Board Repair info from Bob Thompson: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Foam fill, I like to use 4 pound density two part expanding urethane.: www.uscomposites.com/foam.html I use 4 pound density on decks and 2 pound density elsewhere. For the round indention you show, I would first mask off the perimeter of the depression with 2" masking tape. You mask it off because the process can be messy. Then I would use equal parts of part A and part B. It is important that the parts are measured very accurately. I usually use two paper cups. one for mixing and one for measuring. The foam will expand to about 25 times the liquid volume. In this case, 1/4 cup of each component should be a good start. I take one cup and using a sharpie I put a mark on the inside of the cup where I estimate 1/4 cup of volume would be. I set the cup down and pour in Part A until it gets up to the mark. I then pour those contents into the second cup. Then I set the cup with the mark down and pour in Part B until it reaches the same mark. That should produce equal parts of A and B. Pour the Part B into the cup with Part A already in it and start mixing with something like a popcycle stick or a plastic spoon. Stir aggressively for about 45 seconds, making sure the bottom corners of the paper cup get mixed. After mixing immediately slowly pour the mixed foam into the depression.on the board. Start by pouring around the edge then work your way to the center of the depression. Pour the mixed foam like you would pour bottled salad dressing on a salad. Work quickly. Use the stir spoon to get all the mixed foam out of the cup. Then pick up the board and carefully slosh the mixed foam around in the depression until all the styrofoam is covered by the mixed expanding foam. within 2 minutes of mixing, the foam will start to expand. You'll be surprised how much it will expand. Try not to force the expanding foam into any particular void. Within an hour, the foam will be hard and you can start sanding it to get it flush with the deck. It sands quickly so be careful not to sand gouges into it. If the foam on the first pour doesn't fill the void, mix up a half batch and pour it over the area to be filled and let it harden, then sand again.

You can't get it back by just putting fiberglass over the top of it. I'm sure you have noticed that there is a layer of fiberglass right on top the styrofoam core. Above that layer of fiberglass is a high density urethane foamboard layer about 1/8" thick and on top of that is more fiberglass/carbon. The layer right on top the styrofoam is critical. Without it, the repair would crack the first time you step on it, so sand the expanding foam down to the layer of that fiberglass. DO NOT DAMAGE THAT LAYER OF Fiberglass. The new fiberglass layer needs to overlap that layer of OEM glass by about 1" around the perimeter of the filled area. Epoxy one layer of 6oz S-Glass over the existing fiberglass on top of the styrofoam and the sanded expanded foam. Before you apply the epoxy/s-glass, make a disk of the 1/8" high density urethane foam to fit the depression where you plan to put the new lower layer of fiberglass.. When the disk is ready you can epoxy 1 layer of 6oz S-glass and the 1/8" disk at the same time.. Apply a light layer of epoxy with an acid brush, then place the precut piece of S-glass and use the acid brush to apply a medium layer of resin to the top of the new layer of s-glass, then paint a light layer of resin on one side of the filler disc and press it into the depression. Press the disc down firmly and use the acid brush to spread a little resin along the seam between the new disk and the original high density foam. Place a layer of sail monofilm on top of the disc then a piece of old plywood or similar flat wood on top of the monofilm, The monofilm will protect the plywood from bonding to the disc. The plywood should be just a little bit bigger than the disc. Then place heavy items on top of the plywood.so the disc and the s-glass will be pressed together and will bond without air bubbles or weak spots.. you will want to put about 20 lbs of stuff on the piece of plywood. Once this hardens.......overnight, remove the weights and plywood, exposing the disc . With a quick yank, the monofilm should come off the resin cleanly and easily.

You will probably need to lightly sand the disc to remove roughness. Next, put 2 layers of 6oz S-glass over this area. you will want to overlap the joint between the disc and the board's high density foam. by about 1". The new s-glass should overlap the original carbon /glass at the outside of the board by about 1". Precut the 2 layers of fiberglass, again, mask the perimeter of where you plan to bond the fiberglass This time, when you mix the epoxy, add some micro-balloons to the mix until it has the consistency of slightly runny Ranch Salad Dressing. Apply a light coat of resin to the area to receive s-glass,. put down the 1st layer of s-glass, then apply a medium coat of resin over that, then apply the 2nd layer of glass followed my a medium coat of resin, then cover with a piece of monofilm, followed by a piece of plywood and weights. The micro-balloons will make it easier to sand and finish paint.

That layer of s-glass between the styrofoam and the high density foam is extremely important. Without it, there is no strength to the high density foam. Without the s-glass when you step on the high density foam, it will crack along the underside and fail. It cracks because the underside goes into tension and there is no fibers there to resist the tension load so it cracks. Adding s-glass ads strength in tension to keep the bottom side of the high density foam from breaking.and failing.

The expanding 4 pound density urethane foam can be sanded about an hour after it is mixed up. Once you mix up the foam components, it will slowly start to expand. This is when you need to pour it into the recess on the board. You can put epoxy etc. on it any time after that initial hour. If you are pouring a real thick piece, like 3" thick, you may want to wait 1.5 hours before sanding on it. Thin pours are not as time critical. We who have used the expanding foam have experienced the foam getting hot and melting the existing styrofoam and yes, making smaller pours is the answer. The exothermic character of the expanding foam can also damage the skin of boards that are thermal formed. This is a real problem if you don't make small pours. You can reduce the heat damage by putting rags soaked in ice water over the area of the skin that is getting hot. Welcome to the world of board repair!

source is usually: www.jamestowndistributors.com/product/product-detail/50957 choose thickness 1/8" or www.noahsmarine.com/corecpl_corecell-plain-m-foam_md.html choose thickness of 3mm Corcell is probably the best core foam available.

There is two ways to make non-skid. If your board doesn't have many graphics and the paint it is painted with is a very good quality two-part urethane like Awlgrip polyester based urethane or Imron, you can use the sugar method. I get a small foam paint roller from Ace hardware. The rollers I use are usually about 4" long and about 1" in diameter. I mask off the area to receive non-skit then I lightly sand the area to give it a dull finish. In sanding, I try to give it a surface that urethane paint will stick to. Once sanded, I mix the paint, and using the roller I apply 1 somewhat light coat of the paint. Immediately I give it a second coat, with the second coat being medium thickness, followed by a sprinkling of household sugar. I use a salt shaker with the salt replaced by the sugar. I try to apply the sugar very even and give it a good coat. You can watch the shine of the wet paint go away as you sprinkle sugar on it..About an hour after the sugar is applied, carefully remove the masking tape and let the paint harden for minimum 4 days.then rinse it with water. What happens is.....the paint will wrap around the sugar granules. After the paint fully dries, you give the board a good rinse with water. The water dissolves the sugar leaving a rough surface like good nonskid that will last years.....if you used a very good "polyester" based 2 part urethane paint. This particular technique was popular when most boards were white or some other solid color.

The second method is mostly like the first method except different materials are used. The materials are readily available from Fiberglass Hawaii in California. shop.fiberglasshawaii.com/ This is the technique to use if the board has graphics. instead of paint you will want to use their NON-YELLOWING clear epoxy and their acrylic dust non-skid. The nonskid dust comes in three different textures. Fine, medium, and coarse. The "FINE" is what most board builders use. I like a very positive feel under my feet so I prefer the medium. If you go with the medium and it is too aggressive for you, a light sanding will bring it back to the feel of the "FINE" non-skid. I seem to remember the non-skid comes in 1 pound container...enough for 8 or 10 boards. The application is similar. Mask the area to receive non-skid, Sand the existing non-skid until the sanding just barely starts to affect the graphics underneath, Use the roller to apply a first light coat of the non-yellowing epoxy, wait about 10 minutes and apply a second medium coat, followed almost immediately by using a salt shaker with the acrylic dust to sprinkle the dust on the wet epoxy. Watch the "shine" of the epoxy as you sprinkle the dust.,....keep applying the dust until the "shine" of the wet epoxy becomes a "matt" finish. Once the dust is sprinkled immediately remove the masking tape and set the board aside for at least 4 days, then rinse it with water to remove loose particles of the non-skid. Your first try with this technique will appear uneven and maybe blotchy if you don't watch the surface of the epoxy as you sprinkle the dust, trying to make it nice and even. If you sprinkle the dust from about 12" to 16" above the board deck, the finish will usually look more even.

Nice work, Bob! I put all your photos in your first post. You can put up to 20 photos in one post. I also rotated some. Looks great.

Thanks!!!

This is an awesome post on board repair, thanks for sharing with great photos and explanation.

Another resource I used back when I repaired boards was boardlady.com/ I followed her advice and used a vacuum bag system that I could borrow, but without access to one that first board repair gets very expensive quickly, and your method with the weights does mostly the same process.

It seems that you both have similar methods and philosophies, although Eva seems to much prefer vacuum bagging. I have also heard (although not tried) saran-wrapped boards as a release layer from the epoxy.

One question: Have you tried wrapping the board with mover saran wrap (~24-36" wide) after pouring foam and before expansion occurs? I always found that I slightly underestimated the amount of expansion of the foam, and am under the belief that the saran wrap helped push it into any cracks in the foam near the repair. That being said, the first large repair I did on a board was a soft deck by the foot straps.

boardlady.com/ is a great board repair website!

Impressive, Bob. The board almost looks store-bought!