How bad are these blisters?

[mbird]

I find it strange that the survey points to blisters below the paint, and then nothing more. Surely the surveyor would have scraped of an area to see if the blisters were actually osmosis in the gelcoat?

If it's osmosis, then the blisters will smell of vinegar when burst. They will require grinding out, drying and then filling to preven them growing. If it's just paint blisters, then cleaning off the antifoul and re-applying with a proper primer should suffice I would have thought.

 

[Cosmographer]

Sorry, I was talking in USD. Should have made that clear.

Regarding moisture readings, he did take them:
"Moisture content readings were taken over a 20 hour period using the Tramex Skipper Plus moisture content meter and found slightly reduced. High moisture content readings are generally to be expected immediately after the vessel has been taken out of the water. It is also recommended that GRP hulls be allowed to dry out for a minimum of seven days before readings will give a realistic indication of the true moisture content of the hull laminate."

I will send the surveyor an email asking if he scraped the blisters to inspect them.

Thanks!

 

[PaulGooch]

Here is more info directly from the survey:
"Anti fouling was found in satisfactory condition. Small amount of paint blisters were noted on the port and starboard underwater external hull below chines. One blister was burst and the blister was formed beneath the primer coating. There were no visible signs of hull deterioration."

He says "paint blisters" and "beneath the primer". This reads to me as the blisters are in the antifoul/primer and not the gel coat. He also talks of removing the antifoul and Gel Shielding, but no mention of sanding out blisters in the gel coat, which further suggests that the blisters are not osmosis. I'd want confirmation of this though.

The surveyor recommended the following which would cost around $11k:
"it is advisable to strip the underwater external hull down to gelcoat surface, clean the hull with freshwater, dry out, seal with five layers of epoxy primer (International Paint – Gelshield 200) and two layers of anti fouling (International Paint – Micro Extra)"

Assuming the blisters are in the primer and are not osmosis, this is a little overkill, IMO. It certainly isn't a repair as such, it's more preventative treatment and could be said about any boat of a similar age. As a seller, i wouldn't want to reduce the price by 11k for such a job, i'd be more likely to reduce the price by the cost of having the antifoul sanded and renewed, so your 6.5k reduction is a bit of a bonus.

The broker thinks that while this is good, it is overkill and a simple anti-fouling right over the blisters next year would be just fine.

The brokers job is to sell the boat, that's what he'll get paid for, so i wouldn't hold too much store in anything he says.

I'd get confirmation that the blisters are not osmosis, then if it was the boat i really wanted, go ahead with the purchase. I'd then have the antifoul sanded and re-done. Not so sure i'd spend the money on Gel Shield.

 

[Cosmographer]

Ok, according to the surveyor, these are paint blisters. So am I correct in assuming that these blisters can wait a year for the annual hull treatment regime? Doesn't seem like it's a serious issue, from what I'm gathering here.

"Based on the inspection, the blisters were found to be paint blisters. We burst couple of the blisters and they were just formed beneath the primer coating. If the blisters were formed beneath the gelcoat, we wouldn't be able to burst the blisters just with my fingers. As I recommended in my report, stripping the underwater hull down and reseal with multi coats of epoxy primer and anti fouling will give a better protection to the underwater hull but this is more an optional."

 

[Chris_d]

This is a non issue, if I was selling a boat and was asked for a substantial discount to re-antifoul it I would tell the buyer where to go, its just normal maintenance. If you have managed to get a reduction in price because of this I would take it and keep quiet.

 

[paultallett]

This is a non issue, if I was selling a boat and was asked for a substantial discount to re-antifoul it I would tell the buyer where to go, its just normal maintenance. If you have managed to get a reduction in price because of this I would take it and keep quiet.

+1..... TBH I'd have some doubts about the quality of the surveyor for making abit of an issue over what he's now saying is nothing??

 

[rhino_mac]

+1..... TBH I'd have some doubts about the quality of the surveyor for making abit of an issue over what he's now saying is nothing??

I dunno, looks like the surveyor has just managed to knock $6000 off the asking price for the buyer.

 

[paultallett]

I dunno, looks like the surveyor has just managed to knock $6000 off the asking price for the buyer.

Fair comment

 

[PaulGooch]

Ok, according to the surveyor, these are paint blisters. So am I correct in assuming that these blisters can wait a year for the annual hull treatment regime? Doesn't seem like it's a serious issue, from what I'm gathering here.

"Based on the inspection, the blisters were found to be paint blisters. We burst couple of the blisters and they were just formed beneath the primer coating. If the blisters were formed beneath the gelcoat, we wouldn't be able to burst the blisters just with my fingers. As I recommended in my report, stripping the underwater hull down and reseal with multi coats of epoxy primer and anti fouling will give a better protection to the underwater hull but this is more an optional."

I'd be happy to wait until the end of the season, then strip and re-antifoul. Given the blisters, i'd strip it all back to the gel coat and start again. If funds permit, consider the Gel Shield, but i'd say that's just an option, not a must.