Gel Coat Cracks

[lorney]

I didn't want to hijack Houstons thread with my question so started a new one. Just wondering what you guys would do about fixing these cracks. I was putting the cover on the boat one night and noticed these cracks just above the rub rail in the back corner. Not sure how they got there. My concern is if I don't fix them water could get in the cracks. Is there a way of just filling in the cracks? Any help would be greatly appreciated. The boat is a 2011 22Ve. Thanks.

[konajay]

Is your boat still under warranty? I'd talk with my dealer and try to get it resolved that way. I would think you shouldn't have these types of issues with how new your boat is.

[talltigeguy]

Water isn't going to get in there and cause any problems.

Start with your dealer.

Isn't Tige's warranty 1 year on gelcoat?

They can result from a poor gelcoat to start with, or an impact to that area could have caused them.

[NICKYPOO]

Water isn't going to get in there and cause any problems.

Start with your dealer.

Isn't Tige's warranty 1 year on gelcoat?

They can result from a poor gelcoat to start with, or an impact to that area could have caused them.

x2

That looks like impact damage to me.

[turbonine]

x2

That looks like impact damage to me.

I think the rubrail would have damage if there was an impact that close. Also think the gel would have some spider cracking besides just vertical if it was an impact.

[WakerideN]

to say impact given how it looks is premature. for it to splinter like that from impact would have to be pretty good hit.. and his rail would show some damage. but Yeah.. given 2011.. start with dealer.

you need to figure out what is the cause of them. meaning is the structure under it damaged? and do you recall any impacts there? the placement of them is odd, due to most cracks are due to impacts of some sort. or if there is signficant flexing of some sort? But also the obvious off of corners. but where yours is at is interesting.

so looking at this... some more.. the two long cracks that touch the rub rail, are there screws at those locations in the rail?

[lorney]

I have never hit anything or dropped anything on that part of the boat. Not from inpact. Talked with dealer already and they did all they could to get it covered through Tige. No help from them. Tige told them it must be from impact but there is no other damage to the boat what so ever and I have been in the boat every time out. I know it has never been hit. It has never been docked or even tied to another boat on the water. Straight of the trailer and float around or ski. The boat was purchased this spring as a year old hold over on the lot. Put 56 hours on it this summer. The dealer is about an 8 hour drive away so to take it all the way there just to have them say no it isn't covered would be wasting my time. I sent a whole bunch of pictures to them from different angles and distances so they could see there is no other damage. They sent them all to Tige and Tige said sorry it must have been an impact. They said even if it wasn't from impact Tige does NOT cover gel coat for cracks. Tiges exact words were "Gelcoat and cracking is excluded from Warranty coverage". After hearing this I read my warranty again. In the exclusion section it says: "Paints, varnishes, gel coat colors or surfaces (which may CRACK or fade with normal use), air voids, finish distortions, chrome plating, powder coating or anodized finishes, blisters not below the water line, floor covers and other surface coatings,and any other cosmetic items. So that is where Tige stands on the cracks in my boat.
Sorry for the long winded story but that has been my experience. In the end I was just wondering if you guys know of a fix I can do myself or should I take it to a gel coat guy around here and have it fixed. Thanks for your feed back so far.

[lorney]

Here are a few more shot. There are a few more cracks about a foot away from these ones too. They don't even come all the way down to the rub rail. The cracks in the first picture I posted are just above a screw hole but the cracks in the other spot are between screws.

[lorney]

Another where you can see the first cracks over a screw location and you can kind of see where the other cracks are just further up the boat above the ballast empty ports. Kind of hard to see them when I decrease the size of the pics for posting.

[WakerideN]

given its color is not just white and the nature of what will have to be done. I would be taking it to a professional. because they will have to remove material to fix this.. but also color matching on that will not be simple. but given you have so many is another factor. that is BS on Tige not covering those, just given what they are, or at least looking into what is up? IMHO! they makes me wonder what went wrong during mfg ext..

[laserfish]

I would call Tige directly at this point and call BS. The warranty starts when you purchase, not when it is manufactured so the warranty should still be good. If this were from impact, given the location, the rub rail would show damage. Be polite but very persistent with your call and you may see success. In my experience, Tige wants happy customers as long as you are not trying to screw them. Looks like you have a good case to me. Send them more pictures directly as well.

[chpthril]

"Paints, varnishes, gel coat colors or surfaces (which may CRACK or fade with normal use), air voids, finish distortions, chrome plating, powder coating or anodized finishes, blisters not below the water line, floor covers and other surface coatings,and any other cosmetic items

If you purchased the boat new, as in never titled before and the demo hours did not exceed Tige's guide lines, then I would approach them with a conversation about "Normal Use". You have had the boat for one season, there is no sign of damage, so how does gel-coat crack under normal use? The burden will fall on you to prove its not damage.

[rensink]

From experience I've seen and had people when loading gear into a boat accidentally hit the side of the boat with a board, cooler, ski etc the options are endless. With that being said maybe a buddy, wife, kid may have done it accidentally and at the time didn't notice it for the fact it wasn't that big but with regular use it could of continued to crack a little bit to take stress of it. To me they look like stress cracks from some.. just my two cents

[lorney]

Thanks guys for your response. I was hoping it would be a simple fix I could do but I don't know anything about gelcoat. Laserfish the year of the boat is not a factor to Tige. They are saying that Gel coat and cracking is not covered under the warranty even if it was a 2012. Besides they said for cracks like that to happen it must have been an impact. Chpthril I did buy the boat brand new with 2 hours on it from a Tige dealer. The dealer even thinks it should be fixed under warranty as you can see from the pictures there is no sign of impact. When I first sent him the pictures he said oh yeah no problem we can get that fixed. Then after he talked with Tige and they reviewed the pictures they said no. Must be an impact hit. I realize the burden is on me to prove that the damage was not caused by me but I don't know what else to do at this point. I have sent them enough pictures to show the rub rail has no damage and that there is no chips or scratches in the gel coat that would show that mayber something hit the gel coat directly. Also the fact that it is happening in two places about a foot apart.
I figured I would let my dealer handle it because they are the ones that have a relationship with Tige and that they would be trusted more than just some guy over the phone. Like I said the dealer thinks it should be covered so he is trying. I trust the dealer that he has made the effort to deal with it better than I can. I have actually seen their correspondence they had with Tige. That is why I know exactly what Tige said.
I guess I will check around locally for a good gel coat guy. If not I will make the trip back to the dealer as he has a really good gel coat guy in the same city. Does anyone know what this might cost. I know it is probably hard to tell from these pictures but I have no idea what gel coat work costs. From what I understand it is lots of labour that raises the cost. Would it be hundreds or thousands? Thanks again for your responses.

[rensink]

This could be a really crazy idea and far fetched but looking into the pictures and locations of the cracks I can come up with 3 opinions or possibilities. 1. the dealer hoisted the boat with a sling at some point whether unloading or loading it somewhere thus stressing hull. 2. impact of some kind dock, board, trailer etc and 3. the most far fetched one when installing the rubrail screws somebody over tightened them and which put to much pressure and thus started cracking from the stress the screws are putting on it... probably a pretty extreme idea thinking outside the box as you claim no impacts been made, pull the rub-rail section off and look behind it is all I can think of I can't recall for sure if the black rubber behind the rub-rail is screwed in as well in different locations of the rub-rail itself it's been awhile since I had one off.

edit: like you said the best thing to do is let the dealer handle it as they have the relationship with Tige so much easier for them to work on it coming up with a solution without somebody going to the dealer and talking to Tige because then stories get mixed and things can just get ugly.