Blister Repair Cost Question.

[karista]

My boat was hauled out yesterday for a new bottom paint job, while in the sling the yard inspected the hull for blisters, they found 9 blisters with 2 fairly big. Today they provided me the repair cost estimate for the 9 blisters at $800, 2 of the blisters will require fiberglass mat.
Is this cost reasonable or way out of line? Repairing blisters is not that difficult so I was surprised at the high cost estimate.
Unfortunately there is little choice, as the yard does not allow do it yourself or other contractors to work in their yard. All other yards in this area (St Petersburg/Tampa) have the same rules.

[Ron Hill]

Benrd : That seems a bit high, but that will fix only those that they found!!

What I'd do is have the entire redone with an entire new barrier coat (two applications) and then bottom paint. 
If you found 9 blisters, ask yourself how many more are just waiting to happen??  Check around for a few estimates if you can.   It will probably be a couple of thousand $$

A thought 

[Noah]

Perhaps $ a bit high, but as you layout situation, not many choices.
1. Pay it and fix all that they have found
2. Try and pay less by opting to only fix  big "bad" ones
3. Strip bottom and re-barrier coat
4. Ignore
5. Change yards and reanalyze/requote

[karista]

Benrd : That seems a bit high, but that will fix only those that they found!!

What I'd do is have the entire redone with an entire new barrier coat (two applications) and then bottom paint. 
If you found 9 blisters, ask yourself how many more are just waiting to happen??  Check around for a few estimates if you can.   It will probably be a couple of thousand $$

A thought 

Ron
That was my initial thought also, to have the bottom paint removed, down to the gelcoat and then have the barrier coat applied, unfortunately your cost quote is way off, the yard quoted $5000 to remove the bottom paint and existing barrier coat (VC TAR) and then apply  4 coats of barrier coat. That is not in my budget!  There are only 3 yards in my area and they pretty much fix their prices, so getting other estimates is not a option.

[Stu Jackson]

............... they found 9 blisters with 2 fairly big. Today they provided me the repair cost estimate for the 9 blisters at $800, 2 of the blisters will require fiberglass mat.......................

Bernd, sorry to hear of your woes.

Without pictures or at least the size of the blisters (i.e., bigger than a dime, smaller than a quarter, larger than a pizza plate, etc.) there is really no way for us to help, other than Ron spending all your boating budget for the next two years!   

How big is "fairly big?"

[mark_53]

I have about the same amount of blisters on my MK1.
I had them ground down while on the hard this winter. I'm planning to fill the holes with layers of fiberglass and resin. Then put an ablative coat over them and call it good. My marine surveyor said he's never heard of a boat sinking because of blisters.

[Jon W]

The problem with blisters is the liquid trapped in the blister is acidic and can cause more damage if ignored. I haven't read that our boats have a systemic manufacturing issue so would not spend the money to apply a new barrier coat to solve this problem. However I would have the blisters fixed. Unfortunately if it's $800, it's $800. Then I'd look it over each time I hauled out to see if more appear.

[karista]

............... they found 9 blisters with 2 fairly big. Today they provided me the repair cost estimate for the 9 blisters at $800, 2 of the blisters will require fiberglass mat.......................

Bernd, sorry to hear of your woes.

Without pictures or at least the size of the blisters (i.e., bigger than a dime, smaller than a quarter, larger than a pizza plate, etc.) there is really no way for us to help, other than Ron spending all your boating budget for the next two years!   

How big is "fairly big?"

About 6 of the blisters were less than a QTR size, 3 were oblong about 1" W x 2 1/2" long, these will require fiberglass mat.
I don't have much choice as boat is hauled except to delay the repairs, so will have them repaired. I was just wondering what others have been charged for blister repairs.

[Footloose]

FWIW-I had my entire bottom soda blasted down to the gel coat last spring for $1800.  $5000 seems very high to me.

[karista]

FWIW-I had my entire bottom soda blasted down to the gel coat last spring for $1800.  $5000 seems very high to me.

Dave
The $5000 quote was to remove the paint and previous barrier coat down to the gelcoat, apply 5 coats of Interprotect barrier coat and followed by bottom paint. The yard does not allow soda blasting, they use a high pressure water system with glass beads.
The typical price here, for a plain vanilla bottom job ranges from $2000 to $2700 .
The detailed cost estimate is as follows:
Remove bottom paint to gelcoat $1530, apply Interprotect Barrier coat to 7mil $1705,  bottom paint (includes haul out, blocking and pressure wash, etc) $1817. This adds up to a total of $5052 for the complete job.

[Ron Hill]

Benrd : WOW!!!  I believe that I'd be looking at some other locations for your bottom job - even Georgia or the upper Gulf!!

I'm not too sure that you need more than 2 coats of barrier if it is rolled on and 3 coats if it is sprayed on.

All 3 of the prices seem to be high to me!  Sounds that they will not allow you to do any of the work yourself?  At this point I'd try to fix the blisters you have yourself and then look for some place next season to have the entire bottom job done.

My thoughts

[karista]

Benrd : WOW!!!  I believe that I'd be looking at some other locations for your bottom job - even Georgia or the upper Gulf!!

I'm not too sure that you need more than 2 coats of barrier if it is rolled on and 3 coats if it is sprayed on.

All 3 of the prices seem to be high to me!  Sounds that they will not allow you to do any of the work yourself?  At this point I'd try to fix the blisters you have yourself and then look for some place next season to have the entire bottom job done.

My thoughts

Ron!
I can not fix them myself, the yard will not allow it. This is Florida, there are basically no DIY yards in our area (Tampa/St. Petersburg), there is only one, but has extremely high prices for haulout and charges $2/ft per day, and has different charges for everything else, (power,water, etc). So DIY is no longer a option here. I am having the yard do the repairs and pay the high charge as basically there is no other choice. This is not a area here, where  one can plan to do any work on his own.

[KWKloeber]

WOW.  Pretty PRI$$$EY.

It's unfortunate that you can do the work -- I wonder if it's liability insurance reasons?  I personally wouldn't stay at a yard that didn't allow the owner to work on his/her own vessel... Just me.

Ken

My boat was hauled out yesterday for a new bottom paint job, while in the sling the yard inspected the hull for blisters, they found 9 blisters with 2 fairly big. Today they provided me the repair cost estimate for the 9 blisters at $800, 2 of the blisters will require fiberglass mat.
Is this cost reasonable or way out of line? Repairing blisters is not that difficult so I was surprised at the high cost estimate.
Unfortunately there is little choice, as the yard does not allow do it yourself or other contractors to work in their yard. All other yards in this area (St Petersburg/Tampa) have the same rules.

[Ron Hill]

Benrd : Maybe the fact that we up in the north need to pull our boats annually and miss 365 days of sailing - at least the hull gets to dry out and most of our yards allow us to DIY.

Here in Virginia our season is usually from April thru October, but further north it might only be from Memorial Day to Labor day!!

A consultation!!

[dmcmd]

20 years in New England and my 86 never had a blister.  After 5 years in southern VA in water year round found about 40 blisters one year.  repaired them all and checked the next year.  about 80 new ones.  Just pulled the yard receipt.  6300$ for entire bottom job including sandblasting, grinding, 3 months indoor storage to dry it all out, 3 coats barrier and 2 coats bottom paint.  5 years later and not a problem since.   About the only project on inspiration I didn't do myself thanks to this website.