Product Spotlight: Nowak Commercial Refinishing
Friday, February 26, 2010

An alternative "cure" for that dull old boat


Although most boaters appear to be completely healthy to the untrained eye, there is a little known know disease that affects roughly 95% of the boat owners in Western Pennsylvania. The disease is called Two-Foot-itis. The symptoms include never being satisfied with the size of boat you own and the constant urge to upgrade to a newer, larger model; one that is at least two feet longer that your current boat.

The easiest treatment for this "disease," is to go out and buy a shiny new boat. Although this is a recommended remedy, there are other ways to cure this ailment. One new development is to refinish the boat you have. Although it won’t become any longer, a shiny new finish is typically a great deal cheaper than the alternative and it usually keeps the Two-Foot-itis at bay for many years.

One local company specializing in fiberglass repair and boat refinishing is Nowak Commercial Refinishing (NCR) located in Amity, PA. Whether it is simple fiberglass repair or a complete boat refinishing project, NCR has the know-how, experience, and facilities to complete the job no matter how large or small.

"In regards to large craft repair we are the only company in the area that has the capacity to handle the largest of boats. Our primary goal is to let the boaters in the area know that there is company in their back yard that has the capability of refinishing their 30 foot plus boats," said Mike Nowak, part owner of NCR.

"Fact is we are not the only company in the area doing repairs. There are several guys running around in vans doing onsite repairs. I think our customers find comfort in the fact that if they should ever have a problem, down the road, they know exactly where and how to reach us."

NCR is a well established operation that operates a massive shop that can handle boats up to 50’ by 14’ down to personal watercraft.

"Every job is different and every customer has different ideas. We are an honest company that is always looking out for our customer’s best interest. On a regular basis we have customers that come in for repairs and we simply talk them out of it. It is not that we don’t want revenue; we know what it takes to earn a dollar in this day of age. However, we would never want to see a customer throw good money after bad. To start out a consultation we ask our customers what they are looking to achieve and ultimately what they want to invest," said Nowak.



One such project NCR just completed was a complete restoration of a 1989 Carver Mariner 32.

"I was doing a small glass repair on the Carver on site. When I talked to the customer, I could tell how much he cared for his boat. When I told him that we could make it look brand new, he was very interested. The customer has owned the boat since new and loved some of the older craftsmanship of the boat. We consulted on what directions he wanted to go and came up with some pretty solid numbers. The customers wanted the boat exactly as it was from the factory, color, decals, stripes and all," said Nowak.

The first step in this process was scheduling transportation for the boat. The majority of the time most large cruiser owners do not have trailers. This Carver Mariner is an "elephant" of a boat. There are several companies in the area that handle boat transportation, but most just do not have a trailer to accommodate this size of boat. Nowak was referred to a transporter in the Pittsburgh area that is equipped with a hydraulic Hostar trailer capable of hauling the Carver. The transport went smoothly and boat was delivered on time.

Once the Carver was at the NCR facility, the first job was to remove all the hardware on the boat, which included rails, cleats, ladders, etc. Once the boat was all tore down the next task at hand was to remove all decals. Removing decals can be a challenging task especially when they have been on the boat for 20 plus years. The next step was to give the boat a good cleaning with a degreasing product that removes all the oils and contaminants.

Nowak and his crew then moved on the mask and cover stage. They masked off all non-removable items to prevent them from being sanded or painted, and then they did a walk around with a Sharpie marker to identify any spider cracks, gouges or battle wounds. After locating all of the bad areas, proper fiberglass repairs were made and those areas were then sprayed with epoxy.

The most time consuming step was next; sanding the entire boat. A crew is assembled with dual action sanders in hand to tackle the job. Nowak feels this is a critical step because it is very crucial to get the proper abrasion. The non-skid areas are very challenging because they have to get the proper abrasion without compromising the patterns.

Once everything is sanded and completely blown off they begin the final masking. The Carver was sprayed in 3 sections: top, middle and bottom. They masked off the entire boat exposing only the top fly bridge. With painters on each side, they first get the area in a heavy epoxy, which will provide a chemical bond for the urethane. After the epoxy has set up, the painters apply multiple coats of single stage urethane. The above process continues on the following sections. When the whole boat is in color and cured, they then sand and buff any defects that are in the urethane.

The last major step is the final assembly. Before all the hardware is installed we stripe and decal the entire boat. Next, all the hardware is re-installed. We make sure that every item is siliconed to ensure the boat will be free from top side leaks. Nowak and his crew finished the boat by abrading the bottom and applying a black antifungal bottom coat.

"If you have an older boat that you love and it is paid off, having it refinished may be the best decision you make," added Nowak.

A project of this size typically takes between three to five weeks, so boat owners need to take that into consideration when they plan a restoration. Be sure to check out the photos of the Carver project to get a true appreciation of the difference a new refinishing job can make. To see other projects they have completed and for more information about Nowak Commercial Refinishing, be sure to check out their webpage.

Submitted by: Terry Grantz

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