Stress Cracks on Swim Platform

[blakeeasley]

Hope everyone all had great Christmas and New Years holidays!

Sorry if this topic has been adequately covered by any previous post(s). I've searched through Cobaltchat.com posts, YouTube, etc, and I haven't found anything that fully answers my questions. TIA for any support!

I'm doing some offseason work on my new-to-me 222, one project being new flooring. I'm pulling out the black rubberized flooring installed by PO and putting in brown SeaDek. I'm wondering if I should address some stress cracks on each side of the swim platform while the flooring is removed. Essentially, I'd like to have any fiberglass/gelcoat repairs done while the flooring is off so as to avoid needing to replace flooring on the swim platform again in the near future.

I've attached some pictures to show the spider cracks I'm seeing. Sorry about the poor lighting - it was almost sundown when I snapped these photos. I can take more if needed. The cracking is on the the outside edges (port and starboard) but nowhere else. All other areas seem to be in perfect shape.

I'll also be giving this old girl a good buff and polish before lake season rolls back around, and I feel like these cracks will stand out even more when everything else is shined up. Not counting the swim platform, there are very, very few stress cracks through the entire boat.

Are these cosmetic only or do they indicate more of a structural issue? If I wanted to address these while the flooring is off, would it just need to be sanded down in the affected areas and then new gelcoat applied? Or is it a more involved repair (fiberglass, filler, etc)? I'm very handy and can learn to do most types of work very quickly, but sometimes it's just easier to pay a professional, especially when specialized tools and materials are involved.

Again, thanks in advance for any support!

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[billk2632]

Check the mounting bracket area underneath for any cracking - but to me those look like cosmetic stress cracking in the gelcoat. There is probably some flexing around the mounting brackets - the cracks seem to be in the same place on each side. The fix is to sand/grind out the cracks and re-apply the gelcoat, I don't see that any fiberglass work would be needed unless you find cracking underneath.

[blakeeasley]

Thank you, @billk2632 ! That's most definitely the answer I was hoping to see. I didn't see any cracking on the underside of the swim platform. I dropped some photos of the backside below for reference - it needs to be cleaned, but I didn't see any cracking.

I've never applied gelcoat, but I done plenty of clearcoat paintjobs so I am comfortable diving into this small job. Is there a certain brand/line of gel that you have had good luck with? Or does brand not matter too much as long as the surface is properly prepped? TotalBoat seems to have good reviews, but again I am new to gelcoat work.

Thanks for the support!

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[billk2632]

Spectrum Color(spectrumcolor.com) sells gelcoat repair kits that match most boat manufacturers colors. I used one to make some repairs on my old boat (SeaRay) and the kit matched perfectly. Plenty of videos out there on making gelcoat repairs - for mine I just applied the gelcoat with a plastic spreader like putty, let it cure then multiple steps of sanding, wet sanding and buffing until you could not see the repair any longer -- pretty easy.

[blakeeasley]

I'll check them out. Thank you!