Monroe1

Hey guys, first post I’ve ever made here so I’ll make it as painless as possible. I’ve owned a 24v for three years now to get into surfing, I noticed the swim deck dragging in the water like many before me. My swim deck also had a broken edge from the original owner backing in to his garage with it. I decided I wanted the swim platform to be a big as possible because that’s where my three year old loves to play. So I opted to trim the lip off the bottom and make it “smooth” instead of altering the shape. My gel coat and carpet were in rough shape as well. I don’t have the best before pics.So the first thing I did was remove the old carpet, that was a pain used every chemical known to man, ended sanding the glue off, it was really on there. Second thing was to cut the “lip” off, which I did using a multi tool. I left the back edge because it’s not really effecting anything and helps hold the top and bottom together.(I think). Then I cut the damaged section out with the multi tool and fiberglassed in a new piece, I then used bondo to “finish” it. Now comes the risky part, the epoxy. I used some good clear epoxy from Amazon that resists yellowing in Uv light, get the most expensive epoxy you can, it will ensure it lasts. Mixed up some and took a guess at how much and applied a 1/4” layer all over the deck. I would suggest watching some YouTube videos on epoxy countertops before this step because they show you how to apply and remove bubbles in the epoxy. Then comes the hard part. Overlaying the deck in the carbon fiber. I just decided I had to go for it and laid it on there. First thing I learned was to not play with it once it was in the epoxy, all you do it spread the fibers out exposing the white gel coat underneath. (If I were to do it again I would have painted the deck black first). That being said you can’t really see any white except for one spot on the corner that I did try and move it around. It’s very unnoticeable. I used my fingers to push the fiber down to the deck and make sure it hugs the old contour. I babysat the fiber for about an hour so I could make sure I didn’t have any bubbles form. One thing I forgot was to say was to lay the fiber down right after applying the epoxy. I let epoxy dry for a day I cut the excess fiber off the edge of the platform. Then I applied the second coat, about 1/8” or so. Once the epoxy was cured for about an hour or so I applied the Eva while the epoxy was still tacky. I figured it would help make the bond stronger. babysit the drips and wipe them off so you don’t have to do cutting and sanding later. All and all I love the look. I did this project last spring so the deck has one year on it. Everyone loves it. It’s had no problems. If somehow it does get scratched( my dumb a** had to do a dock start and the surf board scratched the corner a little) so far sliding off the edge with my wake board to get in the water hasn’t produced a scratch. Just sand the scratch out with wet sandpaper, it will look good as new.