Basic, basic, basic ding repair question...

OK, I know these are VERY basic questions but…

To repair the ding;

  1. Tape off the area around the ding.

  2. Sand the area to make a depression larger than the the ding.

  3. Fill damaged foam with filler if needed.

  4. Lay in cloth and laminate using laminating resin.

My questions are:

Now the patched area is higher than the deck so if I add a hot coat doesn’t it, and some of the repair cloth, just get sanded off when I sand the repair flush with the deck?? If I’m sanding to slightly below the deck then aren’t I out of the hot coat and back into the laminating resin??

Then after the hot coat is sanded down, if I add a finish coat, I’m back up above the deck again so now doesn’t the finish coat just get sanded off as well?

I have The Ding Repair Scriptures, but from Colendich’s drawings it looks like the patches with only the laminating resin are higher than the deck.

Enlightenment please!

I’d say the ding repair will be a little bit higher or standing out after it’s finished. But it should be very little and the thing is You blend it in with the regular laminate around the edges of the repair so in the end it is hardly noticeable.

Well that’s my way of doing it anyway, im no pro ding repair master. Interesting Q though.

Rough the area up with 100 grit (make sure the rough area extends farther than the resin and cloth), don’t worry about the tape, the ridge it leaves makes it more difficult to feather out, put in the filler, sand the filler flush, lay on cloth (I used two layers of 4oz one slightly smaller than the other), use a cheap natural hair brush (1") to apply the resin, that way you can control the amount to prevent drips, let it cure, brush on hot coat, let cure, then knock the edges off with 100 or 120, feather it with 220 and finish with 320.