What to do?

[pinkstink]

Alright so it’s a slow day at work and I’ve got a problem I’ve been mulling over in my head. My longboard needs some love but I’m not sure how much I wanna give her.

I bought her used about five years ago and she’s definitely seen some better days. Two years ago I watched her wash up hard on some rocks so there’s a big section across the middle bottom section of the board that had to be professionally fixed (somehow the stringer stayed intact while big chunks of foam and fiberglass got ripped out from around both sides of the stringer). The repaired area is the width of the board, maybe 5 inches tall and football shaped. It’s an epoxy board but the previous owner of the board had added an extra layer of fiberglass over the epoxy because he was scared of dings.

Now what’s happened is that the area that got repaired is delaminating (I’m guessing some moisture got in there somehow and temperature changes finished the job). So my question is what are my options for fixing this? The major issue is that it’s the bottom of the board so it’s obviously gonna create some serious friction if I try to ride it as is. I’m not worried about water making its way to the foam because of the extra layer of epoxy. It looks like that layer is still sealed pretty solid. One of my buddies suggested throwing a layer of resin from the hardware store over it to create a smooth surface.

Does that sound like it would work? Any issues I’m not thinking of? I’m going for the quick fix so I can ride it this week if we get a little bump.

[Kahuna Kai]

Trash it and buy a new one on craigslist.

[KookieMonster]

Take a razor and cut the delam out entirely, maybe even go past what you think is necessary. Buy epoxy resin from a local surf shop, do not use west marine or anything from your hardware shop. Boat resin is garbage as well. Sand the entire area and an inch and a half around your cut. Buy either milled fibers or (sh%& i forget what its called... it will come to me). Mix with epoxy and fill your gash. Sand again. Use fiberglass cloth now to cover your patch. Sand flush.

Or... take it to the professionals.

[DawnPatrolSUP]

trash it and buy a new one on craigslist.

^^^ this ^^^

[ewwoodsurf]

Even if your repair is a failure, you will learn a lot from working on the board. Maybe treat it as an experiment. BTW, doesn't the extra layer of glass make the board really heavy? In any case, I would strip off the glass from the repaired area, fill what needs to be filled, sand it as level as possible, and re-glass it. Then add a filler coat and sand and polish. It might not come out perfectly level but that's ok. Sometimes a little irregularity doesn't hurt anything. I've seen guys with boards broken in half, re-glassed together, looking gnarly and lumpy, and they still ride great.

[KookieMonster]

Buy Q-Cell, thats what I was thinking of. Like the previous guy said, treat this as an experiment, make the repair, you will learn something... if anything you will learn what not to do. Learning to do your own repairs will save you $$$, its easy, and your board will last longer. Next time you'll patch up any cracks immediately so no delams happen.

[Kahuna Kai]

Even if your repair is a failure, you will learn a lot from working on the board. Maybe treat it as an experiment. BTW, doesn't the extra layer of glass make the board really heavy? In any case, I would strip off the glass from the repaired area, fill what needs to be filled, sand it as level as possible, and re-glass it. Then add a filler coat and sand and polish. It might not come out perfectly level but that's ok. Sometimes a little irregularity doesn't hurt anything. I've seen guys with boards broken in half, re-glassed together, looking gnarly and lumpy, and they still ride great.

This guy is right, don't listen to me, I'm just a smart assed forum mongaloid. I have learned a lot from fixing beaters.

[LBCrew]

Post a few pics. Sounds like your professional repair guy didn't exactly to a professional job.

[vanman]

duct tape and wax keep water out

[StuckontheGulf]

Duct tape does not keep water out. My friend once had an earache so we duct taped the crap out of it. He looked funny as hell and after the surf when we undid it, it poured water out. We got a true lol out of that one.