DIY Boat Repair Tips
You’ve just reached the section of Custom Boats Repair that will save you a ton of money. Here you’ll find free advice on taking care of simple boat repair projects.
To make it even easier, I'll provide you step-by-step photos that illustrate how to perform each repair.
In this section, you can choose from a number of repair issues. I will demonstrate to the weekend warriors and budget minded people how to take care of small problems on their boats without spending a fortune on parts and labor.
You'll be able to follow the repairs with easy to understand step-by-step photos with descriptions on the repair process through a Flash show at the bottom of every section. When you get to the slide show, move your mouse over the photo, and you'll see forward and reverse arrows. Just click the arrows to move the photos in the direction you want to view.
I’ve also included links to get the same supplies that I use, as well as some tips that have I’ve gained in my Forty-five years of doing boat repairs.
In these tough times, I'm trying to help out boat owners so that they can enjoy their boats more and spend less on simple repairs that are easily remedied at home. The extra money saved can go towards fuel & dock space.
Many customers contact me to get advice on how they can do a boat repair themselves.
While I always offer free advice, at times it's not cost effective for me to check out everyone's boat in person or provide an over the phone explanation to customers on how to do a repair during my busy time of year, since I work alone.
Also in this section, I'll be testing out affordable tools for boat owners. I've seen many customers use the wrong type of buffers to compound their boats. This section will encompass buffers, sanders, and all of the supplies needed to do the job right. As a boat owner, you'll be using those tools once or twice a season. As a professional, I always use tools of a higher grade that will hold up better to everyday use.
I hope this section helps you out. I'll be adding more subjects and content as time permits. If you have any comments or would like to see some type of repair listed here, please let me know by sending me an e-mail.
How to Make a Gel-Coat Paste
In this tutorial, I'll show you how to make a Gel Coat Paste to fill in gouges on your boat. Many customers get in touch with me about the gel coat they purchase from the factory. They tell me that when they apply it, it runs out of the gouge, all over.....
How to Repair a Gouge in Gel-Coat
In this section, I'll show you how to inexpensively fill in those gel coat gouges on your boat, making it look gorgeous again. For boat owners, the difference in price can range up to $100 for materials, just to fill in a few spots with gel coat. The difference....
How to Remove Decals & Stripes From a Boat
As boats get older, the decals and striping tape start to peel and crack. Over the years I've seen boat owners attempt to remove damaged stripes with razor blades. This is the wrong way. Razor blades, no matter how careful you are, will dig into the gel coat, leaving gouge......
How to Remove the Clear Plastic Coating on a Stripe
This follows my step-by-step tutorial on how to apply stripes on a boat. This next procedure gets overlooked 80 percent of the time by boat manufactures and boat owners. It sometimes even fakes me out when this clear liner is on......
How to Apply Waterline Stripes
Here, I'll show you the correct way to apply waterline stripes to your boat. I have had many boat owners tell me how difficult can it be putting a stripe on a boat. Pull the paper off the back of a stripe and stick it to the boat -- very easy, right? If you do it......
How to Compound Your Boat
This is a project anyone can do—if you’re careful. Compounding your boat yourself can save around $400.00 a year. In this section I show you the tools and materials you need to do the job correctly. When I compound a boat, it is a three-step process. This means I go over the boat.....
How to Take Your Boat Off a Trailer
In these tough times many boat owners are doing repairs themselves to save some money. One way to cut cost is to tackle painting the bottom of the boat, but the main obstacle to completing this task has been the trailer. If you try painting the bottom of a boat while it is on a.....
How to Put Your Boat Back on the Trailer
If you read my section on taking your boat off the trailer, now you need to get it back on the trailer. First, it's best to leave your vehicle hooked up to the trailer as you backup to your boat. This will prevent the trailer tongue from tilting up when the weight of the boat sits...