I have a fiberglass boat with a leaking bulkhead. What is the best and easiest way to seal it up? Lexel? I know Lexel works fine on plastic boats. Opinions?
home depot here you come.
i used silicon caulking… worked great.
if your bulkheads
are made out of fibreglass then chances are you will be able to fix it with some caulking, preferrably polyurethane.
I personally fix my leaks in fibreglass with epoxy resin.
If your bulkheads are foam then you probably are out of luck for an easy fix.
I have removed several foam bulkheads from sea kayaks and fabricated fibreglass replacement ones.
If you are serious about a structurally sound and leak proof sea kayak then fibreglass is the go.
Whatever you have on hand
If you’ve got Lexel, use it. Otherwise, any caulking/sealer/epoxy will probably work. Try what you’ve got. If it doesn’t hold up, try something else.
As above, if you’ve got foam bulkheads, likely to be more of a PITA
My bulkheads are fiberglass
to fiberglass. I guess I will try to use the Lexel…Thanks
Bad idea
Never use silicone in a kayak, as it bonds poorly and the residue it leaves behind makes it very difficult to get anything else to bond to the surface. Non-silicone sealers like Lexel or GOOP (there are many others) are far better choices. They bond much better and don’t create adhesion problems.
Your best bet…
…is to use either polyester resin or epoxy, as they will not only seal it, but add some strength as well. If you’re going to go the sealer route, you’ve made a good choice in Lexel.
Agree
If you use Lexel right off it will make it tougher to do a resin repair later if required.
Lay up some
glass, or if you still have a good edge use some PLEXUS.