Patching a plastic Kayak?

Question

I have a kayak that is plastic and has a small crack in it. Does anyone know what I could get from Home Depot or Lowes that would seal it up? I'm thinking rubber cement or some type of caulking or something. Maybe apply that and cover it with a heavy duty tape?

Answer 1

Try a waterproof EPOXY two part cement. Open the crack and wet the insides of the crack. It is also possible to apply a glass cloth strip over the crack and affix it with either epoxy or polyester resin. Your plastic kayak may be suffering from age or ultra violet degradation. Plasticisers often migrate leaving only a brittle core! Store your boat out of the sun.

Answer 2

Contact the manufacturer and you can buy a repair kit that is made to work with the type of plastic it is made from. Also most dealer,s will carry a repair kit. This way you can do it right .  YAK  ON !!

Answer 3

Most all plastic kayak are made from polyethylene (PE).  That's the same stuff that ski bases, plastic gasoline cans and one-quart yogurt containers are made from.

Best answer:  Go to a ski shop, they squirt melted PE onto ski bases all the time to repair damage from rocks.  Clean the edges, back it with some good tape or jam wax-paper covered cardboard against the back side.  Lay in the molten PE like you would hot glue from a glue gun.  Let it cool and harden and then trim it smooth with a very shape blade or with sandpaper.

Cheapest, quickest fix:  Clean and roughen up the hole first.  Pre-warm the area in the sun or with a hair dryer.  Create a backing or d**n of tape or cardboard to contain the melted PE.  Cut a 1-quart yogurt container (or any plastic container marked "HDPE" on the recycling mark) into 1/2" strips.  Light the end of it and it will drip molten PE as it burns.  Let the drip fall into the cut area.  Let harden and cool completely.  Sand or trim to shape.  There will be streaks of soot in it, but it will hold.  If you want to be fancy, find a plastic of the same color for a better match.  Ski shops will have black and white PE to use.  Sometimes other colors as well.

If you can, it is usually easier to wrap the wax paper and cardboard around the outside and drip the molten PE from the inside of the boat.  It also gives a smoother finish on the outside.  But for some locations, you have to work from the outside and sand/trim it later.

Answer 4

Go to your local kayak shop or outdoor sporting goods store and purchase a proper poly kayak patch kit and use as directed..  Using a contractor grade caulking is not going to hold, its not designed for pressure under water.  Make sure you store your kayak out of the elements, it will last a lot longer.

Patch and paddle on!

Answer 5

If your going to use caulk, go 100% silicone, it has more elasticity. I wouldn't go that route though. Ask for a good plastic epoxy, something like JB Weld. Most of them will tell you strength and how waterproof they are, and you won't have to cover your kayak in duck tape :D