There is no worse feeling than coming back from a paddle only to see a dink, dent or crack in the surface of the paddleboard.
Unfortunately when partaking in activities such as these getting things like surface dents from stones, driftwood and alike is inevitable.
Providing the dents haven’t broken the surface they generally aren’t cause for concern and you can continue using the board with little to no hesitation.
If however, you find the damage has broken the surface or even taken chunks out of the board, this is a much more serious issue and should be treated as such.
If the surface of the board is broken and it is left unattended to it will quite literally rot your board from the inside out.
Fortunately cracks, dings and even missing chunks can be repaired with only a few hand tools and a small amount of material.
The vast majority of hardtop paddleboards are made of epoxy that is then coated with several layers of fiberglass.
This differs to traditional surfboards as these can be constructed of Polyester or Epoxy and if you happen to get the wrong resing to repair your surfboard it can cause catastrophic issues to the foam inside in the board.
Fortunately this issue isn’t anywhere near as common in paddleboards as the majority of them are epoxy as I said above.
Before we dive into any repairs we first want to assess what sort of damage has been caused to the board.
Is there a crack in the fiberglass like the picture below
Or is that a large chunk missing like the next picture shows?
Now depending on which of the above your repair is will determine how we approach the repair.
If there is a large chunk missing similar to the photo shown I would suggest you just pay to have the repair done by a professional as it will likely save you time and money in the long run.
When you are dealing with large gouges of chunks missing you must be careful when applying resin.
The reason being, resin as it hardens begins to heat up and the heat can eat away at the foam, this isn’t an issue when dealing with smaller repairs as the amount of epoxy doesn’t allow for a large enough chemical reaction to heat up too much.
If you are still keen on attempting the repair yourself then you will use the above method however you must build the epoxy up in layers and ensure you allow sufficient curing time between each layer.
Attempting a repair too soon can and will lead to complications.
Alternatively you can carry out repairs using JB waterweld which is more like a putty that you squeeze and manipulate into the ding before rubbing it back and fiberglassing over the top for added strength.
How To Repair a Ding or Crack In a Paddleboard Using Epoxy
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Ensure the Board is Dry (Inside and Out)
Before attempting any repairs it is always wise to ensure the board is fully dry both externally and internally.
One way you can check if the foam is dry internally is placing a tissue into the crack or ding and seeing if the tissue absorbs any water.
If you do this and the tissue comes out dry you are good to go.
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Locate all cracks and dings (May as well repair them all while you’re there)
The next step is to have a good walk round the board and mark/ locate any and all cracks or dings, if you are going to get all the tools and materials you may as well get them all done at the same time.
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Gather all Tools and Materials
To carry out a repair of this nature you are going to need the following things:
- Drill (Optional)
- Dremel
- Sandpaper
- Resin and Hardener
- Popsicle Stick
- Clear Parcel Tape
- Gloves
- Mask
- Spray paint
Once you have all the tools and materials we can finally get on with the repairs.
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Drill a Hole at Each End Of the Damaged Area
Closely inspect the crack or ding and locate the extreme edges of the damaged area. The reason we want to locate the extreme edges is if we were to repair the area but there were some additional hairline fracturing past the point of our repair it will likely to the repair coming loose of the damage progressing further down the board.
Once we have located the extreme edges take a drill and create a small hole at each end, this just helps create a clean edge for the resin and allows the resin to grip onto something inside the board to help the repair hold.
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Dremel tool along the cracked line or damaged area to remove all loose fragments
Now the holes are drilled using the dremel tool. We want to remove all damaged fiberglass and create a nice groove into the foam to ensure no loose or damaged fragments remain when we carry out our repair.
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Sand the Edges and Clean the prepared area with ready for resin repairs
Take the sandpaper and rub back the edges of the cut out section to ensure they are smooth and free of fraying fiberglass
Now the area is prepared we want to ensure the cut out damaged section is completely free of and loose fiberglass or shavings from the dremel tool, clean the area out preferably with a blast from an air compressor to ensure all loose fragments are blown out and away from the board.
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Mix the Resin and Hardener at a Ratio of 2:1
Get a little cup or flat piece of card, I tend to find a little medicine cup is the best thing to use as it often has measurements on the side making the ratio easy to obtain.
Ensure you put gloves on prior to starting the resin portion of the works as the resin can cause skin irritation.
Pour 2 parts resin to 1 part hardener and mix the mixture to ensure there are no wispy cloudy sections throughout the mixture.
If you notice lots of air bubbles in the mixture allow it to sit for a few minutes until the bubbles rise to the surface and disperse.
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Pour the resin and smooth into place using the Popsicle stick
When the resin is a nice clear mixture free of air bubbles gently pour the resin into the prepared area using the popsicle stick to guide and press the resin in place, as the resin begins to build up you will want to smooth the resin out and ensure it is spread evenly across the prepared area.
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Apply the clear parcel tape or similar over the resin repair
Once the resin has completely filled the area and been pushed flush and smooth with the surface of the board take the clear parcel tape and apply a piece over the resin repair to ensure the resin stays confined to the repair and doesn’t run or leak out across any other sections of the board.
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Once the Resin has cured remove the tape and sand back any overspill to leave a clean repair
The resin will need at least an hour to cure.
Yes even if you used a 5 minute resin it will require at least an hour to cure.
It’s important at this stage not to rush the resin and waste all your hard work.
After an hour you can remove the clear tape and throw this away, gently (With gloves on) feel the repair to ensure the resin is definitely cured.
Once you are happy run your hand over the repair and feel for any overspill areas and built up sections.
Using the sandpaper or sander fully sand back the resin repair until an even finish is achieved between the repair and the board surface.
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Add the final touches by covering the repair with a color match spray paint
One of the last steps we should take not only adds to the aesthetics of the board but also helps with water integrity.
Apply some tape around the repaired area and pick up your can of spray paint that matches the board color in the repaired area.
I am just going to assume that your board probably isn’t resin color finished.
An example would be If your repair was on a rail and your board had a white rail, you will want to get white spray.
The trick to spraying your board is to overspray past your repair area in light consistent coats, the aim is to feather the spray out so it blends in with the original finish better and doesn’t leave an eye sore.
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Finally hot coat your repair
The last step in the process is to hot coat over your repair.
Hot coating is when you apply another layer of resin over the top of the repair to seal the board and smooth out the surface of any rough edges caused from the saturated weaves of the repair.
Just because it says hot coat don’t go over baking your resin before slapping it on your board.
The term hot coat is an old term that comes from the old polyester resin glasser.
The glassers used to add in a catalyst to speed up the curing process, the role of the catalyst was to give off heat which meant the resin set quicker.
As this coat often emitted more heat the term hot coat was coined.
So there you have it, congratulations you have now repaired your board and once the repair has fully cured you can back out on the water and make more memories.
Where is the Fiberglass?
So I deliberated as to whether or not to add this section on to the article.
Strictly speaking you should build out the repair using layers of fiberglass but this does require ideal conditions and a great deal of patience as it certainly isn’t a quick or easy process.
If you are more of a persistent person I feel it is only right to take you through the steps to repairing your board using fiberglass.
Fortunately the steps aren’t to dis-similar to those listed above there is however a couple more that require adding.
All of the steps upto step 8 remain the same.
Prior to commencing step 8 we will want to cut strips of fiberglass up ready for the repair.
The strips need to be slightly longer in length than the prepared area and they strips should vary in width.
What I mean by this is that the strips should start wider than the repair to start with slightly decrease in width with each strip.
Repair a Paddleboard Using Fiberglass
Once you have cut your fiberglass strips ready you will want to fill the prepared area with a base layer of resin first.
Pour a thin fillet of resin into the groove and press the resin into place using the popsicle stick.
Once the resin begins to cure take the widest strip of fiberglass and lay it over the top of the prepared area, once laid in place pour another layer of resin and dress the fiberglass into the prepared and seal down with the resin.
Once the first layer of fiberglass and resin has begun to cure, take the next widest strip of fiberglass and keep repeating the process until the prepared area is completely infilled and repaired.
With each layer of fiberglass you lay you will notice you have to work out air bubbles as each strip is applied.
Once this fiberglass and resin work has completed the steps listed above remain the same.
Do You Need To Carry Out a Fiberglass Repair?
You may be thinking if the first method stated is fine in terms of a repair do you need to even worry about using the fiberglass?
Well the short answer is no.
If you are concerned about the strength or integrity of the repair then fiberglass is certainly something to consider as it does offer additional strength to the repair. I mean ultimately as the name suggests you are adding fibres of glass.
Now in an ideal world it would be advantageous to carry out the repair using fiberglass but I do feel that skipping the fiberglass and sticking to the resin is more than sufficient for little cracks and dings.
Should You Repair Your Own Board?
So even though I have covered in great detail how exactly you repair a board yourself, does this mean you should?
While there is nothing wrong with repairing your own board and in fact it can be a great skill to acquire it is worth noting that it does require a great deal of patience to get right.
On top of that if you get it wrong which let’s be honest is quite possible you might if it’s your first attempt, you may actually end up spending more money and time on the matter than you otherwise would had you taken it straight to a professional.
It really is your call as to whether you feel confident taking on the repair or not but if you do just make sure you get the right tools and gear for the job.
To help you in making sure you get the right materials I have included a list below.
- Dremel Tool
- Sandpaper
- Resin and Hardener
- Popsicle Stick
- Clear Parcel Tape
- Gloves
- Mask
- Spray paint