5:1 Epoxy Kit (Gallon, Slow Hardener)

Rather than replacing more than a dozen rotted deck boards. I decided to try to fill the "ravines." I tried many wood putties: n'yet . Bondo? n'yet (Became unworkable too fast for my application). This kit with its slow hardening was perfect. Beyond being simple to use, with the two attached pumps pre-measuring the correct amounts of the resin and hardener. I decided to WILDLY experiment with "additives." First, I added a couple of scoops of Durham's Water Bingo! Mixed easily and perfectly increased the amount of the glop and was easy to spread into the ravines. Dried hard as a rock but it must be abraded hard for painting. Next, I stuffed steel wool into craters, which are deeper than ravines. Then I infused the steel wool with the mixed epoxy. Why? Epoxy bonds with steel and throws off heat to boot. The gaps I filled with steel wool and epoxy are clearly stronger than the original wood fibers because solid steel....Btw: you can perform microsurgery on the "treated" steel wool if you have a competent grinder with attachments. Finally, I mixed grout with sand into the epoxy. Why? Because the sand in this concoction, when used to fill shallower gaps, provided a surface onto which coating would better adhere. Success. Moral of the story: I would have been far, far better off, prying up the deck boards, purchasing new ones, and installing them. Why didn't I do it? I am a retired desk jockey and when I started the project more than a year ago, I did not have the carpentry skills to cut and replace the boards. I have them now. Absolutely no regrets even though the filled-in boards are less than cosmetically perfect. Two warnings: you should absolutely not experiments with epoxy additives. Use only those that the manufacturer prescribes. My outcomes were fine but yours may be disastrous. Second, I could care less about bubbles in the epoxy. Accordingly, my recommendations are expressly limited to the use to which I put the product.

I am building a wooden boat and I chose to use the TotalBoat Epoxy Resin Kit (Gallon size, Slow Hardener) to fiberglass the wooden hull. This is a 5 part epoxy to 1 part hardener. The kit includes pumps for the epoxy and the hardener along with some disposable gloves and two mixing/graduated plastic cups. The cups have markings for several mixing ratios. I used the 5 to 1. Fill the cup up to the level you think you need and add the hardener up to the hardener line. Stir for at least one minute to 2 minutes and go to work. When it is properly mixed it will look clear as water. I have been pleased with the working time of the epoxy. If you are working in direct sun and/or hot weather, you may find that it starts to set/harden quicker. I am working outside in the shade and I have plenty of time to apply epoxy, fiberglass and more epoxy over the fiberglass before it even begins to harden...hardens overnight.

I have used several gallons of this for home repairs, mainly to fill rotted wood in window sills and plywood floors. It is easy to use and sets reliably. My one comment though is: definitely read the instructions about how to install the dispensers, very carefully, and do exactly what they say. I skimmed the instructions the first time and then managed to get the two dispensers backward. The black dispenser has to go on the HARDENER and slight changes are needed to the tubes to make it all work. In the end I found that the provided mixing cup was a better way to get the ratio right for my application, since I was using the resin in fairly large quantities. If you are into woodwork, I think this product would work well as a "one coat" thick lacquer. It has consistency a bit like honey but sets slowly enough that the resulting surface is very flat.

WORKS JUST LIKE WEST AT LOWER COST

Our travel trailer had bad delamination spots on the side walls from our roof leaking. I watched a bunch of videos of others using total boat to fix the areas. We ended up using clamps and a spray gun to spray the total boat into the bad spots and let them sit overnight. If I did it again I would just use a syringe and inject the total boat into the area as the spray goes everywhere and you cant build it up in the real bad areas. Some spots we used a brush to get a good coat on. It worked very well and when looking at the areas they look just as good as when we bought the trailer. Next I want to try and use it and do a flood coat on a table of some sort.