end of it. I'm mostly by myself and it's too big a job for one. Now
I see why it would have cost me 4K CDN to have it done. The stringers I'm
replacing are 16" high so I don't think composite is feasible.

Was the composite material available in the dimensions you needed or did you
have to build it up? If so, how and to what size? Just curious.


"JamesgangNC" wrote in message
nk.net...
A pressure washer is a good idea. I'd try to spray it down well with some
degreaser first too. When I did what you're doing I also put a bunch of
cheap fans on everything for a couple weeks to make sure I had drawn out
all
the moisture before I started the new glass work. Are you replacing the
stringers with wood again? I was able to make stringers from that new
composite deck material. I also left the foam out and added drain holes.
You have my sympathies, replacing wood in a fiberglass boat was about the
most underestimated home project I ever undertook.

"JR North" wrote in message
...
A pressure washer will remove the mildew/mold which looks black and
dingy.
JR

Steve Lortie wrote:
I am just about done putting in a new transom and moving on to the
stringers. The hull/old glass roven that I will be bonding the new
roven
to
is extremely dirty looking, mostly black from years of being wet I
think.
What is the best way to get it as clean as possible for bonding the new
stuff to. Is sanding the only thing to do? Has anyone used TSP for boat
cleaning, paint preping etc?

Thanks




--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

You're right, the deck composite board is no where near that tall. I
suppose you could epoxy together several pieces but that might be a chore.
I was working on a fairly shallow draft bowrider. I used that 5/4 by 6 deck
surfacing composite and stood it on end. It was tall enough for my outside
stringers and I used it as a reinforcement against the inside stringers
which were still mostly in good shape. The original setup was a plywood
grid. The outer stringers were shot but I was able to clean up and
saturated the rest with alcohol thinned epoxy for several weeks. What are
you using for stringers?

"Steve Lortie" wrote in message
...
Yes I am replacing the stringers with wood. If that job is worse than
replacing a transom, I'll die. The transom is 12' wide at the top and
around
9' at the bottom, 38" high. I'm just about done but I never thought I
would
see the end of it. I'm mostly by myself and it's too big a job for one.
Now
I see why it would have cost me 4K CDN to have it done. The stringers I'm
replacing are 16" high so I don't think composite is feasible.

Was the composite material available in the dimensions you needed or did
you
have to build it up? If so, how and to what size? Just curious.


"JamesgangNC" wrote in message
nk.net...
A pressure washer is a good idea. I'd try to spray it down well with
some
degreaser first too. When I did what you're doing I also put a bunch of
cheap fans on everything for a couple weeks to make sure I had drawn out
all
the moisture before I started the new glass work. Are you replacing the
stringers with wood again? I was able to make stringers from that new
composite deck material. I also left the foam out and added drain holes.
You have my sympathies, replacing wood in a fiberglass boat was about the
most underestimated home project I ever undertook.

"JR North" wrote in message
...
A pressure washer will remove the mildew/mold which looks black and
dingy.
JR

Steve Lortie wrote:
I am just about done putting in a new transom and moving on to the
stringers. The hull/old glass roven that I will be bonding the new
roven
to
is extremely dirty looking, mostly black from years of being wet I
think.
What is the best way to get it as clean as possible for bonding the
new
stuff to. Is sanding the only thing to do? Has anyone used TSP for
boat
cleaning, paint preping etc?

Thanks




--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth