# Sanding down a patch?



## zeneb (Jun 20, 2011)

My 13' River Hawk has a couple of patched places on it.  The damage isn't too deep, not through to the inside, and they over patched it quite a lot.  My question is, should I leave it be or try to sand it so that only the damaged part has the patching materials.  I may end up painting the boat and it would look better if I didn't have all of the extra patching material on it.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Can't tell much from the picture (#2) but it may appear it was just coated and not a patch. It doesn't affect anything the way it is and personally I would just leave it until the time came for paint. But depending on what type of patch is there, epoxy or ester, I would get some paint over it. Rattle can will work. If you do infact paint the boat make sure the patch is proper and will last the life of the paint job.


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## zeneb (Jun 20, 2011)

> Can't tell much from the picture (#2) but it may appear it was just coated and not a patch.  It doesn't affect anything the way it is and personally I would just leave it until the time came for paint.  But depending on what type of patch is there, epoxy or ester, I would get some paint over it.  Rattle can will work.  If you do infact paint the boat make sure the patch is proper and will last the life of the paint job.


Patch may not be the correct term. It is a resin of some form or fashion. My concern is if I paint it, you will be able to tell that it was fixed. the other smaller chips and scrapes, I filled with some of that white stuff, like quick steel, that you mix and it hardens. I've been able to sand it down to the level of the pain and it will paint just fine. I'm wondering if I can do the same here. I'd really prefer to do that so it looks better.

Given that it is starting to get cooler, it will be a nice winter project.


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

This is a sloppy repair attempting to fix an abraded chine.
Looks to be 3/4 ounce mat and polyester resin.
Sanding it smooth won't hurt it.










Whoever did the repair allowed excess resin to run down the hull.
If it bothers you, sanding it flush is not a big deal.


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## zeneb (Jun 20, 2011)

> This is a sloppy repair attempting to fix an abraded chine.
> Looks to be 3/4 ounce mat and polyester resin.
> Sanding it smooth won't hurt it.
> 
> ...


Thanks Brett! As you can probably tell, I've been sanding it some already. They used a bunch of that resin on the boat and all of them look like that. The rest are along the bottom and I'll clean them up too.

The resin smells kinda sweet when I sand it down. Any worries about a mask? I have a standard white cone shaped one but didn't know if I needed more than that.

Hooching


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Always wear a quality dust mask when sanding fiberglass/resin.
You really don't want that dust in your lungs, or on your skin.

I'm getting itchy just thinking about it....


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## paint it black (Nov 3, 2007)

there's definitely some chop strand mat on there. As brett stated, sand it. should be fine. Use a fairing putty to fair the repairs out afterward. For a cheap, easy to use, and pretty good fairing when using polyester resin, stop by a Fiberglass Coatings and get some "Super Poly Fill". Does the job quick and easy.


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