Boat with blister repairs... Buy or not?

[Tigidal]

I'm looking at purchasing an otherwise well-made 2005 vessel that appears to have had hull repairs made due to blistering. Through the bottom paint that has flaked off, so far, I can see maybe 10 spots that have been repaired... some as large as a 6 inches in diameter... photos attached. My question is whether I should go forward with the purchase knowing the repairs were successfully made and there are no other current signs of blistering, or to keep looking.

[a64pilot]

I’d have an expert look at it.
And go with what they said, professionally repaired and if there is no evidence of reoccurrence I’d say it’s good to go, but would use it to bargain with. Seller has to know it hurts resale.
However I’m not so sure you could find someone that could really determine if it’s a good repair from just a picture, maybe condemn it, but not say if it’s good.
Find a good surveyor to look at it if your at that stage, if not then it doesn’t matter anyway.
At least it seems the seller is honest, I feel sure with a little fairing and new bottom paint you would never know.

[denverd0n]

Either those repairs were not done correctly, or the paint was not applied over them correctly. Whichever it is, to me it would be a red flag for an owner who cuts corners. I would be inspecting that boat very, very carefully for any other hidden issues.

[Tigidal]

Late-breaking news... I was able to contact the gracious previous owner yesterday and he said he never saw signs of blistering, and the repairs in the photos are areas where he was too aggressive sanding during bottom prep. He said he'd sanded through the barrier coat (dark blue in the pics... barrier coat hot-coated with bottom paint at factory) in some spots and as a precaution put a thin layer of west systems epoxy there before the next layer of bottom paint.

Does that seem to jive?

[Flyingriki]

Blisters under a barrier coat?

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Tigidal

Late-breaking news... I was able to contact the gracious previous owner yesterday and he said he never saw signs of blistering, and the repairs in the photos are areas where he was too aggressive sanding during bottom prep. He said he'd sanded through the barrier coat (dark blue in the pics... barrier coat hot-coated with bottom paint at factory) in some spots and as a precaution put a thin layer of west systems epoxy there before the next layer of bottom paint.

Does that seem to jive?

That seems like a reasonable explanation given the pictures. Looks like the bottom paint did not bond well to the epoxy he put down, probably because he waited for it to fully cure, amine blush, didn't sand it, etc.

If it were me I would sand those patches down, put on some proper barrier coat, and hot coat the bottom paint on top of it. It's a good idea to use barrier coat and bottom paint from the same manufacturer for the best compatibility.

[bsurvey]

glass bead the hull to bare glass and epoxy fill the deep spots, 6 mils of barrier coat then paint seldom are blisters structural

its gonna cost you about 4 to 6 K to straighten thing out

[Dave22q]

Blisters are one of those issues generating much smoke and zero fire. I have yet to hear of structural issues due to blisters that does not boil down to "I heard that ...".. That said, looking at the pics I think the owner's explanation sounds more likely than blisters.

[skipgundlach]

We had non-adherence to the epoxy layer put on after our wreck, which also didn't hold paint. Into a yard briefly, sand fair, and repaint did the job.

A surveyor will be able to determine blisters...

[weavis]

The bottom line for me is if the boat purchase price justifies spending a few grand on the repaint...

[CarinaPDX]

It should be clear by now that those are not blisters. The owner's explanation makes sense; a 6" blister repair on a 12 year old boat doesn't. Just get on with the paint repair and don't look back.

Greg

[Cadence]

I missed it if you said the make. Given the year his explanation sounds sound. In all likelihood the boat had a barrier coat and would not be blister prone. Get a survey.

[sainted]

Originally Posted by Dave22q

Blisters are one of those issues generating much smoke and zero fire. I have yet to hear of structural issues due to blisters that does not boil down to "I heard that ...".. That said, looking at the pics I think the owner's explanation sounds more likely than blisters.

Dave, I am personally familiar with a bottom that had blisters. The de-lamination they caused was so bad it went all the way thru the hull. That is, when I ground out the bad glass, I hit the encapsulated ballast. So, yeah, blister's can be serious. Probably not in this case, but yeah...

[mike62]

Hi Dave
I haven't read all the replies but can tell you 2 things. 1.- the repair you are looking at is not done properly. & 2.- Don't let osmosis put you off buying a boat.
Get a professional to have a look and check the hull over and price repairs for you. Or do a little research and do it yourself. The biggest problem osmosis will ever cause is a reduction in the vessels perceived value. Good if your a buyer. The boat won't sink nor will it fall apart. ( I guess that should start some debate.)
Even a hull that has completely delaminated is repairable, at much less than many of the crooks out there would quote. Etc etc I could go on. My suggestion is renegotiate and get yourself a good buy. If your looking for an excuse not to buy, don't buy. Otherwise buy and enjoy. Its not that complicated.

[Quadrille in JB]

I've never heard of a boat sinking due to blisters.