Fiberglass Boat Deck
Repair That’s Built to Last.

A soft spot usually starts where water got in around a hatch, cleat or fitting and soaked the core beneath the deck skin. We test the area to see how far the damage runs, open the top skin, remove the wet core back to dry material, and rebuild with new core and fiberglass before refinishing the surface.

Delamination is when the fiberglass layers, or the skin and the core, pull apart, often from impact, flexing or water working in. You may see the deck lifting or hear it sound hollow when tapped. We cut away the separated laminate, check the core underneath, and re-laminate with marine fiberglass fabrics and epoxy or vinyl ester resin.

Deck cores are usually wood or foam, and once water reaches them through an unsealed fitting or crack, wood rots and foam can lose its bond to the skins. We open the deck, remove all wet or deteriorated core back to dry, sound edges, and bond in new marine-grade core before re-laminating the skin.

When damage covers a larger section of deck, spot repairs no longer make sense. We remove the failed area down to the framing, install new core, laminate it with marine fiberglass fabrics and bond it properly to the structure beneath, then fair it and finish with gelcoat or non-skid to match the rest of the deck.

If the core is rotten across most of the deck, or the deck flexes enough to be unsafe underfoot, replacing it is usually the lasting fix. We remove the old deck, inspect the stringers and supports underneath, build a new deck with fresh core and laminate, and finish it with gelcoat, non-skid and refitted hatches.