Painting over repairs?

[ozarkpaddler1]

Ok so I've made a couple of fiberglass repairs to an old goldenglass Sawyer Cruiser. How long should I let the patches cure before I can paint over them, I used epoxy for the repairs??? Never worked on gelcoat boats before.

 

[Guest]

Ok so I've made a couple of fiberglass repairs to an old goldenglass Sawyer Cruiser. How long should I let the patches cure before I can paint over them, I used epoxy for the repairs???

I don’t think there is a standard answer. It probably depends on what epoxy you used, , temperature and humidity, slow cure or fast and etc.

I wait as long as I can tolerate, usually 3 or 4 day at a minimum with fast cure, often a week or more even using West 105/205. I have hurried some paint over epoxy jobs and had the paint coat craze a bit as/after it set up. I’d guess that crazing is from the epoxy outgassing, so the “thickness” of the repair may matter, with multiple layers of cloth and resin possibly taking longer to outgas completely.

Certainly take care to remove any possible amine blush. I wipe the epoxy after it has cured with alcohol. Twice, with a fresh clean cloth for the second wipe.

I’ll be interested in what more skilled epoxy resin hands have to say. I am still a little anxious when painting over epoxy.