Fiberglass Issue

[Peter Bond]

I removed the tarp from my Boler and was a little horrified at what I found, over the winter the snow had caved in the roof, after pushing the roof up, I found these issues and now need to repair this before vacation (1 month time) does anyone have any suggestions??

[Bill K]

If you don't know how to work with fiberglass and you have the money, take it to a boat repair shop that works on fiberglass boats.

Bill K

Originally Posted by Peter Bond

I removed the tarp from my Boler and was a little horrified at what I found, over the winter the snow had caved in the roof, after pushing the roof up, I found these issues and now need to repair this before vacation (1 month time) does anyone have any suggestions??

[Peter Bond]

Originally Posted by Bill K

If you don't know how to work with fiberglass and you have the money, take it to a boat repair shop that works on fiberglass boats.

Bill K

I have worked with fiberglass a little but i am worried about the structural integrity because of it being in the corner.

[Joe Z]

Peter....
Sure hope someone can point you in the right direction as i am not a fiberglass guy but it looks like it should be fixable without too much problem.
This is the first year that i made a "T" out of 2x4's contoured to the roof about half way from front to back to hold up the roof inside to protect from just that. Took me all of twenty minutes to make it and sure gave me peace of mind when the heavy snows came as previous years gave me a fear of exactly what happened to you.
I had other glass work done and brought it to a local corvette repair guy whofixed it easily. you might also try a boat place or look up fiberglass repair in the yellow pages.... The crack i had in my fiberglass was about as large as yours and cost me $100 to fix but i didn't need any gel coat repair as it was not seen from outside.
Joe

[Peter Bond]

Well I really wanted to do is a complete work over on the whole trailer but not this soon(Time and Money).
there isn't any boat repair facility in my area and the labour cost for body shops are outrageous in the Caribou.

I guess I will be cleaning out my shop soooo, any other thoughts?

[Joe Z]

I googled "fiberglass repair video" and hopefully one of these will help.
Joe

fiberglass repair video - Google Search

[Joe Z]

I just spent the last three hours watching the videos i recommended to you and my fiber-glassing abilities confidence went way up as i also did some minor (very minor) fiberglass work.
Joe

[Kevin K]

Two part epoxy maybe or J B Weld.

[Carol H]

Perhaps you could call Al-Ky or Jack Marina and ask them if they know someone local who does fiberglass repair.

[Peter Bond]

Yes I watched a couple of video's and they look good.
Guess I will start on it Monday and see what happens.
Thanks for all the advice

[ken h]

Hi Peter
You have a little bit of a problem there , but being on a corner it is the strongest area of the fibreglass . I am no expert but what I would do is first remove your insulation from inside around the damaged area. You have a few large cracks but are there spider cracks around the main damage? Clean down to the glass and then sand with 40 g paper .Then cut the glass matt [[ 1 1/2 or 2 oz matt ]] just larger than the holes first 2 inches bigger than 4inches . last put on one layer that will cover all damage including spider cracks. You will have to apply this with the smaller pieces because of the corner. You should get a small fibreglass roller to remove the air it will make the repair stronger if you do. the inside is now done . Sand down a little and reinstall insulation .You can now attack the out side { with the hole repaired from inside it will keep the trailer cleaner } Grind down the crack to get all loose and damaged glass removed. Sand area with 40 g paper apply matt over damaged same as inside . A little bondo a paint and all is well

Hope this help

[Peter Bond]

Originally Posted by ken h

Hi Peter
You have a little bit of a problem there , but being on a corner it is the strongest area of the fibreglass . I am no expert but what I would do is first remove your insulation from inside around the damaged area. You have a few large cracks but are there spider cracks around the main damage? Clean down to the glass and then sand with 40 g paper .Then cut the glass matt [[ 1 1/2 or 2 oz matt ]] just larger than the holes first 2 inches bigger than 4inches . last put on one layer that will cover all damage including spider cracks. You will have to apply this with the smaller pieces because of the corner. You should get a small fibreglass roller to remove the air it will make the repair stronger if you do. the inside is now done . Sand down a little and reinstall insulation .You can now attack the out side { with the hole repaired from inside it will keep the trailer cleaner } Grind down the crack to get all loose and damaged glass removed. Sand area with 40 g paper apply matt over damaged same as inside . A little bondo a paint and all is well

Hope this help

That's what I figured, thanks for confirming it. I guess I will get to get everything ready for a nice paint job.... now need to think of a nice color.<_<