I'm going to coat the bunk boards and guide on boards for my trailer before carpeting. When coating wood with epoxy resin for waterproofing purposes should you thin it some if so how much? What is best to use for thinning acetone, laquer thinner, MEK, or something else all together? Also how many coats should I apply?
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You don't need the thin the epoxy resin to coat the boards. Make sure it is measured and mixed well and apply. 2 coats, wet on wet should be fine.
I would advise against this. I just replaced mine this past summer and in doing so realized that they were epoxy sealed as well before they were carpeted and I remember the owner telling me he had them replaced 2 years before I purchased the boat. Well, then they should have lasted, right? The fault in doing this is that even with predrilled holes, by the time you run lag bolts back up through them then you've scraped all of the sealing resin off. Now you've got entry points for water being focused on very crucial points for keeping the boards as part of your trailer, and by not allowing the wood to breathe by sealing the rest of the board up you're keeping moisture focused at the weakest and most important points of the boards. Mine were sealed in resin, rest of the bunk was in great shape after 3 years but the mounting points were rotted beyond belief and what the cause was for me needing new boards as they were falling off of he trailer. Sure you can put sealant on your bolts, but they'll eventually need replaced as wood will warp and that will just make a big mess down the road, especially if you've got a water breach in your mounting holes and the lack of drying out/air passing through the wood rots your holes out and you're dragging a healthy piece of wood behind your boat with focused section of rot in the mounting areas where they were attached to he trailer. Personally I didn't glue my carpet on. I left the bottom portion of the board exposed to dry and allow air circulation and using a lot of ss staples to attach the carpet.
The resin was not the problem.
Resin applied correctly will keep the water from permeating the wood.
Just because yours was not done correctly does not mean all others will fail.
As far as keeping the moisture " focused " that is total BS............moisture will be where it can be absorbed into the bunk wood and it will dry out either way, with or without the rest of the board being coated with resin. Obviously your bolt holes were not sealed correctly, or you would not have had to replace new bunks in 3 years.
If the bunks are waterproofed, and the holes are sealed with some type of waterproof , flexible sealer like 3m 4200 or 5200 ( more permanent ) they should last a dozen years and more.
I respect your opinion and you just restated my above point. No sealant, and it being hard to completely seal (especially wih loading as it will gar the bunks and he bolts inside of them) will cause rot. And a sealed up board will prohibit circulation to dry. Wood pulled tight to carpet and metal at the bolt points will not allow great circulation. If the wood to the rear of the mounting points were not sealed with resin and could breathe then hose points would be allowed to dry out faster and completely than if the wood all surrounding the mounting points weren't allowed to breathe.We'lljust agree to disagree about the bolt points not allowing great air circulation and if the wood not surrounding those points were t resin sealed and allowed to breathe, then the bolt points would air out faster. I will agree that if the holes were completely sealed then you'd be good to go however with he power loading everywhere and wood not encapsulated its more probe to shape changing so I wouldn't even trust a flexible sealer in that point.
I get what you're saying, I've also seen a 93' trailer wih healthy original bunk boards with unglued carpet and left exposed underneath for air circulation and also the same was the case for my 90' trailer when I just had to replace the carpet, and not the bunks. I just personally believe the the breathing approach over the smothering approach after having to replace stringers 8' back from the original screw hole infiltration. Water will wick outward but air will only allow the exposed portion to dry out first leavi anyhing encapsuled and not able to effectively dry to stay wet and breed rot and that was my point. Again, I respect your opinions and know of your experience of glasswork, I just respectfully agree to disagree on some things.
Personally on mine, I don't use any resin on the boards, just carpet, enough glue to hold it , and stainless staples.
But others want the extra protection of trying to waterproof the boards.....which, if done perfectly will work. How much longer than just the standard carpet/staples ? Too many variables for each instance to compare. Some may last 5 more years, others no longer than the original boards did
Most boats that I have seen needing the bunks replaced, had at least 10-12 years on the original carpeted/glued/stapled bunks ( from quality manufacturers, using good materials )
Stringers and bunk boards are apples to oranges. Way too much moisture inside most older boat hulls for the stringers to ever dry out.
I agree with that.
Maybe im off base here but I redid my dad's bunk boards in 1999, we re-carpeted them last year and the wood is in near perfect condition. I don't know about anybody else but on any and all holes that need to be drilled in wood that will be encased in resin I pre drill all holes twice the size the holes need to be, laminate the wood with thinned resin, holes etc, then go back and fill the holes with resin Jelly then final coat of laminate. When I go back to install Screws, lag bolts or whatever I screw drill the hole thru or into the cured jelly instead of the wood. Might be a little extra leg work up front but a less time then it takes to redo new stringers or bunk boards, haven't had any problems using this approach as of yet.
Thinned polyester resin that is...
Why not simply use a rot-proof board for the bunk? There are all kinds of plastic/composite materials available...
John that would give us nothing to debate about then, there's no fun in that!!!
My pressure treated wood with oil based sealer has lasted for years.
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