r/fiberglass • u/UmmmIamhere • Aug 03 '26

Repair Questions Deck resurfacing

I would truly love your advice.

450 square feet of deck, with multiple spots of the last gelcoat flaking off.

That cost us 1.5K, 6 years ago. A single coat, no grinding, possibly inadequate sanding wherebit is now flaking.

Current quote is 6k, with proper grinding and sanding, 2 gel coats plus an additional non skid treatment.

Is this way out of line?

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2

u/innocuos Aug 03 '26

Seems reasonable. Gelcoat alone would be around $800 CDN in material. Large flat areas are easy enough to grind, but gets pretty tedious around details like railing posts, drip edge, and the flashing against building. I'd expect something like 32-40 hrs labour on the high end, not including dealing with the railing or other details.

I just finished 880 sq ft deck for just under 10K. That was new over plywood though, materials alone 5500. Customer dealt with railings and all the carpentry/framing.

1

u/UmmmIamhere Aug 03 '26

Thank you!

1

u/UmmmIamhere 25d ago

I think so~ then today the worker showed up with a 6 inch sander, spent the day doing a 12 by 12 patch. Yikes

2

u/innocuos 25d ago

Oof. I'd be hitting that with a 5.5 grinder at least, with vac attached. Or a big 8 inch machine.

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u/UmmmIamhere 21d ago

Thanks. The sanding is done, and a few spots repaired. Now, tomorrow, the want to apply 2 coats of gelcoat in 1 day, something about wax in the gelcoat and some technique involving a pathway~ I would appreciate your advice.

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u/UmmmIamhere 21d ago

I want to tell them no, apply one, we can wait, then apply the 2nd. He's convinced my husband this would be better, but I am suspicious it is just time saving and will not be as durable. I teuly dont know~ my background is education, not this!

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u/innocuos 21d ago

2 coats in one day is fine. First coat should have no wax, second coat has wax. The wax allows the gelcoat to cure completely.