The dreaded Big O

[John_N]

My 1982 Sadler 32 is up for sale but the bad news is that the buyer's surveyor has discovered osmosis. I couldn't detect any problem during the winter lay-up ashore but he pointed out several tiny blisters which, when burst, exuded a seepage of liquid with the tell-tale smell of vinegar.
The buyer is naturally frightened off but can anyone give me a ballpark figure for treatment and by what amount should I lower my price to contribute towards the cost of treatment which he might (or might not) undertake.

 

[fisherman]

It used to be about £100 per foot. However, there is an outfit which will come round and strip your gel coat, and if you can leave the hull to dry out, you can recoat it yourself. You could just treat the blisters, grind back, clean, dry and fill. After all, 99.9% of your gel coat is still osmosis free..

 

[Bajansailor]

The buyer's surveyor is just covering his butt by 'going to town' on these (relatively) few blisters.
Dont lose any sleep over them.
I would agree with Fisherman - let her dry out for a bit, and attack the blisters individually. Leave the rest of the gel coat alone.
As others have said before, your boat aint gonna sink cos of a few blisters.

 

[claymore]

This happened to a friend of mine who sold a Jouet in the late 90's.
He had the job done at a cost of around £2K and the buyer was happy to go ahead.
They had discussed discounting the price of the boat by the cost of the job.
I suppose it depends how keen and quickly you want to sell her.

 

[jwilson]

Current going rates for the @full monty' treatment done commercially is about £150 a foot once you include VAT etc.

Personally if it was my boat I'd much prefer to treat the individual blisters and do no more, but you are trying to sell. The next surveyor will say something like "... moisture levels in the hull are high, and it is likely that an osmosis treatment will be required within a few years" and you'll be back to the buyer either being scared off, or wanting the money off.

It's fairly common to agree a 50/50 split of the cost of a full treatment between buyer and seller. The buyer pays part as afterwards he's getting a boat that is perceived to be of higher value.

 

[derekgillard]

I bought my Sadler 29 six years ago and she was found to have the big O, it put me off and I suspect a lot of buyers, in the end the seller and I split the cost of treatment 50/50 which came to around £4,500 in total, your problem is if you do not do it high water content will always be found in the hull putting buyers off. I had mine checked last year five years after treatment and it is still low.

Not sure where you are but Hayling Yacht company on Hayling were very helpful.

Good luck

Del buoy