I had a few things I thought I'd share:
1. I had a somewhat significant mold/mildew problem in the interior carpeting in my boat. I was considering replacing all the interior carpeting. People on this site convinced me that it was probably worth the attempt at having a professional steam cleaner come out and take a crack at the carpets. I called one (whose coming tomorrow). In the meantime, I went to Home Depot and saw this "Zep Commercial Mold/Mildew Cleaner". It said all these things like "For use on Fiberglass (etc.)" and "Not-for-use" on a bunch of stuff. Anyway - I figured I had little to use to I soaked the spots on the carpet with it. When I looked a day later, the mold and mildew has
disappeared! I was pretty shocked. Furthermore - though the stuff smelled like bleach, there was absolutely no discoloration to any of the carpeting! I highly, highly recommend! I'm still having the professional cleaner come - and the interior should look like NEW after this!
2. They sell little kits at home depot to repair chips in sinks and tubs. It's a two-part epoxy - but it's pretty thin. It's $5 for a little kit. It comes in a few different colors (i.e. white). It works *very* well on repairing minor chips and dings in your fiberglass/gelcoat. You can sand it, and buff it just like any Fiberglass epoxy repair kit you'd get in a marine store, however the color options are a bit better, it's more convenient, you can buy it in tiny quantities, and it's easier to use for very very small repairs (chips, etc).
3. The rub-rail that runs around my boat had suffered some serious damage as a result of rubbing against a dock. Once in a while, the rail would snag either just under, or over the dock, and when the boat would bounce around, it ripped the rail out and bent it all over the place. I tried bending the thing back into place - it was so tough I couldn't move it at all. Tried smashing it back into place with a mallet - no luck whatsoever.
Finally, I used a series of [long, bar] clamps and even a car jack to squeeze the rail back into shape. One clamp lifted the rail "up" - and I used a car-jack to put pressure on it. (So much pressure that I actually jacked the boat up a few inches -
on the loose part of the rub rail - while two other clamps pushed "down" on the rail - bending it back into it's correct position.
The job definitely does not look "perfect", as there are still minor bends in the rail - but we're talking an eight of an inch or something, as opposed to being 4" above the swim platform!
So - all-and-all, a good repair!
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(P.S. You can see in these pictures where I used to "Marine Fiberglass Repair Kit" - which was not color matched
)
Repair "techniques" :-O
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